Ch.

5: Plagiarism, Paraphrasing and Summarising

Introduction
Three concepts related with university study:
Plagiarism
Paraphrasing
Summarising

What do these words mean, and what links them?

PLAGIARISM
Activity 1
In pairs, answer the following questions:
What do you understand by the term “plagiarism”?
What kinds of plagiarism are represented by the
cartoon images on the previous slide?
What other kinds of plagiarism are you aware of?
What can you do to avoid it?
What is plagiarism
Copying verbatim from a text or other source

Failure to cite the sources of ideas

Citing sources inappropriately

Some reasons why students plagiarise
Not knowing what constitutes plagiarism
Fear of failure if own words are used in assignments
Poor time management
Failure to appreciate the consequences of plagiarism
Lack of knowledge of citation methods
Why you should not plagiarise
If you plagiarise:
you are unlikely to get away with it: you will be found
out and penalised
you lose the opportunity to prove your worth by
producing your own original work
you lose the opportunity to read widely and understand
what you read in order to develop your own views about
your discipline
you might suffer consequences which include:
receiving no mark for your work
the plagiarised author taking legal action against you
your results being nullified or, after you have graduated,
your degree being withdrawn by the university
Eliminating plagiarism from your writing
Detect and eliminate plagiarism from your writing with online
anti-plagiarism software:
Plag Tracker
Plagiarisma
Turnitin
Grammarly
iThenticate

* HOWEVER, the best course of action is to avoid

plagiarising other authors in the first place!
What is a paraphrase?
Definition: “an accurate, simpler restatement of the
content of a text without alteration of the original
meaning”
The benefits of paraphrasing
It
requires you to use your own words, which forces you
to try to read with understanding
helps you avoid plagiarising the original author’s
words
reduces the need for direct quotations, which should
always be used sparingly
 results in the production of text that flows smoothly as
it consists mainly of your own words
reduces the temptation to skip difficult-to-understand
sections of a text
 How to paraphrase
Paraphrase short pieces of text at a time (ideally, one paragraph)
by following these steps:
 Skim the text for an overview
 Read the short piece of text actively and try to understand it
 Rewrite the main point and major supporting details in your
own words – without looking at the original text
 As you proceed, change the structure of the original thus:
break up long sentences into parts and rephrase these before putting
them back together in new sentences
combine short sentences into one new long sentence
change active voice to passive voice, and direct to indirect speech
change the original order of ideas
 Finally, check your paraphrased text against the original for
accuracy
Examples of paraphrases
The original passage
Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking
notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the
final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of
your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted
matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the
amount of exact transcribing of source materials while
taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research
Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.
A legitimate paraphrase:
 In research papers students often quote excessively,
failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level.
Since the problem usually originates during note taking,
it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim
(Lester 46-47).

A plagiarized version:
Students often use too many direct quotations when they
take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final
research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the
final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So
it is important to limit the amount of source material
copied while taking notes.
 Activity 2
In pairs, discuss the three passages on the previous two
slides:
First, compare and contrast the original passage and the
plagiarized version and decide why
 the ‘paraphrase’ would not be acceptable if it were
incorporated into an assignment
citing the source would not make any difference

Next, compare and contrast the original passage and the

legitimate paraphrase. List the differences between the two
passages which make the paraphrase acceptable.
Activity 3
 Paraphrase the passage below.
 Discuss your paraphrase with a partner and try to identify the
changes that you were able to make.

Safety in the home.

The way I see it, people need to be made far more aware of safety
in ordinary everyday situations - a classic example, of course, is
the child reaching for the bottle of tablets Mum forgot to lock
away - and it seems to me that the cinema would be the ideal place
in which to get the message across. A film about safety tucked at
the end of the forthcoming attractions and advertisements would
then be seen by a large section of the population.
What is a summary?
Definition: A shortened version of a text, consisting of
the main points; or
 the main points and major supporting details
How to summarise
Identify the topic of the text by browsing through it for
an overview.
Read the introduction and conclusion to determine the
author’s coverage of the topic.
Identify the main points of the major sections into
which the text is divided.
Read the text actively and annotate it.
Make notes in your own words as you read.
Combine the notes into paragraphs.
REMEMBER to
retain the original meaning of the text
exclude minor details
cite the source/s of your information
 Example of a summary
The original passage
 Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes,
and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research]
paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript
should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you
should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of
source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing
Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.

