paraphrasing is plagiarism

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A Guide to Plagiarism and Paraphrasing

According to the joint research efforts of Dr. Donald McCabe and the International Center for Academic Integrity , nearly 30% of university students admit to having cheated in some way on an exam.

Understanding how and when to cite sources is a critical skill for students to learn. Whether you borrow someone’s ideas from a textbook, blog post, or academic journal, you must give proper credit while representing the source’s ideas fairly and coherently.

This guide covers:

• Paraphrasing
• Plagiarism checkers, citation managers, and writing tools

The Purdue Global Writing Center defines plagiarism as “using another's words, ideas, results, or images without giving appropriate credit to that person, therefore, giving the impression that it is your own work.”

Types of Plagiarism

University of Oxford notes eight common forms of plagiarism:

• Verbatim plagiarism: Copying someone else’s work word for word.
• Cutting and pasting from web pages without clear acknowledgement: Pulling information off the internet without referencing it and without including it in the bibliography.
• Paraphrasing: Paraphrasing so closely so that the copy is almost an exact match to the original.
• Collusion: In group projects, or projects in which you received help, failing to properly attribute the assistance or failure to follow the project’s rules.
• Inaccurate citation: Failing to cite correctly, according to the conventions of your discipline.
• Failure to acknowledge assistance: Failing to clearly acknowledge all assistance that has contributed to your work (ordinary proofreading and help from a tutor or supervisor is excepted).
• Use of material written by professional agencies or other people: Using material that was written by a professional agency or another person, even if you have the consent of the person who wrote it.
• Auto-plagiarism (also known as self-plagiarism): Reusing work that you’ve previously submitted or published; presenting that information as new when you’ve already gotten credit for the work.

A new concern revolves around AI and copying directly from chat, composition, and visual tools. Using prompts to generate content for assignments and passing it off as your own contribution is considered plagiarism. Various organizations use AI software to check for submissions generated by a chatbot.

Also, keep in mind that AI tools may produce inaccurate and unreliable information. While there may be valid use cases for informal AI-generated brainstorming, this is a complex and evolving topic. Be sure to verify the policy expressed by your school, professors, or professional organizations for recent developments.

It’s important to note that plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional. Unintentional plagiarism occurs when a student unknowingly cites a source inaccurately or improperly. Intentional plagiarism, on the other hand, is when a student chooses not to cite a source or tries to pass off someone else’s ideas as their own.

Consequences of Plagiarism

The consequences of plagiarism vary by institution, but it could get you expelled or dropped from a course. In less severe instances, plagiarism — both intentional and unintentional — may result in a grade penalty, course failure, or suspension. Beyond the academic consequences, plagiarism also tarnishes your reputation and minimizes your integrity. Whether you’re in school or the working world, plagiarism is not a good look.

How to Avoid Plagiarism

The key to avoiding plagiarism is learning how to incorporate research into your writing. According to the Purdue Global Writing Center , you can do this in the following ways:

• Quoting: If you don’t want to alter a source, use quotation marks to enclose all verbatim phrases.
• Summarizing: If you find multiple relevant points in a lengthy text, simplify them into your own condensed synopsis.
• Paraphrasing: If you want to use a source’s information, restate it in your own words.

Whether you’re quoting, summarizing, or paraphrasing, don’t forget to cite all sources.

What Is Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is using your own words to convey the meaning of an excerpt. It shows your reader that you did your research and understand the content. While students may understand that they need to cite sources, many struggle with paraphrasing the ideas of others into their own words. However, like many aspects of writing, effective paraphrasing is a skill developed over time.

How to Approach Paraphrasing

The goal of paraphrasing is to translate the original work into your own wording and sentence structure. The best way to approach this is to focus on the meaning of the text, forcing you to interact with its purpose and context.

Paraphrasing Tips

A good way to judge your understanding of material is to see if you can explain it to someone else. Once you have this level of understanding, it’s easier to create effective paraphrases — changing the language and structure of a passage becomes more manageable.

Here are some tips to help you paraphrase:

• Reread the passage until you fully understand its meaning.
• Write your own summary of the passage without referencing the original.
• Check that your summary accurately captures the context of the original passage.
• Document the source information following your summary, whether it’s an endnote or footnote.

Remember that you still need to cite your paraphrases, but your follow-up analysis and discussion points belong to you.

What Requires Citation?

Any time you use information that isn’t common knowledge or you didn’t come up with yourself, you must cite it. The following requires citation, usually through in-text citation or a reference list entry:

• Quotes: If you are quoting the actual words someone said, put the words in quotation marks and cite the source.
• Information and ideas: If you obtain ideas or information from somewhere else, cite it — even if you paraphrase the original content.
• Illustrations: If you use someone else’s graphic, table, figure, or artwork, you must credit the source. These may also require permission and a copyright notice.
• Photographs: If you use your own photography or an image that allows use without attribution, no citation is required. In other cases, add a note below the image and a corresponding reference citation.

Common Knowledge Exception

You don’t need to cite information that’s considered common knowledge in the public domain — as long as you reword the well-known fact. According to the Purdue Global Writing Center , information must have the following traits to be considered common knowledge:

• The reader would already be aware of it.
• It’s a widely accepted fact; for example, there are 24 hours in a day.
• It’s accessible via common information sources.
• It originates from folklore or a well-known story.
• It’s commonly acknowledged in your field and known by your audience.

Why Citation Is Important

The importance of citation goes beyond the avoidance of plagiarism. According to the Purdue Global Writing Center’s Plagiarism Information page, citation:

• Distinguishes new ideas from existing information
• Reinforces arguments regarding a particular topic
• Allows readers to find your sources and conduct additional research
• Maintains ethical research and writing
• Ensures attribution of ideas, avoiding plagiarism

Additionally, proper citation enhances your credibility with readers, displays your critical thinking skills, and demonstrates your strong writing ability.

Plagiarism Prevention and Writing Resources

It takes time to develop strong writing and paraphrasing skills. Thinking of writing as more of a discussion than a report may help you develop your skills. Remember that it’s not about reporting and repeating information; it’s about expanding on ideas and making them your own.

Below are some tools to help you avoid plagiarism, accurately cite sources, and improve your writing as you develop your own unique voice.

Plagiarism Checkers

• DupliChecker
• Grammarly's Plagiarism Checker
• Plagiarism Detector

Citation Managers

• Academic Writer
• Grammarly’s Free Citation Generator

>> Read: Apps and Extensions to Help You With APA Citations

Writing Tools

Check out purdue global’s writing center resources.

The Purdue Global Writing Center can help guide students through the paper writing process — from avoiding plagiarism to proper paraphrasing to getting the right citations.

Students may access this resource from the Purdue Global campus homepage . Click “My Studies,” followed by “Academic Success Center.”

From there, students have several options:

• Ask a writing tutor
• Connect with a tutor for a one-on-one session
• Browse the Study Studio
• Watch webinars

Students can check out the Using Sources & APA Style page , which includes several resources to guide students through the process of formatting a document and citing sources in the American Psychological Association (APA) style. The Plagiarism Information page offers a tutorial designed to help students identify instances of plagiarism and understand how to avoid them.

See Notes and Conditions below for important information.

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Exploring the gray area: Understanding paraphrasing as a potential path to plagiarism

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The Paraphrasing Pack consists of resources that are ready to be implemented in the 6th - 12th-grade classroom.

A resource to guide educators in reviewing/revising existing academic integrity policies to address threats from AI.

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In the labyrinthine world of academic writing, paraphrasing walks a thin line between being a useful tool and a potential pitfall, leading to plagiarism.

Often referred to as "patchwriting" or " mosaic plagiarism," the act of paraphrasing raises a fundamental question: What makes writing truly original in an era saturated with accessible information? Mark Twain's assertion that all ideas are merely reconfigurations of existing ones challenges us to consider the essence of originality. This blog ventures into the complex dynamics of paraphrasing, disentangling its legitimate use from its problematic misuse. We'll delve into what constitutes effective paraphrasing that respects academic integrity and when it veers into the territory of plagiarism.

Unpacking the art of paraphrasing

Paraphrasing serves as a bridge, translating complex or specialized topics into accessible and simplified language. It is also a way for a student or researcher to synthesize what they have read, putting text into their own words to A) better understand the topic at hand and B) support their writing with a sound, meaningfully reworded example from an outside source. The Office of Research Integrity within the US Department of Health & Human Services offers a compelling example, transforming a dense scientific explanation into a concise, digestible format. Below is the original content: “Because the intracellular concentration of potassium ions is relatively high, potassium ions tend to diffuse out of the cell. This movement is driven by the concentration gradient for potassium ions. Similarly, the concentration gradient for sodium ions tends to promote their movement into the cell. However, the cell membrane is significantly more permeable to potassium ions than to sodium ions. As a result, potassium ions diffuse out of the cell faster than sodium ions enter the cytoplasm. The cell therefore experiences a net loss of positive charges, and as a result the interior of the cell membrane contains an excess of negative charges, primarily from negatively charged proteins” (Martini & Bartholomew, 1997, p. 204).

Here is an appropriate paraphrase of the above material:

“A textbook of anatomy and physiology (Martini & Bartholomew, 1997, p. 204) reports that the concentration of potassium ions inside of the cell is relatively high and, consequently, some potassium tends to escape out of the cell. Just the opposite occurs with sodium ions.”

The Office of Research Integrity also gives an example of an inappropriate version of paraphrasing from the original text: “...This movement is triggered by the concentration gradient for potassium ions. Similarly, the concentration gradient for sodium ions tends to promote their movement into the cell. However, the cell membrane is much more permeable to potassium ions than it is to sodium ions. As a result, potassium ions diffuse out of the cell more rapidly than sodium ions enter the cytoplasm…” (Martini & Bartholomew, 1997, p. 204). You’ll note that the above “rewritten” example is basically a copy of the original, save for a few superficial alterations, including word deletions, synonym swaps, and additions.

Because most of the words and structure of the original paragraph remain the same, this paragraph would technically be considered plagiarism, despite the writer crediting the original authors. As the Office of Research Integrity puts it: “[M]aking only cosmetic modifications to others’ writing misleads the reader as to who the true author of the original writing really is." In this scenario, a student could instead ask for support in learning how to more accurately paraphrase the information or alternatively, use a direct quote with a correctly cited source to make it clear that this is not their content. Effective paraphrasing isn't just about avoiding plagiarism; it's about enhancing comprehension and adding value to the discourse.

