Is Paraphrasing Still Plagiarism? An Effective Guide

Is Paraphrasing Still Plagiarism? An Effective Guide
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Uploaded On: March 20, 2023

Writing quality content is no less than a tremendous task for people with poor writing skills. We all know the challenges an individual may have to face while writing appealing and engaging content. From research to appropriate sentence structure, writers need to focus on different aspects of content creation. Learning the grammar rules and expanding vocabulary to make your writing are a few other essential steps that are demanded from an excellently written article. But what if a person is lacking in all of them? Is there any way to create appealing content for such an individual? Well, rephrasing is the perfect option for people with inappropriate writing skills. Paraphrasing allows such people to create quality content within a short span without duplicating others’ work.

What is Paraphrasing?

Restructuring the published content to create a new version is known as paraphrasing. It is an advantageous technique that enables people with limited vocabulary and less grammar knowledge to create attractive and engaging articles. In this method, you first need to find well-written, relevant content for your assigned topic. Once you find it, read it carefully to learn its actual meaning, and then write in your own words. In case you find rewriting a difficult task, simply opt for an online rephrasing tool that will rewrite the entire article automatically and gives you fresh and unique content in no time.

Plagiarism vs. Paraphrasing

The question that might be popping into individual minds would be how rewriting already published content is different from plagiarism. Well, plagiarism is an act of copying the text written by another author without giving due credit. This practice is illegal and causes serious penalties that can ruin one’s career. All universities, colleges, and other educational platforms have a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism and award students committing this crime with an F grade.

On the other hand, paraphrasing is elaborating others’ ideas in your own words. This practice, if performed appropriately, doesn’t involve stealing others’ information. Instead, the writer analyzes the content presented by other writers and rewrites it using different vocabulary to make it easy to understand for the readers. However, citing the original source of information is essential in rephrasing as well to avoid any undesired situation.

Is It Plagiarism If You Paraphrase?

This is a tricky question! The answer to this very question is “It Depends.” Paraphrasing will consider plagiarism if it includes a blunt duplication of phrases of the original text. Therefore, you need to rewrite the entire content in your own words while keeping the original meaning of the content to save yourself from the charges of plagiarism. Changing the synonyms of a few words and calling them paraphrasing can’t save you from being penalized. Instead, understanding the core meaning of the original content and then explaining it in your own way is a better practice. Moreover, citation is another crucial factor in this regard. Paraphrasing is basically the presentation of other authors’ ideas. Therefore, you will be found guilty if you don’t cite the source while rephrasing a text. Moreover, using a standard citation style is essential to avoid any charges of plagiarism.

How Does Paraphrasing Avoid Becoming Plagiarism?

Paraphrasing is all about reusing already published words or ideas in a manner not identical to their language. In this practice, writers offer their own interpretation of other writers’ pieces of work rather than copying them. Many people believe rephrasing is an easy way to avoid plagiarism, but it’s not simple to execute the task.

Rephrasing a text doesn’t mean you quote them from word to word at all. It is expected of you to add your own perception or input to the content. Certainly, the original idea of the content remains similar in paraphrasing. But, the sentence structure and the pattern to convey the same information can differ as per your preference. But, it is certain that paraphrasing is not considered plagiarism until you are not misrepresenting someone’s information and citing the author or source of text adequately. Citing the source while paraphrasing will count as an act of credit.

Effective Ways to Paraphrase

Paraphrasing is an essential skill for writers that enables them to write quality content in a limited span without practicing plagiarism. But how can we paraphrase content appropriately? Well, anyone who is looking for some assistance in learning the efficient way of restricting published content must go through the information shared below with complete concentration. Here, we will share a few tips that will support you in paraphrasing content effectively.

● Try Using Relevant Synonyms

It is the most used practice to rewrite content, in which the writer changes the words with the most suitable and relevant keywords. But, having an excellent vocabulary is an essential part, which helps you replace the words with perfect synonyms. Also, taking assistance from online utilities is another great way to find suitable synonyms.

● Modify Structure

Another useful approach to rephrase a text appropriately is by modifying the structure of the content. But, it is important to learn how word families work if you want to choose this method. The helpful way to follow this practice is to change the nouns to verbs, verbs to nouns, etc.

● Transform the Active to the Passive

Changing the voice of a verb can be useful to rephrase published content to surpass the plagiarism test. Transforming active voice into passive voice allows you to rephrase the text easily.

● Modify Word Order

Many people consider replacing words with their synonyms the only way to rewrite content. However, modifying the structure of sentences, changing the word form, or altering the grammatical structure is also a useful way to rewrite a text.

● Combine Multiple Techniques

Using any of the methods will be of great use when it comes to excellent paraphrasing. However, relying only on a single technique may not provide you with desired results. In such cases, opting for combining multiple techniques is a great approach that will help you paraphrase like a pro. For instance, using synonyms combined with modifying sentence structure or transforming active voice to passive voice will encourage your efforts and improve your rephrasing skills.

Use Online Paraphrasing Tools to Get Perfect Rephrasing Results

Individuals who face serious complications while rephrasing content manually due to less knowledge about grammar rules can take the assistance of technology. Using an advanced paraphrasing tool speeds up the rephrasing process and provides you with perfect output within a few seconds. Also, the method of getting rephrasing results using an online facility is simple and straightforward. Simply access an advanced article rewriter like the one available on our platform. Enter the text you desire to restructure on the tool and hit a few tabs. The facility will paraphrase the entire text itself and give you the quickest results. The results generated from this facility will be unique and grammatically flawless. You can ensure the uniqueness of the paraphrased text using the online plagiarism checker facility offered on this website.

Final Words

In the last analysis, paraphrasing is a highly useful approach for creating content in bulk within a few seconds. Many people often confuse paraphrasing with plagiarism, although both terms are entirely different from each other. Paraphrasing is rewriting the published content using your own words while maintaining the text’s actual meaning. On the other hand, plagiarism is stealing someone’s work and presenting it as your own creation. Plagiarism is an illegal and unethical act that can cause serious circumstances for plagiarists. However, paraphrasing is fine until it’s done appropriately and you cite the source or author.

This blog post would have helped you learn the differences between plagiarism and paraphrasing. Also, the tips shared in this post will certainly enable you to rephrase a text efficiently.