Good paraphrasing is key to successful academic writing. Keep these 4 things in mind when paraphrasing. 

1. Don’t paraphrase without really reading and understanding the source. This is a dealbreaker. You can’t paraphrase an idea that you don’t fully understand. You’ll need to read carefully, and you might need to read the source several times.  
2. Don’t look at the original as you try to paraphrase. Focus on capturing the idea, not the sentences. Imagine you’re explaining it to a friend. 
3. Don’t change the meaning of ideas or take them out of context. If the authors crept up behind you and read your paraphrase, would they think it was accurate?
4. Don’t change only a few words here and there. Copy no more than 3-4 words in a row (except for technical terms that can’t be paraphrased. Make sure you have copied no more than 20% of the original language 

Remember! In a paraphrase, you’ve got to change the structure of the original and as many of the words as possible.

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