Plagiarism: is when you take another person's ideas or work and attempt to present it as your own. This could be a matter of copying your friend's work, or it could be taken directly from a book, article, or website without acknowledging that the work is not your own.
Failure to acknowledge other people's ideas and/or statements is seen as Academic Impropriety and can result in serious consequences including expulsion.
Want to learn more about plagiarism? Here's a short video presentation on plagiarism from the or Steelman Library at Southeastern University.
Paraphrase: From the Greek para ("beyond") and phrasis ("to tell"). A rewording of the thought expressed in a previously spoken statement or written work, usually to make the meaning clearer by substituting shorter, simpler words for difficult vocabulary. Also, the use of rewording as a literary device or educational technique. Compare with quotation (ODLIS).
Learn to paraphrase without plagiarising with UCL's Beginner Guide to Paraphrasing.
Try the following activity on paraphrasing (original source Uni of Arizona). Be sure to read all the activity notes to learn the most you can about paraphrasing:
Paraphrasing Practice Activity
Synonym practice is also useful for paraphrasing! You also get to brush up on your English skills:)
Further Resources (University of Reading, 2012)
Turnitin: A plagiarism detection service used by the College for all assignments. Look for the Turnitin symbol on Moodle to find where to upload. Upload in advance of the submission date to check for plagiarism and then edit accordingly.
Interpreting the Similarity Report