Writing in Your Own Words

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Supplementary Material Faculty of Social Sciences Writing in Your Own Words

Writing in Your Own Words Prepared by Peter Redman

Contents 1 2

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4

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Introduction

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Writing in your own words: an overview

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2.1

What is meant by ‘writing in your own words’?

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2.2

Why is writing in your own words so important?

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2.3

How to ensure that you have written using your own words

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Exploring writing in your own words in greater depth

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3.1

Writing in your own words: a worked example

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3.2

Why is writing in your own words so important? Some further advice

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3.3

How can you ensure that you have written using your own words? Some further advice

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What tutors are likely to do if they find material that is copied or closely paraphrased

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4.1

Level 1

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4.2

Level 2

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4.3

Levels 3 and 4 and postgraduate study

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References

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NB: Please file this booklet for future reference.

Copyright © 2003 The Open University 2.1

SUP 74166 4

1 Introduction At some point in their studies most students will have read or been told that they must write ‘using their own words’, or will have been warned about ‘plagiarism’ (that is, deliberately attempting to pass off someone else’s work as your own). The problem is that, particularly at the start of their studies or when returning after a long absence, students are not always sure what ‘writing in your own words’ means. Sometimes they are even unaware of the fact that they have copied or very closely paraphrased the academic material from which they are working. If you are a student who is at all unsure about these issues, then Writing in Your Own Words is for you. Writing in Your Own Words has been produced by the Faculty of Social Sciences to help you get to grips with the sometimes difficult task of producing academic material that is based on a thorough understanding of your sources and which you have thereby ‘made your own’. As you will see, one of the reasons this is so important is that, when work is produced in this way, it avoids the danger of being either copied or closely paraphrased from those sources. The booklet is divided into three main sections: •

Section 2 provides you with some quick reference summaries that identify what is meant by writing in your own words; why writing in your own words is important; and how to ensure that you have written using your own words.

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Section 3 takes you through a worked example, demonstrating what it looks like to write using your own words. This section also discusses in more detail why writing in your own words is important and how to ensure that you achieve this.

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Finally, section 4 tells you how tutors (sometimes referred to as Associate Lecturers or ‘ALs’) are likely to respond to copied, closely paraphrased or plagiarized work at different levels of Open University study.

Clearly, you will not necessarily have to read this booklet from cover to cover. Depending on your needs, you may want to refer only to the quick reference section or to section 4. Alternatively, you may feel that you want to explore writing in your own words in more depth, in which case you will probably choose to read section 3 with some care. However, whatever you decide, it is possible that you will have to refer to Writing in Your Own Words at a future point in your studies. Indeed, your tutor may explicitly ask you to do this. In consequence, you are strongly recommended to file this booklet so that it can be easily retrieved.

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2 Writing in your own words: an overview Learning to write using your own words is an important part of an academic education. However, as was noted in the Introduction, it is sometimes difficult to grasp exactly what ‘writing in your own words’ involves. In order to help you in this task, you will find below some quick reference checklists identifying: what is meant by writing in your own words; why writing in your own words is important; and, how to ensure that you have written using your own words. If you want to follow up these points, you will find more detailed advice and guidance, including a worked example, in section 3.

2.1 What is meant by ‘writing in your own words’? •

Academic writing often involves summarizing, synthesizing, analysing or evaluating other people’s arguments. To ‘write in your own words’ means to reflect on and digest such source material and then to discuss or redeploy this using your own vocabulary, appropriate references, and an argument that is structured to address the specific task in hand.

•

As this implies, writing in your own words involves much more than changing an odd word or phrase from your source material. As well as providing appropriate references, you should aim to use different vocabulary, delete superfluous points, and adapt the structure of the argument to your own purposes (for example, to address the precise demands of a tutor-marked assignment (TMA) question). In short, you should ‘make the material your own’.

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It is acceptable to repeat some words or phrases, particularly where these are part of the technical vocabulary of the discipline.

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If, for illustrative purposes, you need to provide a brief quotation or to reproduce a photograph, diagram, table or similar visual aid from your source material, you should always use any necessary quotation marks or indentations (for text) and supply appropriate reference details. Guidance on quoting and referencing may be available in your course materials. Alternatively, detailed advice can be found in Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide (Redman, 2001), while more general guidance is available in The Good Study Guide (Northedge, 1990).

2.2 Why is writing in your own words so important? •

Putting ideas into your own words is part of the process of ‘internalizing’ them or making them your own. It will help clarify your understanding of these ideas, will improve your ability to recall them in the future, and will enable you to deploy them in new contexts.

