Framingham State College The Writing Guide by CASA Plagiarism Revising and Editing Drafting Researching Prewriting

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the questions that CASA writing tutors get most frequently.

How do I paraphrase properly, so I don’t get accused of plagiarism?

Students will sometime quote even when they don’t need the exact words from the source just to avoid the pitfalls of paraphrasing. To paraphrase well, you need to really understand the original source, put it away, and then write the ideas in your own words. Then you can check your “translation” against the original. For more information, check out our Paraphrase page under Researching. You might also want to look at our Quotation page to see the differences between the two.

When do I insert a comma?

Commas are for brief pauses: not enough to stop a thought completely, but enough for a quick shift in thought and rhythm. Commas go in lots of places, depending on the structure of your sentences. For specific situations and examples, visit our Comma section under Revising and Editing.