XobaWrite How to quote, paraphrase and cite without plagiarising
Most plagiarism in student work is not dishonesty. It is paraphrasing that stayed too close to the original, or a citation that arrived one sentence too late.
Plagiarism is presenting someone else's words or ideas as your own. Universities treat intent as a question of penalty, not of definition — accidental plagiarism is still plagiarism, which is why the mechanics below matter more than good faith does.
The three things you can do with a source
| What it is | Needs | |
|---|---|---|
| Quote | The original words, exactly | Quotation marks and a citation with a page number |
| Paraphrase | One passage, restated in your own words and structure | A citation. No quotation marks |
| Summarise | A longer piece, compressed to its main point | A citation |
All three need a citation. The common misunderstanding is that putting something in your own words removes the obligation — it does not. The idea is still someone else's.
Patchwriting: the one that catches people
Patchwriting is swapping words for synonyms and shuffling clauses while keeping the original's structure. It is the most common form of plagiarism in student work, and citing it does not fix it, because you are still presenting their sentence as your writing.
The margin structure of the late 1920s meant that a modest fall in prices forced sales, which in turn drove prices lower.
The margin arrangement of the late 1920s meant a small drop in prices compelled sales, which then pushed prices down further (Marsh 2021, 142).
Marsh argues that the collapse was self-reinforcing: because holdings were bought on margin, any decline triggered forced selling, and that selling caused the next decline (2021, 142).
The difference is that the third version was written after understanding the point, not while looking at the sentence.
A method that works: read the passage, close it, wait a moment, then write what it said from memory. Reopen it only to check you got it right. You cannot accidentally reproduce a structure you cannot see.
Quoting properly
- The words inside the quotation marks are exactly as in the original, including its spelling.
- Use an ellipsis
…for material you cut, and square brackets for anything you add or change:[the crash]. - Never cut in a way that changes the meaning. Removing a “not”, or a qualifier like “in some cases”, is misrepresentation.
- Long quotations become block quotations — over 40 words in APA, over four lines in MLA — indented, without quotation marks.
- Quote when the exact wording matters. If you are quoting because it is easier than rewriting, paraphrase instead.
Where the citation goes
A citation covers the sentence it sits in. If a paragraph draws on one source throughout, signal that at the start and cite at the end of each claim — one citation at the very end of a long paragraph leaves everything before it looking like your own work.
The collapse was structural. Margin lending had grown fourfold. Brokers were themselves borrowing to fund it. Regulation had not kept pace (Marsh 2021).
Marsh describes the collapse as structural rather than psychological. She notes that margin lending had grown fourfold, that brokers were themselves borrowing to fund it, and that regulation had not kept pace (2021, 142–45).
What counts as common knowledge
Facts that any reader in the field would know, and that appear undisputed across general sources, do not need citing. “The Wall Street crash occurred in October 1929” is common knowledge. Anything more specific is not.
Cite it if any of these are true:
- You learnt it from a particular source
- It is a statistic, a date only specialists would know, or a figure someone calculated
- It is an interpretation rather than a fact
- Someone in the field could disagree with it
When unsure, cite. There is no penalty for a citation that was not strictly required.
Self-plagiarism
Submitting your own previous work again, for a second module or a second institution, is treated as an academic offence at most universities. If you want to build on an earlier essay, ask first.
AI tools
Rules vary sharply between institutions and sometimes between modules, so check your own before relying on any general advice. Two things are widely true: text generated by a tool and submitted as your own writing is usually treated as misconduct, and where use is permitted it usually has to be declared. Using a tool to check grammar on writing that is already yours is generally uncontroversial; using one to produce the argument is not.
A checklist before you submit
- Every quotation has quotation marks, exact wording and a page number
- Every paraphrase is in your structure, not the original's, and is cited
- No paragraph attributes a run of claims to a source only at its very end
- Every citation in the text is in the reference list, and vice versa
- Your notes distinguish quoted material from your own wording, so nothing leaks in unmarked
- You have checked your institution's rules on AI use