Summary
 Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from
sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a
research paper (Lester,1976:46-47).
 Activity 4
 Apply the SQ3R method to read the passages below as interactively as
possible and then write summaries of them.
 Remember to read and recite, making notes in your own words as you go
along.
 When you have finished, compare notes with a partner.
 When you are satisfied that you have cleared up any inaccuracies in your
notes, work on your own to write summaries of the original texts and cite
the sources at the end.
 Now exchange summaries with your partner and give each other feedback.

Do you think that you have each retained the original meanings of the texts?
1. Acquiring new knowledge
In all learning, advances tend to come irregularly and in bursts,
as you gain fresh insights into the subject. In order to obtain these
insights, you must thoroughly understand what you are studying.
If you really understand a subject, not only do you remember it
easily, but you can apply your knowledge in new situations. The
important thing is not what you know, but what you can do with
what you know. The extra effort involved in getting a firm
grounding in the essentials of a subject is repaid many times in
later study. How are you to achieve understanding? Understanding
involves (1) linking new knowledge to the old and (2) organizing
it and remembering it in a systematic fashion. To retain and make
sense of any new concept it must be linked in as many ways as
possible to your existing body of knowledge. All good
introductory textbooks are constantly giving familiar examples, or
using analogies, or appealing to common experience. In setting
out the differences between daylight vision and twilight vision,
for example, most writers point out that, as twilight falls in the
garden, blue flowers remain blue for some time after red
blossoms appear black, illustrating, by appeal to common
experience, that under dim illumination the colours of the blue
end of the spectrum become relatively brighter than those of the
red end. Or again, to illustrate that the movement of any
particular electron during the passage of an electric current is
only a few centimetres a second, although the velocity of the
current is extremely great, the analogy is often used of a truck
run into the end of a long line of trucks in a shunting yard, a
corresponding truck being rapidly ejected from the far end.
Linking new information to familiar experience in this fashion
always helps understanding. In order to tie the new information
to your stock of knowledge with as many links as possible, you
must reflect on it, and try and relate it to what you already
know. Thinking the matter over by yourself, writing out
summaries of the main points, and talking to other students
about it, are all valuable for fixing it more clearly in your
mind.
How to study, Maddox (Pan)
Activity 5
Make notes on the text

Working with a partner, compare notes

 Now compare your notes with those on the next slide

 Sample notes
 you acquire new knowledge in your studies only if you understand the texts
you read
 understanding is key to remembering what is learnt
 it also makes practical application of the new knowledge over the long term
possible
 key to understanding is
 the ability to link new knowledge to what is already known, in a variety of ways
 aiding memory by storing the new knowledge in an organized manner
 link any new concept to as much of what you already know should be linked to
as many
 in all this, reflection plays a key role in helping you store what you have learnt
in your long-term memory as you:
 think things over
 summarise the main points
 discuss new concepts with other students
2. Garlic cure supported
West German researchers have a solution to cholesterol clogged
blood vessels. It is garlic. Old wives have for centuries claimed that
garlic cures many ills from snake bites to toothache. Now, according
to Professor Hans Reuter, of Cologne, there is proof that garlic helps
to clear the fat accumulating in the blood vessels of those who eat
rich food, so reducing the danger of heart attacks. Tests showed that
volunteers fed on butter containing 50 grams of garlic oil had a
cholesterol level considerably lower than that of a control group fed
on butter without garlic. In another experiment, patients ate three
grams of raw garlic a day. After four weeks their cholesterol level
fell markedly. According to Professor Renter, garlic not only drives
out unwanted fats in blood. Tests indicated that the herb also kills
other bacteria, among them those causing diphtheria and
tuberculosis. Professor Reuter said garlic was in some cases more
effective than penicillin. To get the full benefit, you must use fresh
garlic. Garlic powder won't work any medicinal miracles, since the
plant loses its healing properties when processed.
Activity 6: Summary notes
Write summary notes on the “Garlic cure” text similar
to those based on the first text

Compare notes with a partner and resolve any

differences in understanding of the text

Now write a summary of the text and compare it with

the original
On a final note
Avoid plagiarism by:
Paraphrasing
Summarising
Quoting
Activity 7
The skills of summarising, paraphrasing and quoting are
essential for avoiding plagiarism.

Summarise the information on the table on the previous

slide so that the similarities and differences among
these three skills stand out.

Discuss your summary with a partner for feedback.

References
Beekman, Dube, Potgieter & Underhill. (2016).
Academic Literacy, Second Edition. Cape Town: Juta