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The ability to explain something using your own words demonstrates your understanding of it and will allow your tutor to award marks accordingly.

•

Using your own words demonstrates that your work is your own. Claiming someone else’s work as your own is called ‘plagiarism’ and, if done deliberately, is a serious academic offence. (For further information on the University’s policy on plagiarism, and its sanctions against it, see the Assessment Handbook.)

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2.3 How to ensure that you have written using your own words •

Always write notes in your own words. This will prevent them being unwittingly copied into your final piece of work without being properly attributed.

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Make time to check your work against your source material. Is it copied or closely paraphrased? If so, you will need to go back and revise any affected passages.

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Students sometimes copy difficult material. To avoid this, try to clarify any areas of uncertainty by discussing them in advance with fellow students and/or your tutor.

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Students sometimes copy inadvertently when under abnormal pressure. If you are under this kind of pressure, it may be in your interests, where this is permitted, to seek an extension to the cut-off date (remember to ask for this in advance of the cut-off date, however); to submit a partially finished piece of work; or, where this is permitted, to opt for substitution. You should discuss your options with your tutor before making any decision. (Guidance on requesting extensions and on substitution is available in the Assessment Handbook.)

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Don’t be tempted to copy deliberately. If you have a problem with the course, talk to your tutor. It is likely that she or he will be able to help you identify a better solution.

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3 Exploring writing in your own words in greater depth Perhaps the best way to grasp what ‘writing in your own words’ involves is to explore a worked example. As you will see, the example that has been chosen is a lighthearted one. Nevertheless, it usefully illustrates what it actually means to write in your own words.

3.1 Writing in your own words: a worked example The following is an extract from a popular cookery book, Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef: If I asked most people if they made risotto at home I reckon most would say ‘no’, and would think it was just poncy restaurant food. … But risottos are really meant to be cooked at home – you can prepare them easily, and can make them warming and wholesome or delicate and light. They are cheap and can be eaten all year round. I think a few restaurants bastardize the whole method and principle of risotto. The perfect risotto should slowly ooze across the plate, not be made into a tower or a mould – the fact that it isn’t moving tells you that it’s too dry. Yuck! (Oliver, 2001, p.169) Imagine for a moment that we need to review this argument for an assessed piece of work. It is, of course, possible that Jamie Oliver’s thoughts on risottos would not be central to the overall argument we are trying to develop. As such, we might need to refer to them only in passing. For instance, we might write: Oliver (2001, p.169) suggests that risotto is easy to make despite the fact that it is often thought of as a dish served mainly in restaurants. In such circumstances, it is pretty easy to write using our own words. As you can see, this summary of Jamie Oliver’s argument is so brief that we could not be accused of having copied it or of having paraphrased the original too closely. If, however, the argument demands that we include a more detailed summary of Jamie Oliver’s points, our task becomes more difficult. How do we avoid copying or closely paraphrasing the original text? There is, of course, a number of ways we could summarize the passage, but one version might look something like this: Version A: Jamie Oliver (2001) argues that risotto is an economical dish that is easy to cook at home, is suitable for any season and can be made so that it is either nourishing or lighter and more subtly flavoured. He also argues that, while risotto is frequently thought of as what he calls ‘poncy restaurant food’ (p.169), restaurant-prepared versions of the dish are sometimes too dry and, as such, detract from its true character.

