How can I summarize a source without copying?

The biggest cause of accidental plagiarism when summarizing a source is the way people study. Think about times when you've written a paper. You sit at the computer surrounded by your sources, and you alternate between reading a bit and writing a bit. Next thing you know, you've copied! The best way to summarize is to read your source a few times and then lock it away (in the car trunk if you have to) and take a break before returning to the computer and writing the key points from memory. If you stare at the source while summarizing, your smart brain will remember the author's words and sentence structure and spit them back out, earning you an F on your paper. After writing from memory, then go get your source and check the facts so that you don't misrepresent anything. This technique is something you've done before without realizing it: You read the newspaper at work, including an interesting article about a murder, and that evening you tell a friend on the phone all about the murder, summarizing the information when it is no longer in front of you. That's summary! ... But don't forget that when you summarize a source in your writing, you must also include in-text citation.