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The Research Process

A guide to performing research at NETC Library

The art of the paraphrase

Paraphrasing means more than changing a few words of the source's material. A good paraphrase incorporates the source's main ideas without necessarily paraphrasing an entire paragraph, book, or chapter. Just summarize and paraphrase those ideas that helps you make a point in your paper. And give credit to the source whence those ideas came.

Try this method for creating a proper paraphrase:

  1. Read the material several times without taking notes.
  2. Put the material away,
  3. Write bullet points or notes for those ideas you want to discuss.
  4. Write your paraphrase.
  5. Compare the original with your paraphrase and revise.
  6. CITE the original author.

You may want to keep some of the original author's wording. Put that material in quotation marks. However, avoid using too many direct quotations. Direct quotations strung together impede the flow of your prose. In research writing, paraphrasing is preferred to direct quotations, which should be used sparingly to add punch to your paper. A good paraphrase shows the reader that you have mastered the material.

You don't need to cite ...

  • Common knowledge or, information that most people know:
    • Maryland was one of the 13 original colonies.
    • Information, verbiage or jargon that you and your colleagues in the field know
  • DON'T CITE: The date for the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
  • DO CITE: An anecdote about the signing from a history of the Declaration of Independence.

Citation examples

Book:

Tedim, F., Leone, V., & McGee, T. K. (Eds.). (2020). Extreme Wildfire Events and Disasters : Root Causes and New Management Strategies. Elsevier.

In-text citation:

(Tedim et al., 2020)

Journal article:

Stojanov, R., Kelman, I., Shen, S., Duží, B., Upadhyay, H., Vikhrov, D., Lingaraj, G. J., & Mishra, A. (2014). Contextualising typologies of environmentally induced population movement. Disaster Prevention and Management, 23(5), 508–523. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm-09-2013-0152

In-text citation:

‌ (Stojanov et al., 2014)

EFO paper

Dolan, M. (2000). The Impact of Columbine and School Violence on Emergency Management [EFO Paper]. https://nfa.usfa.fema.gov/pdf/efop/efo25911.pdf

In-text citation

‌ (Dolan, 2000)