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What does this tell us about ‘writing in our own words’? First, it is obvious that the paragraph summarizes Jamie Oliver’s points. From this we can conclude that using our own words does not mean writing without reference to source materials or using only our personal experience. In fact, unless specifically told to do otherwise, your assessed work will need to summarize, synthesize, analyse and evaluate arguments and evidence from the course itself. As such, you will need to take care to acknowledge whose arguments are being considered. For example, you will see that Version A begins with the statement, ‘Jamie Oliver (2001) argues that …’. This clearly identifies that the ideas that follow are Jamie Oliver’s and not those of the student who wrote it. Having said this, it is also clear that, while the paragraph remains true to Jamie Oliver’s original meaning, the vocabulary is substantially different, the structure of the argument has been reorganized and some less relevant points have been omitted. This is important because students sometimes think that ‘writing in your own words’ simply means taking a paragraph from the course and changing an odd word, omitting a couple of phrases or rearranging a number of sentences. For instance, instead of Version A, above, another student might have come up with the following, rather problematic, summary: Version B: Jamie Oliver argues that, if asked whether they made risotto at home, most people would say ‘no’. This is because they think of risotto as poncy restaurant food. However, risottos are really meant to be cooked at home. As Jamie Oliver argues, they are easy to prepare and can be made warming and wholesome or delicate and light. They are also cheap and can be eaten all the year round. Oliver goes on to suggest that some restaurants bastardize risottos. The perfect risotto, he claims, should ooze across the plate. If it’s in a tower or a mould and therefore not moving it is too dry. If you compare Version B to the original extract from The Naked Chef you will see that, although it is not always copied word for word, it paraphrases the original very closely, keeping the same order of the argument and using much of the same vocabulary, sentence structure and so on. In addition, although it identifies Jamie Oliver as the author, it does not provide any reference details. As such, it could justifiably be accused of being copied. As we saw in Version A, writing in your own words is very different from this. Rather than copying, it involves reflecting on and digesting someone else’s ideas, then producing your own interpretation of these and/or reworking them so that they address the specific task in hand (for example, answering a TMA question). In fact, one of the best ways to ensure that you have used your own words is, first, to study your source material carefully, taking any appropriate notes as you go, and then to put this source material away. If you do this you will be forced to write using your own terms and based on your own understanding of the material. In addition, this process will help you shape or reorientate the original points to your own particular needs. Of course, this does not mean that your summary must be one hundred per cent different from the original source material. For instance, although the vocabulary used in Version A is substantially different from that in the original extract from The Naked Chef, you may have noticed that some of the words are the same. Does this matter? The short answer is, no. Most obviously, since Jamie Oliver is writing about risotto, it would be very strange if the paragraph did not mention this dish by name. Like cooking, academic disciplines also have their own technical terms. Clearly, you

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will often need to ‘unpack’ such technical vocabulary in order to demonstrate your understanding of the ideas that lie behind it. However, one of the skills you will be developing in the course of your studies is the ability to deploy technical vocabulary in your own work. In consequence, you can expect to repeat technical words and phrases used in the course material as well as the odd everyday term or expression. Finally, you will notice that the second sentence in Version A also includes a short quotation taken directly from Jamie Oliver’s original text (that is, it refers to ‘poncy restaurant food’). Although this phrase is copied directly from the original it is clearly signalled as a quotation by the use of single inverted commas and by the page reference immediately following it. Quotations like this are often used as evidence to support an argument or to illustrate or amplify a particular point. In this case, the quotation marks also serve to warn the reader that Jamie Oliver’s choice of vocabulary would not necessarily be the writer’s own. It is perfectly acceptable to use quotations of this kind so long as you follow the standard conventions for quoting written material (that is, you place quoted text in single inverted commas or, for longer quotations, in a separate paragraph indented at the left margin; and you reference your source). As mentioned in section 2.1 above, guidance on use of quotations and references may be available in your course materials. Alternatively, detailed advice can be found in Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide (Redman, 2001), while more general advice is available in The Good Study Guide (Northedge, 1990). Again as mentioned in section 2.1, as well as written quotations, you may sometimes need to use photographs, maps, diagrams, tables or other visual material in order to illustrate or amplify a point, or as evidence to support an argument. Once again, this is perfectly acceptable so long as you clearly reference your source. However, whenever quoting written or visual material, you should make sure that the quotation supports rather than replaces your own argument. In other words, you will need to show how and why a particular table, map, or short written extract is important to your own argument rather than assuming that it will do your work for you.

3.2 Why is writing in your own words so important? Some further advice Why is it so important to use your own words in academic writing? As was previously summarized in section 2.2, there are three main reasons for this: 1

Putting an argument into your own words clarifies your understanding of it. The fact of the matter is that, in the process of putting someone else’s argument into your own words, you will be forced to get to grips with it. For example, you may have noticed in everyday life occasions when, although you think you have understood something, you have subsequently found it difficult to explain this point to someone else. Academic work is much the same. It is the process of explaining something that clarifies your understanding of it and helps you ‘internalize’ it. Thus, if you simply copy something, it is likely that you will have only half digested it. However, if you put it into your own words – if, in effect, you explain it to yourself or someone else – the likelihood is that it will start to make more sense. In addition, by making ideas your own in this way, you will also remember them better in the future and will be able to apply them in new and varied contexts (such as exams).

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Writing in your own words demonstrates that you have understood a topic. If writing something in your own words improves your understanding of a topic, it also demonstrates to your tutor that you have understood this material. As a

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result, he or she will be able to award marks accordingly. Conversely, if you submit work that is simply copied word-for-word from another source, or is very closely paraphrased, your tutor will have little sense of how much you have truly understood. As a result, he or she will be unable to give you many marks for this work. 3

By writing in your own words you will avoid plagiarizing other people’s work. One of the most fundamental rules of academic life is that you should never claim someone else’s work as your own. Obviously, if you copy something from elsewhere, paraphrase it very closely or do not acknowledge your sources (for example, by failing to provide references), there is a real possibility that someone could think that you are claiming to be its original author. We saw an example of this in ‘Version B’ in section 3.1 above. Claiming someone else’s work as your own (whether text or visual material) is called plagiarism. If done deliberately, it is considered to be a serious academic offence since it is a form of cheating or theft. Because of its seriousness, the University is obliged to have strict rules against deliberate plagiarism. These are explained in the Assessment Handbook.