The original thought conundrum

In the realm of academic discourse, Bloom's Taxonomy emerges as a crucial framework, offering a layered understanding of cognitive development. This taxonomy, a hierarchy starting from basic knowledge recall to the creation of new ideas, challenges us to consider the concept of 'original thought' in education. As we go from 'Remembering' and 'Understanding' through to 'Applying', 'Analyzing', and 'Evaluating', we reach the peak - 'Creating'. This final stage is where originality is presumed to flourish. However, this presents a conundrum: in an age where information is ubiquitous and influences are numerous, can any thought claim absolute originality? This paradox is especially relevant in a digital era saturated with ideas, where the difference between inspiration and replication becomes increasingly blurred. Bloom’s Taxonomy, therefore, not only maps out cognitive skills but also invites a deeper reflection on the nature and possibility of truly original thought in our modern knowledge ecosystem.

What’s the difference between plagiarism and paraphrasing?

Plagiarism and paraphrasing, while seemingly similar, diverge significantly in intent and execution. Plagiarism is the act of passing off someone else's work or ideas as one's own while paraphrasing, in contrast, aims to rearticulate ideas for clarity while maintaining the essence of the original work. Paraphrasing becomes problematic when it strays into the realm of plagiarism, often manifested in the failure to properly attribute sources, bring new insights to the table, or to uphold academic integrity. To wholly uphold academic integrity is to commit to honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage. It is a holistic concept that must be backed up by institutional policies, curriculum, teaching interventions, assessment design, and feedback loops that strengthen a student’s bond to learning. In an earlier post, we explored the ways in which paraphrasing may become problematic. The following three examples are situations that may cause challenges around paraphrasing expectations:

• When a student does not understand the purpose behind paraphrasing, they may not see the importance of attributing what they've paraphrased and therefore overlook doing so . Educators must take great care in building a culture of academic integrity and explaining to students how cited, well-paraphrased passages not only enhance their writing (and also provide variety in an essay that would otherwise be all quotations), they uphold integrity by recognizing an author’s original work.
• When a student does not have the foundational literacy skills to paraphrase, it may lead them to unintentionally plagiarize. In a suspected case of academic misconduct, an educator must ascertain if it is a skill deficit or deliberate plagiarism. From there, strengthening a student’s literary comprehension skills and basic academic writing skills can help bolster their confidence and ability to paraphrase. Turnitin’s Draft Coach can also be used to help students write accurate citations in Microsoft® Word for the web and Google Docs™.
• When a student knowingly and purposely uses short-cut solutions in place of their own skills, it’s a sign that action must be taken. Paraphrasing tools, also known as word spinners, alter existing text with the purpose of evading plagiarism detection software. This deeply impacts learning because they prevent students from understanding how to truly paraphrase.

Steering clear of paraphrasing pitfalls

Avoiding paraphrasing plagiarism is a nuanced skill, requiring a blend of accurate citation, original sentence structuring, and a deep understanding of the source material. There are many ways to avoid paraphrasing plagiarism while still paraphrasing to summarize work and communicate topics more clearly and holistically. Ways to avoid plagiarizing include:

• Correct citation of sources
• Quoting and summarizing texts accurately
• Writing with your own sentence structures
• Understanding text and content clearly before paraphrasing

There is also a helpful paraphrasing strategy called the 4R’s: Read, Restate, Recheck, and Repair.

• Read: Did you understand the passage?
• Restate: Did you restate important points in your own words?
• Recheck: Did you include all of the important details?
• Repair: Did you correct any misinformation?

In addition to the above, the following sections delve into key elements to keep in mind and practical strategies to master this skill, ensuring that paraphrasing enriches, rather than diminishes, academic integrity.

The role of text spinners in paraphrasing plagiarism

Text spinners, or article spinners, present a new hurdle in the realm of paraphrasing plagiarism. These tools, designed to disguise copied content as original, exacerbate the issue by blurring the lines between legitimate paraphrasing and deceptive rewriting. “Simply put,” says Christine Lee, “when students use word spinners, they aren’t producing their own original work. Original work means that even when paraphrasing, students regenerate the ideas of another person into their own words and voice to express their own understanding of concepts.” Educators need to understand the emerging trends in misconduct and academic integrity so that they can build awareness around them, educate students on their misuse, and mitigate any threats to an institution's reputation to ensure authentic student learning.

How to effectively teach paraphrasing

Educators bear the responsibility of guiding students through the maze of paraphrasing. This entails instilling respect for academic integrity, teaching proper citation techniques, and encouraging the development of independent thought. To start, it is imperative to highlight examples of accurate paraphrasing and how it differs from quotations and summarizing. As quoted in an earlier Turnitin post, according to the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL):

• Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.
• Paraphrasing involves rewording a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source because there is no creation of new ideas. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.
• Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source because no new ideas have been introduced. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

And while there are myriad ways for educators to approach and teach this highly important skill, the following are a few resources that can support thoughtful plagiarism education and practice:

• Explain the course’s or institution’s policy on academic integrity clearly and early in the semester. Outline course and assignment expectations explicitly, including appropriate use and misuse of AI tools. By building a culture of integrity that is clearly defined, students can more deeply understand the value of accurate paraphrasing and citations, as well as understand the consequences of misconduct.
• Dive into Turnitin’s Paraphrasing Pack , eleven out-of-the-box resources developed by veteran educators that are ready to be implemented in the classroom. It features everything from research strategies and student checklists for paraphrasing to lesson presentations and printable graphic organizers.
• Explore all of the resources that support academic integrity in the age of AI , including valuable assets that help students to better understand how and when to use AI tools ethically.
• Conduct a candid conversation with a student if their work appears to have similarities to other texts without proper paraphrasing or citation, or if inappropriate usage of AI tools is suspected. These dialogues often transform a moment of misconduct into an opportunity for learning by determining if there is a skill deficit that can be readily addressed. The data housed in the Similarity Report, including instances of synonym swapping, as well as Turnitin’s AI writing detection tool, can both serve as jumping off points for these essential conversations.

Maintaining academic integrity while paraphrasing

While building that culture of academic integrity and teaching skills is the first step, educators know that oftentimes it’s necessary to take another step, one that will confirm or refute that the student’s work is solely their own. It may be as simple as a remarkably sophisticated sentence structure or vocabulary choice, but educators tend to recognize when a student misrepresents something that is not their work, as their own. That next step is as simple as reviewing Turnitin’s newly enhanced Similarity Report, which has a streamlined workflow to show both the Similarity Score and the AI writing score. While AI continues to evolve, so too does the students’ use of AI tools. Turnitin’s AI writing score may indicate the use of AI paraphrasing tools to modify AI-generated content. Educators have no “extra clicks” as AI paraphrasing detection is built seamlessly into the existing workflow that educators already use and trust. As before, this score is to inform the educator of the likelihood that the student tried to use AI paraphrasing tools as a shortcut; whether intentional plagiarism or not is determined by the educator and the student during formative discussions surrounding their work. Then, next steps to help a student to revise can be taken. Check out this infographic that defines the key differences between human- powered paraphrasing and AI paraphrasing tools, as well as the role an AI paraphrasing detector can play in this process.

In sum: How to skillfully paraphrase and avoid plagiarism

The skill of paraphrasing is foundational in academic writing, serving as a safeguard against the pitfalls of plagiarism and academic misconduct. When a student fails to master this skill, they risk inadvertently crossing the line from legitimate use of sources to plagiarism, a serious breach of academic integrity. Effective paraphrasing involves more than just altering a few words; it requires a deep understanding of the original text and the ability to express its essence in a new, original form while maintaining the core message. This process must be coupled with accurate citations and the appropriate use of quotes to credit the original authors. Without these critical components, a student's work can easily fall into the realm of academic dishonesty. Thus, learning to paraphrase correctly is not just about avoiding plagiarism; it's about respecting the intellectual labor of others, upholding the values of academic integrity, and contributing genuinely to the scholarly conversation.

Academic Integrity at MIT

A handbook for students, search form, avoiding plagiarism - paraphrasing.

In writing papers, you will paraphrase more than you will quote. For a report or research paper, you may need to gather background information that is important to the paper but not worthy of direct quotation. Indeed, in technical writing direct quotation is rarely used.

Exactly what does "paraphrase" mean?

It means taking the words of another source and restating them, using your own vocabulary. In this way, you keep the meaning of the original text, but do not copy its exact wording.

What strategies can I use to paraphrase?

Use synonyms for all words that are not generic. Words like world, food, or science are so basic to our vocabulary that is difficult to find a synonym.

Change the structure of the sentence.

Change the voice from active to passive and vice versa.    

Change clauses to phrases and vice versa.

Change parts of speech.

A good paraphrase combines a number of strategies: the goal is to rephrase the information so that it appears in your words, not those of the author.

Example 4: Using Multiple Strategies to Paraphrase

Example 5: Unacceptable Paraphrase

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How do teachers check for plagiarism, is paraphrasing plagiarism.

The line between paraphrasing and plagiarism has become increasingly blurred. Understanding the nuanced distinction in various situations is necessary for students, professionals, and writers aiming to maintain integrity in their work.

The quick ad short answer is no, paraphrasing isn’t plagiarism . Paraphrasing involves rewording someone else’s ideas in your own words, while plagiarism is the act of passing off those ideas as your own without proper acknowledgment. We will further discuss what sets them apart, the importance of citation, and how to paraphrase effectively without crossing into the territory of plagiarism.

How to define paraphrasing and plagiarism?

Paraphrasing and plagiarism might seem similar at first glance, but there are clear distinctions between the two.

Paraphrasing requires understanding the original text and then expressing it in your own words, along with a citation to the original source.

Plagiarism, on the other hand, involves using someone else’s work without giving them credit, intentionally or accidentally. The intent behind paraphrasing is to use existing information to support your own ideas or arguments, not to steal credit.

Let’s take a look at how paraphrasing works with the help of examples.

