Paraphrasing is when you rewrite information that you have read but in your own words.  It's more than just changing a couple of words here and there.

To do it, you:

• Read the content
• Figure out the main points/facts, etc., that the author told you
• Cover the info., or turn away
• Re-write the information in your own words.
• Compare the original information and your version to make sure you added the important points, and that yours isn't still too similar to the original
• Put your paraphrasing into your assignment
• Correctly cite where you got the information that you paraphrased from

Q: Oh....I still have to cite it, even when I re-write it in my own words...

A: YEP.