Last Updated on January 10, 2023 by Pius
Is Paraphrasing Plagiarism: Paraphrase Without Plagiarizing
Paraphrasing is the process of rephrasing information without altering the original meaning. Examining the unfamiliar words used by the author and comparing your paraphrase to the original text ensures that you have completed the task correctly.
We spoke with several of our essay writing experts who help hundreds of customers earn high grades, and they provided us with numerous insights that we share below.
They have excelled at a variety of tasks that require paraphrasing. You can hire them to paraphrase an essay for you and ensure that you receive the best results and grades. However, let us consider whether or not the paraphrased text is considered plagiarized.
Is Paraphrasing Considered Plagiarism?
Yes and no to this question. Paraphrasing can be defined as the act of rewriting the original text in such a way that the new text is unique but retains the original text’s meaning.
On the other hand, plagiarism is defined as the act of appropriating another writer’s ideas or work and passing them off as your own.
After addressing that point, let us examine whether or not paraphrasing is considered a form of plagiarism.
In practice, paraphrasing is considered plagiarism if you present another author’s work without properly crediting the author through citation or reference to the source. This is because plagiarism is misrepresenting the information of another person as your own. However, paraphrasing is not considered plagiarism if the source of information is acknowledged.
Instances When Paraphrasing Becomes Plagiarism
You can now see why the answer to the question is yes and no based on the definitions of paraphrasing and plagiarism. The flowing sections will examine when paraphrasing crosses the line into plagiarism.
- If you have Not Cited the source
If you do not cite the source from which you obtained the information, paraphrasing becomes plagiarism. Bear in mind that plagiarism occurs when you cite incorrectly or do not cite at all.
As previously stated, paraphrasing is the act of rewriting another person’s text in such a way that the original meaning is retained. In contrast, plagiarism is the act of appropriating another person’s work or ideas as your own.
Therefore, if you have paraphrased and not acknowledged the original text’s author, you have appropriated their work and passed it off as your own.
You have omitted an in-text citation to indicate that the work or ideas are not entirely your own.
- When there are No References
If you do not include complete references on the final page of your essay or paper in addition to the in-text citations within the body paragraphs, your paraphrasing will be considered plagiarism.
- When you give Incorrect citations
The same holds true for erroneous citations. If you paraphrase some text and include incorrect or incorrect citations, your paper will be considered plagiarized.
It is critical to learn how to properly cite sources in the required format, such as APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, or Harvard.
- No supporting points or opinion
There are some instances in which you may be tempted to paraphrase text without providing evidence or support. To avoid plagiarism, you must back up everything with facts and/or opinions.
- If you picked someone’s paper
This is the most egregious instance of plagiarism. If you steal another person’s paper and pass it off as your own, you have committed a severe academic offence of stealing another person’s intellectual property.
It is important to note that plagiarizing someone else’s work can be detrimental to your grades and may also constitute illegal plagiarism if it is established that you benefited financially or gained an unfair advantage.
Instances When Paraphrasing Is Not Plagiarism
- Sources are cited and referenced
If you paraphrase another author’s work and properly cite and reference the author and source of information, your paper will not be considered plagiarism.
This is because you will have acknowledged that the information was not yours and that it is the property of other authors.
- You have included personal points alongside sources
This is critical to substantiate the paraphrased points or ideas. You are elaborating on the points, demonstrating the comprehension of your paper’s information source and topic. Remember to cite and reference all paraphrases.
- When you have conducted original research
This is the most effective way to avoid plagiarism. There is no need to paraphrase anything here, as this is your own research.
Additionally, if you incorporate outside sources, you will almost certainly include citations and references as a result of your original research.
How to Paraphrase Without Plagiarizing
When paraphrasing is performed incorrectly, it is easy to identify as cheating. When someone presents a paraphrased work without acknowledging the original author, this can be construed as cheating.
Referencing must be accurate and consistent with established standards. APA, MLA, and the Chicago style are just a few of the referencing styles that can be used. These ensure that your paper properly acknowledges the original author’s work and avoids plagiarism.
To avoid plagiarism, you must include a superscript number at the end of each sentence that contains information from the source.
This number should correspond to a footnote in which you include:
- The author’s name.