Correct paraphrasing

Proper paraphrasing involves taking the original text and rewriting it in your own words, ensuring that you maintain the original meaning whilemaking significant changes in wording and sentence structure. This practice not only shows respect for the original author’s work but also demonstrates your own understanding and ability to engage with the content:

Incorrect paraphrasing

On the flip side, bad paraphrasing occurs when the rewording is too close to the original text, without adequate citation or significant alteration in structure and vocabulary:

How to Paraphrase Without Plagiarizing

The process of paraphrasing without falling into the trap of plagiarism is straightforward yet requires attention to detail. By following these enhanced steps, you can ensure your paraphrased work is both original and respectful of the source material:

• 📖 Read and Understand : Before attempting to paraphrase, take the time to thoroughly read and comprehend the original text. It’s crucial to grasp not just the surface-level meaning but also the underlying themes and nuances. Ask yourself what the key messages are and how they relate to your work or study.
• ✍️ Reword : Armed with a deep understanding of the text, begin to express the ideas in your own unique words. Avoid merely swapping out words with synonyms; instead, think about how you would explain the concept to someone unfamiliar with the topic. This step is about internalizing the information and then articulating it in a way that reflects your voice and perspective.
• 🔄 Structure Differently : Look at the structure of the original text and then alter it significantly in your paraphrase. If the original text follows a particular order or layout, try reorganizing the points or changing the focus of the sentences. This could mean converting active sentences to passive ones, rearranging the flow of arguments, or combining and splitting sentences to convey the same points differently.
• 🔀 Use Synonyms Wisely : While synonyms can be useful in paraphrasing, it’s important to use them judiciously. Simply replacing every word with a synonym without considering context can lead to inaccuracies or awkward phrasing. Select synonyms that fit the context and maintain the original meaning. Be particularly mindful of technical terms or specific concepts where synonyms might not be appropriate.
• 📌 Cite the Source : Perhaps the most critical step in avoiding plagiarism is to properly cite the original source. Even when paraphrasing, it’s essential to give credit to the author or creator of the original ideas. This not only respects intellectual property but also strengthens your own work by showing your engagement with existing literature or research. Follow the citation style recommended for your field or by your instructor, whether it’s APA, MLA, Chicago, or another format.

By going through these detailed steps, you’ll be able to paraphrase effectively, ensuring your work is both original and respectful of the sources you rely on. Remember, paraphrasing means engaging deeply with the material and contributing your own voice to the academic or professional conversation.

What defines the difference between original text and plagiarized content when it comes to paraphrasing?

The quality of information processing distinguishes between original content and plagiarism when paraphrasing.

Is paraphrasing considered illegal?

Paraphrasing itself is not illegal. However, it’s essential to understand the distinction between proper paraphrasing and simple word substitution.

What are some common mistakes to avoid when paraphrasing?

Common mistakes include maintaining the author’s sentence structure too closely, making only minor changes, and failing to use quotation marks for direct phrases.

Can paraphrasing effectively avoid plagiarism?

Yes, paraphrasing is a legitimate method to incorporate others’ ideas into your work, provided it’s done thoughtfully and with proper attribution.

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Paraphrasing vs Plagiarism (vs “Paraphrasing Plagiarism”)

• Posted on November 10, 2021 December 16, 2021

If you’ve done a fair share of writing, academically or otherwise, you’ve likely heard of both plagiarizing and paraphrasing. You’ve probably combed over essays or reports for accurate information and correct citations, but somehow someone always spot something you missed.

It can be confusing to avoid plagiarism with so many types out there and without a clear outline of the rules. Even more so when paraphrasing plagiarism sits on a fine line between what’s allowed and what’s not.

What Is Plagiarism?

Most people have a basic understanding of plagiarism : copying someone else’s words or work without crediting the original author or owner.

If you were to borrow a direct quotation from a famous film character and claim it as your own idea, chances are no one would believe you. But, that doesn’t change the fact that it would be considered plagiarism.

We tend to hear about plagiarism in terms of written works, but it covers all manner of works. A general guideline is to consider copyright. If it can be copyrighted, it can be plagiarized.

What is Copyright?

Copyright is the legal protection of intellectual property. Therefore, only the  copyright owner has the legal right to reproduce or allow the reproduction of their work.

While many authors, artists, composers, and creators might choose to file the paperwork to claim the copyright of their work, you don’t need to make it official. Copyright is intrinsic. The second you complete your poem or compose a new song, you are the copyright owner.

Copyright law can vary depending on the country. Although there is no such thing as international copyright, most countries offer some protections for foreign works.

In the US, copyright protection lasts for the duration of the author’s life plus 70 years. Additionally, work for hire, anonymous, or pseudonymous lasts 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation. As creation and publication are different standards, the protection defaults to whichever is shorter.

What if an artist borrowed a section of Starry Night, such as using the sky portion over an original cityscape? Imagine the artist doesn’t have malicious intent but rather the intention to pay homage to an inspirational creator.

While writing your original novel, what if you include a paragraph or chapter that plays off ‘Riddles in the Dark’ from The Hobbit? Of course, Gollum and Bilbo aren’t in the scene, but your characters similarly exchange riddles.

Van Gogh died in 1890, so he no longer owns the copyright. Therefore, works by Van Gogh are in the  public domain , meaning the general public may use or recreate them without obtaining permission.

Public domain includes works with expired copyrights, public works intended for general public use, and short phrases. For example, “Beam me up,” most associated with Star Trek is free to use.

However, if you were to try to quote an entire line of dialogue from Star Trek, such as including names and phrases more extended than a sentence, you would be infringing copyright. Using that brief three-word phrase might pay homage to your favorite show, but quoting an exchange of dialogue with Scotty and Kirk would be plagiarism.

As for the second homage example, J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1973, which means his estate still has legal rights. Therefore, if you were to imitate the scene or chapter without permission or crediting Tolkien, the homage would be plagiarism.

Taking it a step further, let’s assume you credit Tolkien for inspiring the scene in the author’s notes at the end of your book. It would not be plagiarism if you wrote a scene where two characters exchanged riddles trying to win a prize. However, it would be plagiarism if those two characters were in a cave, one of them promising not to kill the other if they win.

The difference is that plagiarism is when you copy the presentation of an idea. For example, no one owns the concept of riddles or games, which means your homage might paraphrase the idea of riddles-to-the-death, but not the exact words. However, it’s not homage when you place characters in a strikingly similar situation and connotation for more than a phrase or scene.

Types of Plagiarism

There are many  types of plagiarism . Some sources disagree about the amount, as some break down more specific categories while others generalize. Here we’ll discuss the general types with clarification on how they might divide into subcategories.

Word for word plagiarism is the simplest, most familiar type. Notably, copying, at any length, from a direct sentence to a direct paragraph would be verbatim plagiarism.

Mosaic or patchwork plagiarism falls under verbatim. However, mosaic plagiarism includes instances where the writer mentioned the quoted work earlier, but it is not directly connected.

For example, if you were discussing The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields,” you might mention the title in the first paragraph of your essay. Then, you open the third paragraph with lyrics from the song. You know you’re quoting the music, and Beatles fans know, but you need your essay to acknowledge the use within direct proximity.

For a correct example:

‘Always, no sometimes, think it’s me / But you know I know when it’s a dream,’ is an iconic lyric from “Strawberry Fields.”

Self-Plagiarism

If you own the work, you can recreate it. However, the same isn’t true when you’re submitting work. For example, if you write an essay about Hamlet in high school, presenting the same paper for a university class is self-plagiarism.

Legal action is rarely necessary for self-plagiarism  unless you promised an original work and breached a contract.

Accidental Plagiarism

When a citation isn’t precise, it is still plagiarism, even if the intention was to credit another creator. Crucial to avoiding this type of plagiarism is understanding your preferred manual of style.

Generally, Associated Press (AP) applies to journalism, Chicago for publishing/business, American Psychological Association (APA) for academic writing, and Modern Language Association (MLA) for humanities disciplines.

Accidental plagiarism  includes inaccurate citation, failure to acknowledge, attribution or inaccurate source plagiarism, and paraphrasing.

What Is Paraphrasing Plagiarism?

Paraphrasing is not always plagiarism. Effective paraphrasing requires an understanding of the topic or quote well enough to express it originally. It is a form of summarizing or rephrasing that clarifies the meaning of another author’s words in your own words.

A common pitfall of paraphrasing is copying a sentence or direct quote, then the writer tweaks a few words, rewords sentences, or replaces original words with synonyms. Choosing to modify rather than rewrite from scratch is paraphrasing plagiarism.

For an example of paraphrasing plagiarism: Imagine you’re writing that Hamlet essay. During your research, you read an inspiring analysis. If you copy phrases or sentences directly from that analysis, you would be plagiarising. Likewise, rewording a metaphor or sentence you liked would be paraphrasing plagiarism.

However, you could quote a phrase and include a citation. Alternatively, you could write an original interpretation of that idea.

How to Avoid Paraphrasing Plagiarism

The first step to avoid paraphrasing plagiarism is never to copy and paste. However, if while reading your notes over and over, you’ve lost track of where your original words begin, and the quotation ends, a paraphrasing plagiarism tool can catch mistakes that slip through the cracks.

Avoiding plagiarism can be tricky without extra eyes. However, whether your writing process involves meticulous text citation or you sometimes lose track of your source material, a plagiarism checker can save your hard work from accidental plagiarism, including incorrect paraphrasing.

Focus on making your writing the best it can be without stressing over plagiarism. Check out Quetext’s plagiarism checker , which recognizes plagiarism lightning-fast and generates any missed citations.

Sign Up for Quetext Today!

Click below to find a pricing plan that fits your needs.

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Why is it still plagiarism when I paraphrase and use my own words?

It’s hard to get anything right the first time. The vast majority of us don’t learn to ride a bicycle the first time we get on a bike. We don’t learn to drive right away, either. We learn with guidance and correction--and it’s even better when we receive that feedback in the moment and multiple times. Essay writing is the same.

While copying and pasting another person’s work and presenting it as your own idea can be a pretty clear example of plagiarism, there are a lot of nuances to academic misconduct, too. It’s not easy figuring out whether or not you’ve got it right, all while you’re trying to learn and avoid getting in trouble when you didn’t intend to plagiarize.

Let’s bring up one example-- like distinguishing paraphrasing and plagiarism from original work.

Students are told to “put ideas into your own words” in order to avoid plagiarism. We know to always cite quotations. They’re literally words from another person (easily accomplished via copy and paste) and they should be credited to someone else.

But teachers also tell students to “use the ideas of others in your own words,” which is also defined as paraphrasing. 🤪

What on earth is the difference? Isn’t taking the ideas of another person and putting them into your own words a way to avoid plagiarism??? Answer: Not when it’s someone else’s idea.

In a prior post on paraphrasing, we wrote, “Citation isn’t simply about giving credit for other people’s words. It’s about both giving credit to other people’s work that your writing is built upon and highlighting where your information came from” ( Plagiarism.org , 2018 ).

