APA tip n°10
Paraphrase, Don’t Patchwrite
“When paraphrasing a sentence or several sentences from a work, be sure to put the idea or ideas into your own words. Merely adding a few words or replacing words with synonyms is called “patchwriting” and should be avoided. The APA Style Avoiding Plagiarism Guide shows an example of patchwriting and also provides suggestions for avoiding word plagiarism, which refers to using “another author’s exact words or phrases without quotation marks,” and idea plagiarism, which refers to presenting “an idea from another source without citing the author and year.”” (Source: APA style blog).
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