- The title of their work.
- The publication dates.
- Any other pertinent information.
What you include in this section is determined by the citation style you are using. Numerous citation styles are available, including Chicago A, OSCOLA, ACS, Turabian, AMA, and NLM.
To avoid accusations of plagiarism, it is critical to include in-text citations. It should be carried out properly to avoid plagiarism.
Not only can an in-text citation be used to paraphrase, but it can also be used to refer to, quote, or summarize another source. Each in-text citation in your paper must have a corresponding entry in your reference list.
When citing in-text, APA uses the author’s name, the year of publication, page numbers, and paragraph numbers in the absence of pages. Consider the following examples: (David, 2010), (David, 2010, p. 36, and or (David, 1020, para. 8).
Steps How to Paraphrase Effectively
Paraphrasing is one of the essay hacks discussed in our guide to the essay cheat sheet. Indeed, when done correctly, paraphrasing results in creating an original paper. Observe the steps below;
- First, you must read and comprehend the content you wish to paraphrase. Understand what it is all about and everything it discusses.
- Secondly, take note of the critical points. These are the points that, if left out of your work, will render it meaningless.
- Thirdly, once you’ve completed the first two steps, you should be able to write your version of the text without consulting the original.
- Finally, contrast and compare your work to the original. This will assist you in identifying similar phrases and modifying them. This helps you properly paraphrase your work to avoid plagiarism detection.
More information about how to paraphrase in APA or MLA can be found in our guide on paraphrasing in APA or MLA.
Why is Paraphrasing Difficult
It has never been easy to paraphrase. Suppose you require assistance with a paper and lack time to paraphrase, purchase a paper online. It is safe to purchase essays if they are purchased from a reputable website such as ours.
Paraphrasing is a difficult task that requires patience and resilience to do it correctly. Essentially, paraphrasing is problematic because it necessitates the following:
- Reading the entire content regardless of its size.
- Acquiring a firm grasp of the content’s primary points.
- You must have an excellent command of the English language and grammar.
- One must demonstrate knowledge of numerous synonyms and antonyms, as well as their meanings.
- You should rewrite the content in your own words.
- It is necessary to compare what you have written to the original to ascertain whether there are any discernible parallels. Verify that accurate quotations and citations are also used.
- Your paraphrased content must not contradict the original content’s meaning.
These difficulties are what cause people to perform poorly when rewriting content or their work. This is what motivated people to use paraphrasing tools to repurpose plagiarized content. However, using paraphrasing tools is a form of cheating because it is simply text spun by bots.
The 4 R’s of Paraphrasing
Reword, Rearrange, Realize, and Recheck are the four R’s of paraphrasing. Rewording is the process of identifying words that can be replaced with synonyms.
Rearranging is the process of identifying words, phrases, and sentences that can be moved around in a text without altering their meaning. Realize is concerned with identifying unchangeable words and phrases.
These include names, dates, and titles, all of which can alter the meaning of a text if altered slightly. Recheck is concerned with determining whether you included all necessary information and whether your work makes sense.
Can Plagiarism Software Detect Paraphrasing?
Turnitin can detect and compare submitted papers to any page accessible via the internet, to its database of previously submitted student papers, and commercial pages from books, journals, and newspapers.
If you successfully avoid all of these, no work of yours will ever be flagged as plagiarized by Turnitin’s originality reports. Paraphrasing is an effective method of evading plagiarism scanners. Turnitin’s algorithms, for example, do not detect paraphrasing.
They are primarily concerned with recognizing similar sentence structures, grammatical patterns, and phrases. If the content created through paraphrasing is not identical to any other content in the Turnitin database, it is unlikely that it will be flagged as plagiarized.
Why Do We Have To Paraphrase
It is critical to write content in your own words without referencing the original because It minimizes instances of plagiarism. Even the cited work is absorbed by the writer. Even when plagiarism detection software is used, plagiarized work is rarely identified as such.
Additionally, it enhances credibility. When writers cite or quote another author’s work, they must acknowledge the authors of the original content. This assists in avoiding any infringement of copyright. By rephrasing, writers are able to avoid copying and pasting content.
This improves the readability of the written content. Assist writers in maintaining the flow of content even as they depart from the original style.