Here is an example of paraphrasing and an appropriate in-text APA citation for the above quote:

It is important not only to cite quotations in the form of other people’s words but also to give credit to the ideas of others. When your writing is built upon their ideas, it’s important to highlight your sources ( Plagiarism.org , 2018 ).

Because we didn’t build on the idea, but repeated it, we attributed the source.

When we have our own original ideas, then those are our own and there is no need to cite sources. For instance, we can use the above idea from Plagiarism.org and build on it to form an original idea:

It’s important to cite our sources, whether they’re quoted or paraphrased, to avoid plagiarism. First, let’s discuss how to tell the difference between our own words and paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing is summarizing the idea of another person--and when we use that idea to build our own, we then produce original work. So what are some effective ways to learn to avoid paraphrasing plagiarism?

• Cite the source when you are repeating the idea of another person’s work.
• If your text is too close to the original work, consider quoting and citing the source.

In sum, cite your source when you paraphrase.

Another way to avoid paraphrasing plagiarism is with real-time feedback. Sometimes our instructors give us a list that tells us all the different ways plagiarism can manifest. But it’s hard to learn something a month in advance, and then have to recall it within the process of writing. It’s way more effective for that information to arise while we’re writing. Wouldn’t that be nice?

There are tools like Draft Coach that can provide feedback in real-time that helps guide us towards proper citation so that we can focus on writing a better paper. And stop worrying about committing plagiarism by accident and getting an F or worse.

This is the best kind of feedback, one that actually helps, telling us specifically what we need to improve right then and there as we learn. Ultimately, the goal is to be able to do this automatically and do this all on our own. But just like driving or riding a bicycle, there’s a learning journey beforehand and students should feel supported through that process.

Because in the end, believing in yourself helps you to be more original.

← Previous entry

4 tips to easily avoid plagiarism.

How can you grow your writing confidence as a student and avoid plagiarism while drafting a paper? Read on to find out.

Next entry →

Can i be accused of plagiarism.

Can I Be Accused of Plagiarism if I Cite Everything Correctly?

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What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing involves a detailed rewriting of a passage from source material into your own words.  Essentially, a writer will paraphrase when they want to incorporate someone else's idea into a paper without directly quoting (using quotation marks) them.  A paraphrase will typically be of similar length to the original source.  A paraphrase must  be credited to the original source.

When should I paraphrase?

Paraphrasing is, perhaps, the most common way to legitimately incorporate someone else's material into your writing.  You should consider paraphrasing when the wording of the original source is less important than the source.  This will allow you to maintain a smooth continuity in your writing.  Paraphrases are typically more detailed than a summary (discussed below).

Consider paraphrasing to:

• change the organization of ideas presented in the original source
• simplify material
• clarify technical or specialized information into language that is appropriate for your reading audience
• avoid the temptation to quote too much

Note:  When paraphrasing, avoid keeping the same structure of the original material or merely just changing some of the words.  e faithful to stay true to the meaning of the original material and avoid adding your own ideas into a paraphrase.

This material has been adapted from the University of Houston Victoria: Decide When to Quote, Paraphrase, and Summarize (page no longer available as of 03/15/2024).

What does paraphrasing look like?

Example of paraphrasing:.

Original Material

In The Sopranos , the mob is besieged as much by inner infidelity as it is by the federal government. Early in the series, the greatest threat to Tony's Family is his own biological family. One of his closest associates turns witness for the FBI, his mother colludes with his uncle to contract a hit on Tony, and his kids click through Web sites that track the federal crackdown in Tony's gangland.

Fields, Ingrid Walker. “Family Values and Feudal Codes: The Social Politics of

America’s Twenty-First Century Gangster.” Journal of Popular Culture 37.4

(2004). Academic Search Complete . Web. 13 Mar. 2012.

Paraphrase:

In the first season of The Sopranos , Tony Soprano's mobster activities are more threatened by members of his biological family than by agents of the federal government. This familial betrayal is multi-pronged. Tony's closest friend and associate is an FBI informant, his mother and uncle are conspiring to have him killed, and his children are surfing the Web for information about his activities (Fields).

This example is from Duke Libraries'Paraphrasing. (page no longer available; redirects to "Citing Sources" 7/26/13).

How do I paraphrase?

Step 1: Read over what you want to paraphrase carefully until you understand its full meaning.

Step 2: Set the original passage aside where you won't look at it.

Step 3: Write the meaning of the passage in your own words (i.e., explain it to yourself).  Be sure to give proper credit to the source. 

Step 4: Check the paraphrase against the original to ensure you haven't accidentally used the same words or phrases and verify that the information you wrote is accurate.

Step 5: Set the material aside and work on something else for a few minutes.

Step 6: When you return to your work, reread your paraphrase and modify as necessary.  Setting yourself apart from a paraphrase will allow you to return with a fresh perspective and the words of the original source will have faded.  This will allow you to revise and polish your own sentence choices.

Note:  The materials presented in this section have been adapted from Purdue OWL's: Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words (opens in a new window), Colorado State University's: How to Paraphrase Without Plagiarizing, (page no longer available; redirects to "Writing Guides" 7/7/14) and Duke Libraries' Paraphrasing. (page no longer available; redirects to "Citing Sources" 7/26/13).

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• Next: Summarizing >>
• Last Updated: Mar 15, 2024 10:00 AM
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Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Avoiding Plagiarism

Steven D. Krause

Learning Objectives

• Summarize, quote, and paraphrase accurately from readings.
• Smoothly incorporate summary, paraphrase, and quotations in your writing.
• Understand when summary, quotation, or paraphrase are appropriate in a research paper.
• Avoid plagiarism.

Learning how to effectively quote and paraphrase research can be difficult and it certainly takes practice.  Hopefully, your abilities to make good use of your research will improve as you work through the exercises in part two and three ofThe Process of Research Writing, not to mention as you take on other research writing experiences beyond this class.  The goal of this chapter is to introduce some basic strategies for summarizing, quoting and paraphrasing research in your writing and to explain how to avoid plagiarizing your research.

How to Summarize:  An Overview

A summary is a brief explanation of a longer text.  Some summaries, such as the ones that accompany annotated bibliographies, are very short, just a sentence or two.  Others are much longer, though summaries are always much shorter than the text being summarized in the first place.

Summaries of different lengths are useful in research writing because you often need to provide your readers with an explanation of the text you are discussing.  This is especially true when you are going to quote or paraphrase from a source.

Of course, the first step in writing a good summary is to do a thorough reading of the text you are going to summarize in the first place.  Beyond that important start, there are a few basic guidelines you should follow when you write summary material:

• Stay “neutral” in your summarizing.  Summaries provide “just the facts” and are not the place where you offer your opinions about the text you are summarizing.  Save your opinions and evaluation of the evidence you are summarizing for other parts of your writing.
• Don’t quote from what you are summarizing.  Summaries will be more useful to you and your colleagues if you write them in your own words.
• Don’t “cut and paste” from database abstracts.  Many of the periodical indexes that are available as part of your library’s computer system include abstracts of articles.  Do no “cut” this abstract material and then “paste” it into your own annotated bibliography.  For one thing, this is plagiarism.  Second, “cutting and pasting” from the abstract defeats one of the purposes of writing summaries and creating an annotated bibliography in the first place, which is to help you understand and explain your research.

How to Quote and Paraphrase:  An Overview

Writers quote and paraphrase from research in order to support their points and to persuade their readers.  A quote or a paraphrase from a piece of evidence in support of a point answers the reader’s question, “says who?”

This is especially true in academic writing since scholarly readers are most persuaded by effective research and evidence.  For example, readers of an article about a new cancer medication published in a medical journal will be most interested in the scholar’s research and statistics that demonstrate the effectiveness of the treatment.  Conversely, they will not be as persuaded by emotional stories from individual patients about how a new cancer medication improved the quality of their lives.  While this appeal to emotion can be effective and is common in popular sources, these individual anecdotes do not carry the same sort of “scholarly” or scientific value as well-reasoned research and evidence.

Of course, your instructor is not expecting you to be an expert on the topic of your research paper.  While you might conduct some primary research, it’s a good bet that you’ll be relying on secondary sources such as books, articles, and Web sites to inform and persuade your readers.  You’ll present this research to your readers in the form of quotes and paraphrases.  

  A “quote” is a direct restatement of the exact words from the original source.  The general rule of thumb is any time you use three or more words as they appeared in the original source, you should treat it as a quote.  A “paraphrase” is a restatement of the information or point of the original source in your own words.  

While quotes and paraphrases are different and should be used in different ways in your research writing (as the examples in this section suggest), they do have a number of things in common.  Both quotes and paraphrases should:

•  be “introduced” to the reader, particularly the first time you mention a source;      
• include an explanation of the evidence which explains to the reader why you think the evidence is important, especially if it is not apparent from the context of the quote or paraphrase; and
• include a proper citation of the source.

The method you should follow to properly quote or paraphrase depends on the style guide you are following in your academic writing.  The two most common style guides used in academic writing are the Modern Language Association (MLA), and the American Psychological Association (APA).  Your instructor will probably assign one of these styles before you begin working on your project, however, if he/she doesn’t mention this, be sure to ask.

When to Quote, When to Paraphrase

The real “art” to research writing is using quotes and paraphrases from evidence effectively in order to support your point.  There are certain “rules,” dictated by the rules of style you are following, such as the ones presented by the MLA or the ones presented by the APA.  There are certain “guidelines” and suggestions, like the ones I offer in the previous section and the ones you will learn from your teacher and colleagues.  

But when all is said and done, the question of when to quote and when to paraphrase depends a great deal on the specific context of the writing and the effect you are trying to achieve.  Learning the best times to quote and paraphrase takes practice and experience.

In general, it is best to use a quote when:

• The exact words of your source are important for the point you are trying to make.  This is especially true if you are quoting technical language, terms, or very specific word choices.
• You want to highlight your agreement with the author’s words.  If you agree with the point the author of the evidence makes and you like their exact words, use them as a quote.  
• You want to highlight your disagreement with the author’s words.  In other words, you may sometimes want to use a direct quote to indicate exactly what it is you disagree about.  This might be particularly true when you are considering the antithetical positions in your research writing projects.