3.3 How can you ensure that you have written using your own words? Some further advice Students might copy or closely paraphrase a text for one of the following reasons: •

because they have copied an unattributed extract into their notes and then transferred this into their final piece of work;

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if they are unsure about the meaning of the text or are worried that if they use their own words, they will ‘get it wrong’;

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if they are under abnormal pressure;

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if they feel the text cannot be improved; or

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because they are unsure what ‘writing in their own words’ means, are unfamiliar with academic referencing conventions, or (sometimes) because English is not their first language.

Of course, the easiest way to ensure that you have not inadvertently copied or closely paraphrased your source material is to take time to check your writing against these sources. If it is copied or closely paraphrased, you will need to go back and rewrite it. However, there is a number of strategies you can adopt to prevent yourself getting into this situation in the first place. Some of these were summarized in section 2.3. Here, they will be explored in slightly more detail. To avoid the first of the problems noted above – transferring copied material from your notes into your final piece of work – you should always make notes using your own words. If you do need to copy a short extract into your notes (for instance, if when preparing for a specific TMA question you identify a possible quotation), be sure to put it in inverted commas and write down the necessary reference details so that you can easily reproduce these in your final piece of work. To avoid the second problem – inadvertently copying difficult material – try to discuss anything you don’t understand with fellow students and/or your tutor. Having done this, have another go at putting the point into your own words. As was noted earlier, the process of putting something into your own words will help you understand it better. Of course, sometimes you will still get things wrong. However, if you use your own words, your tutor is more likely to be able to identify the problem and to help you. If you copy or lean very heavily on the course materials it will be much more difficult for your tutor to identify the exact nature of any

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misunderstanding and, in consequence, he or she will be less likely to be in a position to offer you appropriate support and advice. The third problem – inadvertent copying or close paraphrasing when under abnormal pressure (for instance, if your submission deadline coincides with moving house) – is, by its nature, more difficult to address. Pressure points of this kind can sometimes be avoided by careful forward planning. However, this is not always possible. In such circumstances, it may be in your best interests, where this is permitted, to seek an extension (remember to do this in advance of the cut-off date); to submit a partially completed piece of work; or, where this is permitted, to opt for substitution. Your tutor will be able to advise you on your best course of action. (Guidance on requesting extensions and on substitution is available in the Assessment Handbook.) As was noted in the fourth bullet point above, it is also the case that students sometimes copy extracts because they feel they ‘can’t improve on them’ – in effect, because the original author had already used the best words for the job. If you feel this to be so, it might be appropriate to use a brief quotation from this material (remembering to follow the conventions for referencing and quotations, as mentioned earlier). However, you should keep in mind that the point of assessed work is to demonstrate your own understanding of a topic, not the elegance of someone else’s writing. The final problem – unfamiliarity with referencing conventions or the convention that you should write using your own words – is something that can only be overcome with experience. Indeed, your skills in these areas should improve as you progress in your studies. If you are unsure what it means to ‘write using your own words’, take a look at section 3.1 above. If you are unsure about using academic referencing conventions, you may find advice in your course materials. Alternatively, as mentioned previously, detailed advice is available in Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide (Redman, 2001), while more general advice can be found in The Good Study Guide (Northedge, 1990). These resources may also be useful if English is not your first language. In addition, further help may be available from your Regional Centre. Please note, however, that for the purposes of examination and assessment, the University expects students to write using standard English. Equally, you will need to bear in mind that it is often necessary to ‘reorientate’ the course material in order to address the task in hand (such as a specific TMA question). In other words, although the course material might appear to use the best words for the job, it is possible that – as they stand – they will not be directly relevant to your current purpose. In such circumstances, you will need to use your own words in order to reorientate the point being made so that it addresses this purpose. Very rarely, a student will be tempted to plagiarize deliberately – perhaps because he or she has fallen behind with the course or has dropped a grade on a previous piece of assessed work. If you ever find yourself tempted to plagiarize, don’t do it. As was noted in section 3.2 above, deliberate plagiarism can have serious consequences. Instead, speak to your tutor who is likely to be able to help you address whatever the underlying problem happens to be.

