Example 1 for Engineering

In the box there is an excerpt from page 314 from the book:
T. Gorschek, “Requirements engineering supporting technical product management.” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. Syst. Software Eng., Blekinge Inst. Technology, Ronneby, Sweden, 2006.

After that you can see how a student has integrated information from the excerpt into his own text. The marking […] indicates that part of the text has been excluded. Please notice that the reference list is not included in the example. It should contain the complete reference for the source, in this example according to the IEEE-style.

Excerpt

The successful transfer of knowledge and technology from research to practice implies symbiosis. Close cooperation and collaboration between researchers and practitioners benefit both parties. Researchers get the opportunity to observe first-hand the challenges facing industry, making it possible for research not only to be based on interesting issues, but industry relevant ones. This entails on-site observations and process assessments, as well as collaboration with industry champions when designing and validating new methods, tools and techniques. Industry practitioners benefit as new technology (e.g. methods, tools and techniques) are developed based on tangible and real issues identified on-site, […]

Student text 1
When knowledge and technology is transferred successfully from research to practice it involves symbiosis. Cooperation and collaboration between researchers and practitioners will benefit both sides. Researchers can observe first-hand the challenges facing the industry, and thus base their research on relevant issues, not only interesting ones. The benefit for the industry is that new technology based on the issues identified on-site is developed.

Is this a correct paraphrase?
No, the student has rephrased a few words and phrases but not summarized the text in his own words. The student has also used ideas from the original text without citing the original source.

Student text 2
According to Gorschek [1], close cooperation will aid the transfer of knowledge and technology between researchers and the industry. This relationship enables researchers to find research topics that are useful for the industry, while the industry will get access to new technology which is suited to their needs.

Is this a correct paraphrase?
Yes, this time the paraphrase was written in the student’s own words. The ideas from the original text are included but they have been rephrased. The reference to the source is given with a text reference in the IEEE style. The reporting word According to… makes it clear to the reader that the ideas stated are taken from another text.

Example 2 for Engineering

In the box there is an excerpt from page 24 from the book:
T. Gorschek, “Requirements engineering supporting technical product management.” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. Syst. Software Eng., Blekinge Inst. Technology, Ronneby, Sweden, 2006.

After that you can see how two students have integrated information from the excerpt into their own texts. Please notice that the reference list is not included in the example. It should contain the complete reference for the source.

Utdrag

Requirements prioritization has to be conducted taking several aspects into account. The central notion is that all requirements should be compared and prioritized independent of source. The objective of the prioritization is to get input for requirements selection for subsequent release planning. The overall goal is to deliver the right product to the market at the right time and thus selling and generating revenues. Success is defined by outperforming competitors in the market and delivering a high perceived benefit to customers. From this perspective customer satisfaction is central and optimally customers (and potential customers) should perform prioritizations.

Student text 1
As shown by Gorschek [1], requirements prioritization is a multi-layered process which aims to gain knowledge about the market’s needs in order to make more informed decisions about what kind of products should be developed, and at which time. Success is defined by outperforming competitors in the market and delivering a high perceived benefit to customers.

Is this a correct paraphrase?
No, a reference to the source is given, but the last sentence in the paraphrase is identical to the original text and it was not marked with quotation marks. The reader cannot decide which parts of the paraphrase come from the original text and which are exact quotations.

Student text 2
In his dissertation, Gorschek discusses the concept of requirements prioritization. The main objective of this process is to prioritize customers’ requirements in order to be able to “deliver the right product to the market at the right time and thus selling and generating revenues” [1, p.24].

Is this a correct paraphrase?
Yes, the student begins with a paraphrase and then makes a run-in quotation, marked with quotation marks, of a phrase with was collected from the original text. A reference to the source is given in the IEEE style.