In general, it is best to paraphrase when:

• There is no good reason to use a quote to refer to your evidence.  If the author’s exact words are not especially important to the point you are trying to make, you are usually better off paraphrasing the evidence.
• You are trying to explain a particular a piece of evidence in order to explain or interpret it in more detail.  This might be particularly true in writing projects like critiques.
• You need to balance a direct quote in your writing.  You need to be careful about directly quoting your research too much because it can sometimes make for awkward and difficult to read prose.  So, one of the reasons to use a paraphrase instead of a quote is to create balance within your writing.

Tips for Quoting and Paraphrasing

• Introduce your quotes and paraphrases to your reader, especially on first reference.
• Explain the significance of the quote or paraphrase to your reader.
• Cite your quote or paraphrase properly according to the rules of style you are following in your essay.
• Quote when the exact words are important, when you want to highlight your agreement or your disagreement.
• Paraphrase when the exact words aren’t important, when you want to explain the point of your evidence, or when you need to balance the direct quotes in your writing.

Four Examples of Quotes and Paraphrases

Here are four examples of what I mean about properly quoting and paraphrasing evidence in your research essays.  In each case, I begin with a BAD example, or the way NOT to quote or paraphrase.

Quoting in MLA Style

Here’s the first BAD example, where the writer is trying to follow the rules of MLA style:  

There are many positive effects for advertising prescription drugs on television.  “African-American physicians regard direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines as one way to educate minority patients about needed treatment and healthcare options” (Wechsler, Internet).

This is a potentially good piece of information to support a research writer’s claim, but the researcher hasn’t done any of the necessary work to explain where this quote comes from or to explain why it is important for supporting her point.  Rather, she has simply “dropped in” the quote, leaving the interpretation of its significance up to the reader.

Now consider this revised GOOD (or at least BETTER) example of how this quote might be better introduced into the essay:

In her Pharmaceutical Executive article available through the Wilson Select Internet database, Jill Wechsler writes about one of the positive effects of advertising prescription drugs on television.  “African-American physicians regard direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines as one way to educate minority patients about needed treatment and healthcare options.”

In this revision, it’s much more clear what point the writer is trying to make with this evidence and where this evidence comes from.  

In this particular example, the passage is from a traditional print journal called Pharmaceutical Executive .  However, the writer needs to indicate that she actually found and read this article through Wilson Select, an Internet database which reproduces the “full text” of articles from periodicals without any graphics, charts, or page numbers.  

When you use a direct quote in your research, you need to the indicate page number of that direct quote or you need to indicate that the evidence has no specific page numbers. While it can be a bit awkward to indicate within the text how the writer found this information if it’s from the Internet, it’s important to do so on the first reference of a piece of evidence in your writing.  On references to this piece of evidence after the first reference, you can use just the last name of the writer.  For example:

Wechsler also reports on the positive effects of advertising prescription drugs on television.  She writes…

Paraphrasing in MLA Style

In this example, the writer is using MLA style to write a research essay for a Literature class.  Here is a BAD example of a paraphrase:

While Gatsby is deeply in love with Daisy in The Great Gatsby, his love for her is indistinguishable from his love of his possessions (Callahan).

There are two problems with this paraphrase.  First, if this is the first or only reference to this particular piece of evidence in the research essay, the writer should include more information about the source of this paraphrase in order to properly introduce it.  Second, this paraphrase is actually not of the entire article but rather of a specific passage.  The writer has neglected to note the page number within the parenthetical citation.

A GOOD or at least BETTER revision of this paraphrase might look like this:

John F. Callahan suggests in his article “F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Evolving American Dream” that while Gatsby is deeply in love with Daisy in The Great Gatsby, his love for her is indistinguishable from his love of his possessions (381).

By incorporating the name of the author of the evidence the research writer is referring to here, the source of this paraphrase is now clear to the reader.  Furthermore, because there is a page number at the end of this sentence, the reader understands that this passage is a paraphrase of a particular part of Callahan’s essay and not a summary of the entire essay. Again, if the research writer had introduced this source to his readers earlier, he could have started with a phrase like “Callahan suggests…” and then continued on with his paraphrase.

If the research writer were offering a brief summary of the entire essay following MLA style, he wouldn’t include a page number in parentheses.  For example:

John F. Callahan’s article “F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Evolving American Dream” examines Fitzgerald’s fascination with the elusiveness of the American Dream in the novels The Great Gatsby, Tender is the Night, and The Last Tycoon.

Quoting in APA Style

Consider this BAD example in APA style, of what NOT to do when quoting evidence:

“If the U.S. scallop fishery were a business, its management would surely be fired, because its revenues could readily be increased by at least 50 percent while its costs were being reduced by an equal percentage.” (Repetto, 2001, p. 84).

Again, this is a potentially valuable piece of evidence, but it simply isn’t clear what point the research writer is trying to make with it.  Further, it doesn’t follow the preferred method of citation with APA style.

Here is a revision that is a GOOD or at least BETTER example:

Repetto (2001) concludes that in the case of the scallop industry, those running the industry should be held responsible for not considering methods that would curtail the problems of over-fishing.   “If the U.S. scallop fishery were a business, its management would surely be fired, because its revenues could readily be increased by at least 50 percent while its costs were being reduced by an equal percentage” (p. 84).

This revision is improved because the research writer has introduced and explained the point of the evidence with the addition of a clarifying sentence.  It also follows the rules of APA style.  Generally, APA style prefers that the research writer refer to the author only by last name followed immediately by the year of publication.  Whenever possible, you should begin your citation with the author’s last name and the year of publication, and, in the case of a direct quote like this passage, the page number (including the “p.”) in parentheses at the end.

Paraphrasing in APA Style

Paraphrasing in APA style is slightly different from MLA style as well.  Consider first this BAD example of what NOT to do in paraphrasing from a source in APA style:

Computer criminals have lots of ways to get away with credit card fraud (Cameron, 2002).

The main problem with this paraphrase is there isn’t enough here to adequately explain to the reader what the point of the evidence really is.  Remember:  your readers have no way of automatically knowing why you as a research writer think that a particular piece of evidence is useful in supporting your point.  This is why it is key that you introduce and explain your evidence.

Here is a revision that is GOOD or at least BETTER:

Cameron (2002) points out that computer criminals intent on committing credit card fraud are able to take advantage of the fact that there aren’t enough officials working to enforce computer crimes.  Criminals are also able to use the technology to their advantage by communicating via email and chat rooms with other criminals.

Again, this revision is better because the additional information introduces and explains the point of the evidence.  In this particular example, the author’s name is also incorporated into the explanation of the evidence as well.  In APA, it is preferable to weave in the author’s name into your essay, usually at the beginning of a sentence.  However, it would also have been acceptable to end an improved paraphrase with just the author’s last name and the date of publication in parentheses.

How to Avoid Plagiarism in the Research Process

Plagiarism is the unauthorized or uncredited use of the writings or ideas of another in your writing.  While it might not be as tangible as auto theft or burglary, plagiarism is still a form of theft.  

In the academic world, plagiarism is a serious matter because ideas in the forms of research, creative work, and original thought are highly valued.  Chances are, your school has strict rules about what happens when someone is caught plagiarizing.  The penalty for plagiarism is severe, everything from a failing grade for the plagiarized work, a failing grade for the class, or expulsion from the institution.  

You might not be aware that plagiarism can take several different forms.  The most well known, purposeful plagiarism , is handing in an essay written by someone else and representing it as your own, copying your essay word for word from a magazine or journal, or downloading an essay from the Internet.  

A much more common and less understood phenomenon is what I call accidental plagiarism.  Accidental plagiarism is the result of improperly paraphrasing, summarizing, quoting, or citing your evidence in your academic writing.  Generally, writers accidentally plagiarize because they simply don’t know or they fail to follow the rules for giving credit to the ideas of others in their writing.

Both purposeful and accidental plagiarism are wrong, against the rules, and can result in harsh punishments.  Ignoring or not knowing the rules of how to not plagiarize and properly cite evidence might be an explanation, but it is not anexcuse.

To exemplify what I’m getting at, consider the examples below that use quotations and paraphrases from this brief passage:

Those who denounce cyberculture today strangely resemble those who criticized rock music during the fifties and sixties.  Rock started out as an Anglo-American phenomenon and has become an industry.  Nonetheless, it was able to capture the hopes of young people around the world and provided enjoyment to those of us who listened to or played rock.  Sixties pop was the conscience of one or two generations that helped bring the war in Vietnam to a close.  Obviously, neither rock nor pop has solved global poverty or hunger.  But is this a reason to be “against” them? (ix).

And just to make it clear that I’m not plagiarizing this passage, here is the citation in MLA style:

Works Cited

Lévy, Pierre.   Cyberculture .  Trans. Robert Bononno.  Minneapolis:  U of Minnesota P, 2001.

Here’s an obvious example of plagiarism:

Those who denounce cyberculture today strangely resemble those who criticized rock music during the fifties and sixties.  

In this case, the writer has literally taken one of Lévy’s sentences and represented it as her own.  That’s clearly against the rules.

Here’s another example of plagiarism, perhaps less obvious:

The same kind of people who criticize cyberculture are the same kind of people who criticized rock and roll music back in the fifties and sixties.  But both cyberculture and rock music inspire and entertain young people.

While these aren’t Lévy’s exact words, they are certainly close enough to constitute a form of plagiarism.  And again, even though you might think that this is a “lesser” form of plagiarism, it’s still plagiarism.  

Both of these passages can easily be corrected to make them acceptable quotations or paraphrases.  

In the introduction of his book Cyberculture, Pierre Lévy observes that “Those who denounce cyberculture today strangely resemble those who criticized rock music during the fifties and sixties” (ix). Pierre Lévy suggests that the same kind of people who criticize cyberculture are the same kind of people who criticized rock and roll music back in the fifties and sixties.  But both cyberculture and rock music inspire and entertain young people (ix).

Note that changing these passages from examples of plagiarism to acceptable examples of a quotation and a paraphrase is extremely easy:  properly cite your sources.

This leads to the “golden rule” of avoiding plagiarism:

The Golden Rule of Avoiding Plagiarism

Always cite your sources.  If you are unsure as to whether you should or should not cite a particular claim or reference, you should probably cite your source.

Often, students are unclear as to whether or not they need to cite a piece of evidence because they believe it to be “common knowledge” or because they are not sure about the source of information.  When in doubt about whether or not to cite evidence in order to give credit to a source (“common knowledge” or not), you should cite the evidence.

