Paraphrasing in your thesis

In your thesis or essay, you cite various sources. Sometimes you will quote a segment from these sources: you will copy the words verbatim with the correct reference to the source. Most often, however, you will be paraphrasing. This means that you rephrase someone else's idea or finding into your own words. To avoid plagiarism, though, you need to paraphrase correctly. How do you do this?

Paraphrasing means inserting someone else's idea or research findings into your text without copying the text word for word. Instead, you use your own words. Paraphrasing does not require you to use double inverted commas (as with quoting), provided you do indeed word the text differently than the original.

By paraphrasing the text, you show that you fully understand the content of the source. It also prevents your text from becoming a list of quotations; your text reads better if you write things down in your own words. By paraphrasing in the correct way, including a correct reference to the source, you prevent (unintentional) plagiarism.

When paraphrasing, it is important to use your own words. Otherwise, even with a correct source citation, you can still be accused of plagiarism. This applies, for example, if your paraphrased sentences are very similar to the original, but you do not use inverted commas.

Want to get your paraphrasing right? Then pay attention to these three criteria:

• Cite the source in the paraphrased text.

• Make sure the content of the text matches the original.

• Use your own words. 

It is smart to compare your paraphrased text to the original. This allows you to check that there is no accidental overlap. Adjust the text slightly where necessary.

Because paraphrases always concern the original texts reformulated in your own words, each paraphrase of a source will look different. An example of a paraphrase is shown below.

You have come across the following text and want to address it in your thesis:

Our survey of 5,000 students from various programmes at Utrecht University between the ages of 19 and 22 shows that the atrium is an important meeting place. Students come together here to brainstorm, work on assignments or for social contact. It is therefore important that the atrium continues to exist. Teachers also support this. They use the atrium frequently, although less than students. According to 78% of lecturers, it is important that this central meeting place retains its current function. 

A paraphrase could then look like this, for example:

Research by Klaassen and Pieters (2018) among a large group of students shows that the atrium is important to students. They meet in the atrium, work on assignments or exchange ideas with each other. In short, the atrium has a more important function than merely a place to have your lunch. Teachers also value the meeting place;more than three-quarters of the lecturers advocate that the atrium remains as it is.

Most students use the APA style for source citations. For law students, the Guideline for Legal Authors applies, for which you can find a handy source generator on our site. 

Are you using APA style? Then put the name of the author(s) or organisation from which the source originates somewhere in the paraphrase. Include the year of publication and - if you are commenting on a specific paragraph in the text - the page number(s). In addition, put the complete source reference in the bibliography. There you also note, for example, the title of the source, the journal name and various other details. 

For example, an APA source citation in the running text looks like this:

Levelt (2007) previously conducted research on this. His research shows that...

Or:
Levelt’s research from 2007 suggests that...

These paraphrasing rules do not only apply to sources from magazines or books. For any source, it is important to include an accurate source citation and avoid copying information word for word. 

Can't find a year of publication for an online source? Then state 'n.d.' (‘no date') in the running text. Is the author not known? Then include the name of the website as the author. 

This looks as follows:

The AthenaCheck website (n.d.) reports that...

Want to make sure you don't plagiarize? Make sure your text is distinctly different from the original source. The following points can help with this:

• Put the original text away (after you have read it carefully) when you write your paraphrase. This way, you avoid copying parts of sentences.

• Present the information in a different order.

• Omit information that is not relevant to your thesis or essay.

• Use synonyms whenever possible and replace any tricky specialist terms with more common words. The website Synoniemen.net can help you find suitable synonyms. 

• Do a plagiarism check. AthenaCheck offers a professional plagiarism check, in which we scan your text for plagiarism with the TurnItIn tool. Your text is then compared with billions of sources, giving you insight into possible plagiarism in no time and allowing you to remedy it in time.

• Check that you have also listed all the sources cited in your thesis or essay in the bibliography.

A tool to help you paraphrase does not exist. However, you can use our APA source generator or the source generator for the Legal Authors' Guide. These will help you correctly cite sources in your bibliography. This is another important step to prevent plagiarism.