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4 What tutors are likely to do if they find material that is copied or closely paraphrased This section offers some general guidelines on what tutors are likely to do if, in grading a student’s work, they come across material that is copied or closely paraphrased from another source. However, these are not hard and fast rules. This is because tutors will take into account the specific circumstances of a particular case and will exercise their professional judgement in responding to these. As you will see, the guidelines are broken down by level of study, beginning at Level 1. This reflects the different expectations the Faculty has of students at each of these levels.

4.1 Level 1 •

In the early weeks of Level 1 study, tutors are likely to be sympathetic to any initial problems that students may have learning to write using their own words. Unless the problem is extensive, they will probably point out material that is copied or closely paraphrased and offer advice on how to address this.

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Later on in a Level 1 course, and certainly by its second half, it is reasonable to expect that students will understand that source material should not be copied or closely paraphrased. As a result, unless the problem is trivial (for example, a missing reference or a closely paraphrased single sentence), tutors are likely to deduct marks from work that contains copied or closely paraphrased material.

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For example, if assessed work includes a paragraph or an equivalent number of individual sentences copied or closely paraphrased from the sources used in its compilation, it is unlikely to receive a grade in the Pass 1 band. This might also apply where references are absent. Similarly, work that would otherwise have received a mark below Pass 1 is likely to be pulled down towards or below the previous grade boundary. For instance, work that would have received a mid to high Pass 2 score might now receive a low Pass 2 or even a Pass 3 score depending on the extent of the problem.

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If large parts of a piece of work are copied or very closely paraphrased, a tutor will not be able to identify how much of the material the student concerned has really understood. As a result, it is unlikely that she or he will be able to award many marks for this material – even if this is in the early stages of the course – and, in consequence, the overall piece of work may receive a fail grade.

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In the rare instances that a tutor believes deliberate cheating may have been attempted (for example, if an assignment has been copied from another student’s work), she or he will follow the University’s standard procedures for cases of this kind.

4.2 Level 2 •

Since the ability to write using your own words is a basic academic skill, grading criteria for Level 2 courses assume that students have developed this skill in their Level 1 or other previous studies.

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As a result, unless the problem is trivial (for example, a missing reference or a closely paraphrased single sentence), tutors are likely to deduct marks from work that contains copied or closely paraphrased material.

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For example, if assessed work includes a paragraph or an equivalent number of individual sentences copied or closely paraphrased from the sources used in its compilation, it is unlikely to receive a grade above the mid-range of the Pass 2 band. This might also apply where references are absent. Similarly, work that would otherwise have received a mark below the mid-range of the Pass 2 band is likely to be pulled down towards or below the previous grade boundary. For instance, work that would have received a mid to high Pass 3 score might now receive a low Pass 3 or even a Pass 4 score depending on the extent of the problem.

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If large parts of a piece of work are copied or very closely paraphrased, a tutor will not be able to identify how much of the material the student concerned has really understood. As a result, it is unlikely that she or he will be able to award many marks for this material and, in consequence, the overall piece of work may receive a fail grade.

•

In the rare instances that a tutor believes deliberate cheating may have been attempted (for example, if an assignment has been copied from another student’s work), she or he will follow the University’s standard procedures for cases of this kind.

4.3 Levels 3 and 4 and postgraduate study •

As at Level 2, since the ability to write using your own words is a basic academic skill, grading criteria for Level 3 courses and above assume that students have developed this skill in their previous studies.

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As a result, unless the problem is trivial (for example, a missing reference or a closely paraphrased single sentence), tutors are likely to deduct marks from work that contains copied or closely paraphrased material.

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For example, if assessed work includes a paragraph or an equivalent number of individual sentences copied or closely paraphrased from the sources used in its compilation, it is unlikely to receive a grade above the Pass 2/3 grade boundary or its equivalent. This might also apply where references are absent or are very poorly executed. Similarly, work that would otherwise have received a mark below the Pass 2/3 grade boundary or its equivalent is likely to receive a lower mark.

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If large parts of a piece of work are copied or very closely paraphrased, a tutor will not be able to identify how much of the material the student concerned has really understood. As a result, it is unlikely that she or he will be able to award many marks for this material and, in consequence, the overall piece of work may receive a fail grade.

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In the rare instances that a tutor believes deliberate cheating may have been attempted (for example, if an assignment has been copied from another student’s work), she or he will follow the University’s standard procedures for cases of this kind.

5 References Northedge, A. (1990) The Good Study Guide, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Oliver, J. (2001) The Naked Chef, London, Penguin. Redman, P. (2001) Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide, London, Sage in association with The Open University.

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