Plagiarism and the Internet

Sometimes, I think the ease of finding and retrieving information on the World Wide Web makes readers think that this information does not need to be cited.  After all, it isn’t a traditional source like a book or a journal; it is available for “free.”  All a research writer needs to do with a web site is “cut and paste” whatever he needs into his essay, right?  Wrong!  

You need to cite the evidence you find from the Internet or the World Wide Web the same way you cite evidence from other sources.  To not do this is plagiarism, or, more bluntly, cheating.  Just because the information is “freely” available on the Internet does not mean you can use this information in your academic writing without properly citing it, much in the same way that the information from library journals and books “freely” available to you needs to be cited in order to give credit where credit is due.

It is also not acceptable to simply download graphics from the World Wide Web.  Images found on the Internet are protected by copyright laws.  Quite literally, taking images from the Web (particularly from commercial sources) is an offense that could lead to legal action.  There are places where you can find graphics and clip art that Web publishers have made publicly available for anyone to use, but be sure that the Web site where you find the graphics makes this explicit before you take graphics as your own.

In short, you can use evidence from the Web as long as you don’t plagiarize and as long as you properly cite it; don’t take graphics from the Web unless you know the images are in the public domain.  

This piece was originally Chapter 3 from The Process of Research Writing .

Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Avoiding Plagiarism Copyright © 2016 by Steven D. Krause is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Avoid Plagiarism

• Defining Plagiarism
• Proper vs. Improper Paraphrasing
• Writing Skills

Improper Paraphrasing

Improper paraphrasing is a very common form of plagiarism. This occurs when one lifts a direct phrase from another work and changes just a few words - and then claims the work as wholly their own. Learning how to properly paraphrase is a very important component of good writing. But, remember, just because you have properly paraphrased does not mean that you do not need to cite the source of the original idea. Paraphrasing is simply a way of putting someone else's ideas into your own words - it does not make the idea your own.

Examples of Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is when you take an original idea from an author's work and reword, or rephrase, it so that the words are your own. It is important to remember that no matter how successful you are at paraphrasing, only the words are your own. When you paraphrase you must give credit through a citation for the author's original idea.

Original Phrase

"Western law begins with two major subgroups. One contains the legal systems of the European continent. Although there are many differences among European legal systems, they are all descended from the law of the Roman Empire and were influenced by the procedures of Medieval Roman Catholic canon law."

Dorothy H. Bracey, Exploring Law and Culture 31 (2006).

If you want to use this exact language in a paper, or any other work for a course, you must use quotation marks and provide a citation. If you want to use the idea, but not necessarily the author's words, you can paraphrase - but remember, you need to really need to explain the idea in your own words for it to be properly paraphrased; and don't forget the citation! 

Western law has two major subgroups. One is the legal systems of Europe. There are differences between the European legal systems, but they are all descended from the Roman Empire and influenced by the procedures of the Medieval Roman Catholic law.

With or without a citation, the above phrase is plagiarism. Changing a few words and omitting others is not enough for proper paraphrasing. You must really understand what the phrase means and then put it in your own words. 

Proper Paraphrasing

At first glance, it can seem like the legal traditions of European countries are all very different. However, as part of one of the larger subgroups of Western law, European legal systems largely share a common origin in the Roman Empire and Medieval Roman Catholic Church law.

This is an example of proper paraphrasing (and citation). The original phrase has been reworded and the original idea is being attributed to the original author.

Help With Paraphrasing

If you feel like you need help with paraphrasing, there are some very good resources online. Purdue University has an online writing lab (the OWL) that offers tips on how to paraphrase as well as a quiz to see if you really understand how to paraphrase. This is an important skill to practice in order to avoid plagiarism. 

• Purdue's OWL instructions on how to paraphrase
• Purdue's OWL paraphrase exercise

Checklist From the OWL

6 Steps to Effective Paraphrasing

• Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
• Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
• Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
• Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.
• Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
• Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

Taken from Purdue Online Writing Lab, Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words

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• Last Updated: Mar 22, 2022 9:47 AM
• URL: https://law-richmond.libguides.com/howtoavoidplagiarism

Paraphrasing vs Plagiarism: Differences with Examples

• Smodin Editorial Team
• February 21, 2023

Paraphrasing and plagiarism are two essential aspects of any research work or study. In the contemporary world, where ethical laws highly protect intellectual and research work, it is rare for people to directly quote someone’s work in its original form. 

When Should You Paraphrase?

Of course, maintaining the work’s ethical value and confidentiality is crucial to maintaining the quality of the research conducted. One tends to tweak and modify the words and restructures any phrase. In layman’s language, this is known as paraphrasing, which is done to avoid infringement on the owner’s rights. Every academic student and researcher should be knowledgeable about the meaning of paraphrasing. One must ensure that the purpose of the restated words is not changed in paraphrasing. This is where paraphrasing tools (Smodin’s Paraphrasing Tool) come into play and act as a lifesaver for any academic student. It is common to paraphrase whether you are writing an essay, an article, a thesis, or a research paper. It helps in delivering your ideas more effectively and coherently.

Should Plagiarism Be Used?

Paraphrasing is done where a direct quotation is irrelevant to the academic paper. While it is essential to paraphrase words, the lack of it leads to plagiarism. Plagiarism is something that every research student must be wary of and never do intentionally, as it can subjugate one’s work to harsh critique by peers. Furthermore, it can even be considered illegal and against research ethics. The very backbone of research is work that is free from any hints of plagiarism, and following the code of conduct is vital for the success of one’s written work. Not only does plagiarism tarnish the tonality of the writing, but it also ruins the writing structure and authenticity. So any time you add someone’s work to your paper, make sure you credit the author properly so that the work is not mistaken for your own in any way, shape, or form. 

Mostly, plagiarism happens by mistake due to the need for the right tools to paraphrase one’s written work. Thankfully, many online tools can help you translate effectively and detect plagiarism that might be “plaguing” your document. Using these tools is encouraged by academic institutions to make your writing error-free. So now that it is evident why these terms are crucial let us understand with examples what the two terms mean and the critical differentiation between them. One must ensure that paraphrasing and plagiarism are distinct so that the quality of the paper is excellent. 

What is Paraphrasing?

Simply put, paraphrasing means conveying somebody’s ideas in words that are entirely your own. According to Cambridge Dictionary, “paraphrasing” means “to repeat something written or spoken using different words, often in a humorous form or in a simpler and shorter form that makes the original meaning clearer.” Thus, even though it might be tempting to paraphrase a quote or a passage, you must be careful that it does not get considered plagiarism. In other words, you should use more synonyms and refrain from using original words and concepts. You can, however, use generic terms such as global warming and globalisation as they are commonly understood and accepted. 

For example , let us take a look at this fact related to the human body:

Original phrase: At birth, infants have about 300 bones. However, some of these bones get fused as they grow older; eventually leading to only 206 bones by the time they attain adulthood.

Paraphrasing: Babies are born with approximately 300 bones in their body, but as they turn older and reach adulthood, the bones tend to amalgamate and decrease to just 206.

Plagiarism: Infants have about 300 bones at the time of birth . These bones get fused as they grow older, leaving them with just 206 bones in total by the time they attain adulthood .

From this, we can clearly understand the difference between plagiarism and paraphrasing. 

In the first example (paraphrasing) , the text has been paraphrased effectively as there is the usage of synonyms (amalgamate, babies, etc.) Also, the translated text has restated words, and their meaning does not change.

In the second example (plagiarism) , a lot of plagiarism occurs as the writer has used exact words from the original text without quotation marks. Additionally, the actual words have been used, and there are a lot of duplicities.

What is Plagiarism?

Using parts of another person’s work and passing it across as your own, intentionally or unintentionally, is plagiarism. Exposure can even lead to a bad grade or cause extreme critique amongst one’s peers, as it is a morally unethical practice. Research allows no room for plagiarized work and can tamper the reputation of the one whose work is “stolen”. One can avoid such instances with the help of many online tools such as DupliChecker, Copyscape, and Plagiarism Detector. However, it is best to understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it manually, as getting exposed can have serious consequences. 

When it comes to providing a proper citation, your local library’s help can help a lot. Also, online software and tools like Zotero, Ref Works, EndNote, and Mendeley can go a long way in ensuring that credit is provided wherever it may be due. It also helps to develop an understanding of the passage and understand the text after reviewing it thoroughly. By doing this, there will be little confusion, eliminating the need for plagiarism.

Types of Plagiarism

Paraphrasing vs plagiarism is a rather broad and versatile topic. There are several types of plagiarism, and having an understanding of each one of them is vital in academics and research. According to the Harvard College Writing Program, these are as follows:

• Verbatim Plagiarism: This means copying someone’s work word by word.
• Mosaic Plagiarism: Taking parts of text from various sources without crediting the author.
• Inadequate Paraphrase: Paraphrasing that still has duplicity. 
• Uncited Paraphrase: Sufficiently copying another person’s work without giving credit.
• Uncited Quotation: Lack of reference material on a quotation cited from an external source.
• Using Another Student’s Work: Misusing someone’s ideas by completely copying them and taking all the credit for their work.

Thus, it is always handy to use RefWorks and Zotero to keep a proper log of all the citations and references used in your research paper or thesis. By doing so, you can go a long way in maintaining your work’s originality and ethical quality. 

Is Paraphrasing The Same As Plagiarism?

Paraphrasing is not the same as plagiarism, as the former encompasses proper citations, quotation marks, and references wherever necessary. However, paraphrasing might count as plagiarism in cases where:

• If your text is copied too closely to the original text, it is considered plagiarism. Yes, even if you provide proper citations. Thus, you are encouraged to use restated wording after grasping the passage’s meaning.
• Paraphrasing can also be considered plagiarism if you do not provide credit to the original writer.

When is Paraphrasing Not the Same as Plagiarism?

Although the lines between the two concepts may seem blurred, there are instances where paraphrasing and plagiarism are not similar such as the following:

•  If you do not copy the original author’s work, word by word, and provide adequate citations, then paraphrasing is not considered the same as plagiarism.

How to Paraphrase Without Plagiarism?

To paraphrase without getting acquitted of plagiarism, follow the given tips:

• Keep the Original Text at Bay

Once you have read the original text, leave it aside when it is time to write. By doing so, you can avoid confusion and hesitation. Also, use different coloured pens and highlighters while gathering sources for citing. 

• Gather a Genuine Understanding

Read the text a couple of times till you have acquired an understanding of it by heart. If you understand the concept, it will be a walk in the park for you to paraphrase it later in your words. 

