Paraphrasing and Quoting For Members Who are Having Trouble Typing Posts.
This is Paraphrasing and Quoting. The first thing I will say; is that when doing this; you have to give Credit to the Original Maker of the material. Now, I am not sure? But, I am pretty sure; that with this; it is enough; to list the website you got the original material from. You at least have to list the website; and if you want to; you can put in front of it: "Source.". You don't need quotation marks for that. Now, for Paraphrasing; you are puttng the material in your own words. In other words; you look at the original material and then put it how you want. You are puttting it as you would say it. Now, for quoting; you need quotation marks: These: "". You put the quotation marks around the material you are copying. For instance; say you wanted to quote: Max; and Max says: I am going boating; then you would do this: Max said: "I am going boating.". See; you have both Max and what he said. And I have to emphasize this again; you have to put the source. I am just going to say here; if you have troubles with English; and or you don't have enough material to post; you may want to try this? But, I have to say too; some other Members warn against Paraphrasing and Quoting; so you may want to ask around? And you may want to ask Kyle and Carrson too? Just type Kyle into the search engine here on WA; click on his name and ask; and after do the same for Carson too; if you want to? And in the replies; if any Members who have warnings against Paraphrasing and Quoting; please feel free to add? Thank you. Hope this helps?
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What about stuff thatis commonly known. Everybody has heard of the 1849 California gold rush. Last night I wrote in my WA blog "On January 24th, 1848 James Marshall discovered gold at Sutters Mill near Corona California."
I didn't use quotation marks. I already knew the facts except for the exact date, which I looked up on wikipedia.
I think in that case you just say On January 24th, 1848 blah, blah, blah (Source: Wikipedia) I recently talk about some the largest databases in the world and then at the end I said (Source: Washington Congress Statistics)
I don't think I'll be sued for not attributing government statistics or wikipedia. All that's OK if you are writing a scholarly article but I don't like breaking up the easy flow of words for the reader.
"The easier to read, the fewer will lose interest. People have the attention span of a rock." - Me
I don't think you will be sued either; but I am just saying; it is accepted that when you use someone else's material; you should give credit where and from who you got the material from; no offense meant; but if someone used your material; you would want credit? Wouldn't you? Just saying.
If something is common knowledge to most people or historical fact nobody owns that information. All of the media report the same occurrences, they just put their own spin on it. If you are a reporter and your story about a bank robbery is published in the newspaper you and/or the publisher own your words but not the facts of the robbery.
There were some classes in college where the professor would require that you use a certain number of footnotes when writing a paper. Makes for some pretty dry reading but we are in the business of writing for entertainment and giving our opinions.
I wrote a pretty long blog post today. Whenever it was relevant I would say "according to......" without the quotation marks unless it was a direct quotation from the source. I did not attribute wikipedia for information that I paraphrased. I want the ready to be informed by what I write but I also strive for easy readability with a smooth flow of words from paragraph to paragraph.
I am not writing scholarly tomes nor scientific or technical articles.
I wasn't talking about Common Knowledge; I was talking about when you take information from a page. Yes, if it is Common Knowledge; I know it is free to use. But, I am talking about when there is something you don't know; or is something complex; and once again; unknown to you. And you are getting it from a source. In other words; when you are copying someone else's material; you have to give credit. When the material is coming from someone else. You have to give credit. I think I explained this already.
I don't quote a lot unless I specifically want to site the author as an authority to lend credence to what I say.
As for paraphrasing nobody owns an idea. If you can write about the same idea and give a different perspective on it you should be OK.
Do you listen to much music? The great guitarists play the same licks. They just use a different phrasing to make it their own. I think it was Eric Clapton who said "Good musicians borrow. Great ones steal."
Yes if using reference material always best to quote your source.
There are 3 type of source; Primary, Secondary and Tertiary source refrences.
A Primary source is provides direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person, or work of art. Primary sources include historical and legal documents, eyewitness accounts, results of experiments, statistical data, pieces of creative writing, audio and video recordings, speeches, and art objects.
Secondary source is when you quote or paraphrase from a source which is mentioned in another text.
Tertiary Sources are include reference materials and textbooks are considered tertiary sources when their chief purpose is to list, summarize or simply repackage ideas or other information.
Tertiary sources are usually not credited to a particular author.
Best to reference all of these types. I give my interpretation of these sources but the I reference the original article when I am writing about it.
Jen
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Actually, remarkably, it doesn't seem to be a legal requirement to cite your sources - at least, not in a blog.
A blog's first 'job' is to be readable and entertaining, which is difficult to be if your reader is constantly being linked away to another site.
If you desperately want to cite your sources then you could simply have a list of the sources at the end of your post like:
Sources for this post are:
Then list the websites
After all, we're not writing academic papers that are going to be put up for peer review.
Having said that - the one place you definitely need citations for are images - unless you obtain them from copyright-free sites such as Pixabay, Unsplash and Pexels to name a few.
Well, I know law on the Internet is not very well enforced; but if you make a search about this; copying and paraphrasing; you will see that there are laws about it. As for images; I have another blog on that. But, as for the links; you put them at the end; the ones giving credit. And I think I said this before; some Members say if you quote and put the page; you are "Duplicating" which some Members say Google doesn't like. But, I am not sure? You may want to ask around?
Good reply Michael, it made me go off and do some research - because I didn't know the 'rules' and this is what I found.
1. If you copy and paste a whole blog post onto your blog and publish it; you are guilty of duplicate content, even if you cite your source. And, you're right - Google would not be impressed.
Instead, write a synopsis of the article by highlighting a few points and then link back to the source through your citation
2. If the original source contains material that is so good you couldn't possibly add to it then keep your quotation to a maximum of 2 paragraphs.
If you can't then you are better off rewriting it in your own words
3. If you are going to quote - make sure people realize it's a quote by using the blockquote tool in your wordpress editor - if it doesn't come with one then center the quote in your content and italicize it.
4. If you absolutely must quote a whole article then get permission first. Email the original author and ask if you can repost their article on your blog. They should give permission - after all who doesn't like free press - right?
Remember to cite the author and link back to the website where it originated from but also add a sentence at the end stating you've had permission - something like - 'Article reposted with permission from ... '
Hope that helps - good article Michael - it is good to be aware of the rules; none of us want Google to penalize us!
Source: Websitemuscle.com
You know what; I am going to have to look over this again; it is so much information. But, I will admit; I might keep to my own way of doing it; even if Google is not impressed. But, thank you for the sweeping amount of date you have given. And when I can; I will look over it again. No Offense meant; it is just a lot of data to take in all at once: Thanks again.