• Adequately Cite The Sources

Be mindful of the various writing styles, such as the APA and the MLA. Follow the manual’s guidelines and use the format that is in the latest edition. Always use adequate citations and quotations in your writing.

• Use Anti-Plagiarism Tools

If you are a student, you can benefit from anti-plagiarism tools such as Copyscape and DupliChecker. These tools will allow you to escape accidental plagiarism. You can also use Grammarly’s Plagiarism Tool, which is one of the best.

Smodin’s Paraphrasing Tool

Another excellent paraphrasing tool is Smodin’s paraphrasing tool . Using this tool, you can rewrite any passage using as little as five words. It restates your text with good grammar and ensures high quality simultaneously. Smodin’s paraphrasing tool also comes packaged with a citation generator and a plagiarism checker. In short, it is your one-stop solution for all research-related papers.

On A Final Note

Paraphrasing is essential in any work to convey an original text in one’s own words. Smodin’s Paraphrasing Tool, Grammarly , CopyScape, and, DupliChecker are all handy tools for writing a top-notch academic paper. So check them out through the links given in this article.

• Utility Menu

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A publication of the harvard college writing program.

Harvard Guide to Using Sources 

• The Honor Code
• What Constitutes Plagiarism?

In academic writing, it is considered plagiarism to draw any idea or any language from someone else without adequately crediting that source in your paper. It doesn't matter whether the source is a published author, another student, a website without clear authorship, a website that sells academic papers, or any other person: Taking credit for anyone else's work is stealing, and it is unacceptable in all academic situations, whether you do it intentionally or by accident.

The ease with which you can find information of all kinds online means that you need to be extra vigilant about keeping track of where you are getting information and ideas and about giving proper credit to the authors of the sources you use. If you cut and paste from an electronic document into your notes and forget to clearly label the document in your notes, or if you draw information from a series of websites without taking careful notes, you may end up taking credit for ideas that aren't yours, whether you mean to or not.

It's important to remember that every website is a document with an author, and therefore every website must be cited properly in your paper. For example, while it may seem obvious to you that an idea drawn from Professor Steven Pinker's book The Language Instinct should only appear in your paper if you include a clear citation, it might be less clear that information you glean about language acquisition from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy website warrants a similar citation. Even though the authorship of this encyclopedia entry is less obvious than it might be if it were a print article (you need to scroll down the page to see the author's name, and if you don't do so you might mistakenly think an author isn't listed), you are still responsible for citing this material correctly. Similarly, if you consult a website that has no clear authorship, you are still responsible for citing the website as a source for your paper. The kind of source you use, or the absence of an author linked to that source, does not change the fact that you always need to cite your sources (see Evaluating Web Sources ).

Verbatim Plagiarism

If you copy language word for word from another source and use that language in your paper, you are plagiarizing verbatim . Even if you write down your own ideas in your own words and place them around text that you've drawn directly from a source, you must give credit to the author of the source material, either by placing the source material in quotation marks and providing a clear citation, or by paraphrasing the source material and providing a clear citation.

The passage below comes from Ellora Derenoncourt’s article, “Can You Move to Opportunity? Evidence from the Great Migration.”

Here is the article citation in APA style:

Derenoncourt, E. (2022). Can you move to opportunity? Evidence from the Great Migration. The American Economic Review , 112(2), 369–408. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20200002

Source material

Why did urban Black populations in the North increase so dramatically between 1940 and 1970? After a period of reduced mobility during the Great Depression, Black out-migration from the South resumed at an accelerated pace after 1940. Wartime jobs in the defense industry and in naval shipyards led to substantial Black migration to California and other Pacific states for the first time since the Migration began. Migration continued apace to midwestern cities in the 1950s and1960s, as the booming automobile industry attracted millions more Black southerners to the North, particularly to cities like Detroit or Cleveland. Of the six million Black migrants who left the South during the Great Migration, four million of them migrated between 1940 and 1970 alone.

Plagiarized version

While this student has written her own sentence introducing the topic, she has copied the italicized sentences directly from the source material. She has left out two sentences from Derenoncourt’s paragraph, but has reproduced the rest verbatim:

But things changed mid-century. After a period of reduced mobility during the Great Depression, Black out-migration from the South resumed at an accelerated pace after 1940. Wartime jobs in the defense industry and in naval shipyards led to substantial Black migration to California and other Pacific states for the first time since the Migration began. Migration continued apace to midwestern cities in the 1950s and1960s, as the booming automobile industry attracted millions more Black southerners to the North, particularly to cities like Detroit or Cleveland.

Acceptable version #1: Paraphrase with citation

In this version the student has paraphrased Derenoncourt’s passage, making it clear that these ideas come from a source by introducing the section with a clear signal phrase ("as Derenoncourt explains…") and citing the publication date, as APA style requires.

But things changed mid-century. In fact, as Derenoncourt (2022) explains, the wartime increase in jobs in both defense and naval shipyards marked the first time during the Great Migration that Black southerners went to California and other west coast states. After the war, the increase in jobs in the car industry led to Black southerners choosing cities in the midwest, including Detroit and Cleveland.

Acceptable version #2 : Direct quotation with citation or direct quotation and paraphrase with citation

If you quote directly from an author and cite the quoted material, you are giving credit to the author. But you should keep in mind that quoting long passages of text is only the best option if the particular language used by the author is important to your paper. Social scientists and STEM scholars rarely quote in their writing, paraphrasing their sources instead. If you are writing in the humanities, you should make sure that you only quote directly when you think it is important for your readers to see the original language.

In the example below, the student quotes part of the passage and paraphrases the rest.

But things changed mid-century. In fact, as Derenoncourt (2022) explains, “after a period of reduced mobility during the Great Depression, Black out-migration from the South resumed at an accelerated pace after 1940” (p. 379). Derenoncourt notes that after the war, the increase in jobs in the car industry led to Black southerners choosing cities in the midwest, including Detroit and Cleveland.

Mosaic Plagiarism

If you copy bits and pieces from a source (or several sources), changing a few words here and there without either adequately paraphrasing or quoting directly, the result is mosaic plagiarism . Even if you don't intend to copy the source, you may end up with this type of plagiarism as a result of careless note-taking and confusion over where your source's ideas end and your own ideas begin. You may think that you've paraphrased sufficiently or quoted relevant passages, but if you haven't taken careful notes along the way, or if you've cut and pasted from your sources, you can lose track of the boundaries between your own ideas and those of your sources. It's not enough to have good intentions and to cite some of the material you use. You are responsible for making clear distinctions between your ideas and the ideas of the scholars who have informed your work. If you keep track of the ideas that come from your sources and have a clear understanding of how your own ideas differ from those ideas, and you follow the correct citation style, you will avoid mosaic plagiarism.

Indeed, of the more than 3500 hours of instruction during medical school, an average of less than 60 hours are devoted to all of bioethics, health law and health economics combined . Most of the instruction is during the preclinical courses, leaving very little instructional time when students are experiencing bioethical or legal challenges during their hands-on, clinical training. More than 60 percent of the instructors in bioethics, health law, and health economics have not published since 1990 on the topic they are teaching.

--Persad, G.C., Elder, L., Sedig,L., Flores, L., & Emanuel, E. (2008). The current state of medical school education in bioethics, health law, and health economics. Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics 36 , 89-94.

Students can absorb the educational messages in medical dramas when they view them for entertainment. In fact, even though they were not created specifically for education, these programs can be seen as an entertainment-education tool [43, 44]. In entertainment-education shows, viewers are exposed to educational content in entertainment contexts, using visual language that is easy to understand and triggers emotional engagement [45]. The enhanced emotional engagement and cognitive development [5] and moral imagination make students more sensitive to training [22].

--Cambra-Badii, I., Moyano, E., Ortega, I., Josep-E Baños, & Sentí, M. (2021). TV medical dramas: Health sciences students’ viewing habits and potential for teaching issues related to bioethics and professionalism. BMC Medical Education, 21 , 1-11. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02947-7

Paragraph #1.

All of the ideas in this paragraph after the first sentence are drawn directly from Persad. But because the student has placed the citation mid-paragraph, the final two sentences wrongly appear to be the student’s own idea:

In order to advocate for the use of medical television shows in the medical education system, it is also important to look at the current bioethical curriculum. In the more than 3500 hours of training that students undergo in medical school, only about 60 hours are focused on bioethics, health law, and health economics (Persad et al, 2008). It is also problematic that students receive this training before they actually have spent time treating patients in the clinical setting. Most of these hours are taught by instructors without current publications in the field.

Paragraph #2.

All of the italicized ideas in this paragraph are either paraphrased or taken verbatim from Cambra-Badii, et al., but the student does not cite the source at all. As a result, readers will assume that the student has come up with these ideas himself:

Students can absorb the educational messages in medical dramas when they view them for entertainment. It doesn’t matter if the shows were designed for medical students; they can still be a tool for education. In these hybrid entertainment-education shows, viewers are exposed to educational content that triggers an emotional reaction. By allowing for this emotional, cognitive, and moral engagement, the shows make students more sensitive to training . There may be further applications to this type of education: the role of entertainment as a way of encouraging students to consider ethical situations could be extended to other professions, including law or even education.

The student has come up with the final idea in the paragraph (that this type of ethical training could apply to other professions), but because nothing in the paragraph is cited, it reads as if it is part of a whole paragraph of his own ideas, rather than the point that he is building to after using the ideas from the article without crediting the authors.

Acceptable version

In the first paragraph, the student uses signal phrases in nearly every sentence to reference the authors (“According to Persad et al.,” “As the researchers argue,” “They also note”), which makes it clear throughout the paragraph that all of the paragraph’s information has been drawn from Persad et al. The student also uses a clear APA in-text citation to point the reader to the original article. In the second paragraph, the student paraphrases and cites the source’s ideas and creates a clear boundary behind those ideas and his own, which appear in the final paragraph.

In order to advocate for the use of medical television shows in the medical education system, it is also important to look at the current bioethical curriculum. According to Persad et al. (2008), only about one percent of teaching time throughout the four years of medical school is spent on ethics. As the researchers argue, this presents a problem because the students are being taught about ethical issues before they have a chance to experience those issues themselves. They also note that more than sixty percent of instructors teaching bioethics to medical students have no recent publications in the subject.

The research suggests that medical dramas may be a promising source for discussions of medical ethics. Cambra-Badii et al. (2021) explain that even when watched for entertainment, medical shows can help viewers engage emotionally with the characters and may prime them to be more receptive to training in medical ethics. There may be further applications to this type of education: the role of entertainment as a way of encouraging students to consider ethical situations could be extended to other professions, including law or even education.

Inadequate Paraphrase

When you paraphrase, your task is to distill the source's ideas in your own words. It's not enough to change a few words here and there and leave the rest; instead, you must completely restate the ideas in the passage in your own words. If your own language is too close to the original, then you are plagiarizing, even if you do provide a citation.

In order to make sure that you are using your own words, it's a good idea to put away the source material while you write your paraphrase of it. This way, you will force yourself to distill the point you think the author is making and articulate it in a new way. Once you have done this, you should look back at the original and make sure that you have represented the source’s ideas accurately and that you have not used the same words or sentence structure. If you do want to use some of the author's words for emphasis or clarity, you must put those words in quotation marks and provide a citation.

The passage below comes from Michael Sandel’s article, “The Case Against Perfection.” Here’s the article citation in MLA style:

Sandel, Michael. “The Case Against Perfection.” The Atlantic , April 2004, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/04/the-case-against-pe... .

Though there is much to be said for this argument, I do not think the main problem with enhancement and genetic engineering is that they undermine effort and erode human agency. The deeper danger is that they represent a kind of hyperagency—a Promethean aspiration to remake nature, including human nature, to serve our purposes and satisfy our desires. The problem is not the drift to mechanism but the drive to mastery. And what the drive to mastery misses and may even destroy is an appreciation of the gifted character of human powers and achievements.

The version below is an inadequate paraphrase because the student has only cut or replaced a few words: “I do not think the main problem” became “the main problem is not”; “deeper danger” became “bigger problem”; “aspiration” became “desire”; “the gifted character of human powers and achievements” became “the gifts that make our achievements possible.”

The main problem with enhancement and genetic engineering is not that they undermine effort and erode human agency. The bigger problem is that they represent a kind of hyperagency—a Promethean desire to remake nature, including human nature, to serve our purposes and satisfy our desires. The problem is not the drift to mechanism but the drive to mastery. And what the drive to mastery misses and may even destroy is an appreciation of the gifts that make our achievements possible (Sandel).

Acceptable version #1: Adequate paraphrase with citation

In this version, the student communicates Sandel’s ideas but does not borrow language from Sandel. Because the student uses Sandel’s name in the first sentence and has consulted an online version of the article without page numbers, there is no need for a parenthetical citation.

Michael Sandel disagrees with the argument that genetic engineering is a problem because it replaces the need for humans to work hard and make their own choices. Instead, he argues that we should be more concerned that the decision to use genetic enhancement is motivated by a desire to take control of nature and bend it to our will instead of appreciating its gifts.

Acceptable version #2: Direct quotation with citation

In this version, the student uses Sandel’s words in quotation marks and provides a clear MLA in-text citation. In cases where you are going to talk about the exact language that an author uses, it is acceptable to quote longer passages of text. If you are not going to discuss the exact language, you should paraphrase rather than quoting extensively.

The author argues that “the main problem with enhancement and genetic engineering is not that they undermine effort and erode human agency,” but, rather that “they represent a kind of hyperagency—a Promethean desire to remake nature, including human nature, to serve our purposes and satisfy our desires. The problem is not the drift to mechanism but the drive to mastery. And what the drive to mastery misses and may even destroy is an appreciation of the gifts that make our achievements possible” (Sandel).

Uncited Paraphrase

When you use your own language to describe someone else's idea, that idea still belongs to the author of the original material. Therefore, it's not enough to paraphrase the source material responsibly; you also need to cite the source, even if you have changed the wording significantly. As with quoting, when you paraphrase you are offering your reader a glimpse of someone else's work on your chosen topic, and you should also provide enough information for your reader to trace that work back to its original form. The rule of thumb here is simple: Whenever you use ideas that you did not think up yourself, you need to give credit to the source in which you found them, whether you quote directly from that material or provide a responsible paraphrase.

The passage below comes from C. Thi Nguyen’s article, “Echo Chambers and Epistemic Bubbles.”

Here’s the citation for the article, in APA style:

Nguyen, C. (2020). Echo chambers and epistemic bubbles. Episteme, 17 (2), 141-161. doi:10.1017/epi.2018.32

Epistemic bubbles can easily form accidentally. But the most plausible explanation for the particular features of echo chambers is something more malicious. Echo chambers are excellent tools to maintain, reinforce, and expand power through epistemic control. Thus, it is likely (though not necessary) that echo chambers are set up intentionally, or at least maintained, for this functionality (Nguyen, 2020).

The student who wrote the paraphrase below has drawn these ideas directly from Nguyen’s article but has not credited the author. Although she paraphrased adequately, she is still responsible for citing Nguyen as the source of this information.

Echo chambers and epistemic bubbles have different origins. While epistemic bubbles can be created organically, it’s more likely that echo chambers will be formed by those who wish to keep or even grow their control over the information that people hear and understand.

In this version, the student eliminates any possible ambiguity about the source of the ideas in the paragraph. By using a signal phrase to name the author whenever the source of the ideas could be unclear, the student clearly attributes these ideas to Nguyen.

According to Nguyen (2020), echo chambers and epistemic bubbles have different origins. Nguyen argues that while epistemic bubbles can be created organically, it’s more likely that echo chambers will be formed by those who wish to keep or even grow their control over the information that people hear and understand.

Uncited Quotation

When you put source material in quotation marks in your essay, you are telling your reader that you have drawn that material from somewhere else. But it's not enough to indicate that the material in quotation marks is not the product of your own thinking or experimentation: You must also credit the author of that material and provide a trail for your reader to follow back to the original document. This way, your reader will know who did the original work and will also be able to go back and consult that work if they are interested in learning more about the topic. Citations should always go directly after quotations.

The passage below comes from Deirdre Mask’s nonfiction book, The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power.

Here is the MLA citation for the book:

Mask, Deirdre. The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2021.

In New York, even addresses are for sale. The city allows a developer, for the bargain price of $11,000 (as of 2019), to apply to change the street address to something more attractive.

It’s not enough for the student to indicate that these words come from a source; the source must be cited:

After all, “in New York, even addresses are for sale. The city allows a developer, for the bargain price of $11,000 (as of 2019), to apply to change the street address to something more attractive.”

Here, the student has cited the source of the quotation using an MLA in-text citation:

After all, “in New York, even addresses are for sale. The city allows a developer, for the bargain price of $11,000 (as of 2019), to apply to change the street address to something more attractive” (Mask 229).

Using Material from Another Student's Work

In some courses you will be allowed or encouraged to form study groups, to work together in class generating ideas, or to collaborate on your thinking in other ways. Even in those cases, it's imperative that you understand whether all of your writing must be done independently, or whether group authorship is permitted. Most often, even in courses that allow some collaborative discussion, the writing or calculations that you do must be your own. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't collect feedback on your writing from a classmate or a writing tutor; rather, it means that the argument you make (and the ideas you rely on to make it) should either be your own or you should give credit to the source of those ideas.

So what does this mean for the ideas that emerge from class discussion or peer review exercises? Unlike the ideas that your professor offers in lecture (you should always cite these), ideas that come up in the course of class discussion or peer review are collaborative, and often not just the product of one individual's thinking. If, however, you see a clear moment in discussion when a particular student comes up with an idea, you should cite that student. In any case, when your work is informed by class discussions, it's courteous and collegial to include a discursive footnote in your paper that lets your readers know about that discussion. So, for example, if you were writing a paper about the narrator in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried and you came up with your idea during a discussion in class, you might place a footnote in your paper that states the following: "I am indebted to the members of my Expos 20 section for sparking my thoughts about the role of the narrator as Greek Chorus in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried ."

It is important to note that collaboration policies can vary by course, even within the same department, and you are responsible for familiarizing yourself with each course's expectation about collaboration. Collaboration policies are often stated in the syllabus, but if you are not sure whether it is appropriate to collaborate on work for any course, you should always consult your instructor.

• The Exception: Common Knowledge
• Other Scenarios to Avoid
• Why Does it Matter if You Plagiarize?
• How to Avoid Plagiarism
• Harvard University Plagiarism Policy

PDFs for This Section

• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Online Library and Citation Tools

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How to avoid plagiarism.

Put in quotations information that is used word for word from the source and provide the name of the author, year of publication, page number, and the reference according to the  citation style chosen. For citations of 40 words or more, use block indention. The Green Library at Florida International University has manuals and reference books available about citation styles.

The mosaic type of plagiarism refers to the blending of original material with students' words without giving credit to the author of the original.

• Note that the name of the author, year of publication, and page number are cited in the text (APA style).
• Quotations are used to indicate that the information has been reproduced verbatim.
• A reference is also provided (APA style).

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is the use of your own words to express the author's ideas without changing the meaning. Paraphrasing does not mean just rearranging or changing a few words from the original.

How to paraphrase:

• Express the author's ideas with your own words.
• Keep in mind the author's meaning.
• Do not use the original sentence structure.
• ALWAYS give credit to the author. Consult manuals for  forms of citations  and references in different styles.

Plagiarism occurs when students change words, rearrange sentences, or use synonyms when paraphrasing the original text. Paraphrasing entails expressing others' ideas in your own words so a citation must be provided. The ideas are still the author's and credit must be given. Plagiarism occurs not only when borrowing words but also ideas.

Summarizing

A summary is a shorter version of the original passage keeping the author's ideas in mind. Summarizing is a good technique when the original material to be used is too long to be quoted. When summarizing, the source must also be cited.

IOE - Faculty of Education and Society

Referencing and avoiding plagiarism

Learn how to reference effectively, paraphrase correctly and avoid plagiarism.

Reference effectively and avoid plagiarism

Avoiding plagiarism for beginners, paraphrasing for beginners, referencing faqs, ucl plagiarism guidelines, how should i reference at ioe.

At IOE you will usually need to use a version of APA or Harvard. These are two systems that use in-text referencing (not footnotes). The two systems are very similar. The most important aspect is to be consistent, and to use the same format for all your references. The following UCL Library open resources provides an overview on managing references, how to reference and avoid plagiarism:

• References, citations and avoiding plagiarism
• How to reference using Harvard style
• How to reference using APA style

Guidance on using other referencing styles is available, too.

Reference managers

Many students prefer to use a reference management software . Although there are many packages available, the IOE Library provides LibGuide instructions for the following:

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N.B. Please try to understand the ideas behind referencing and discussing different authors' ideas in your work. If you do not have time to do that, you can follow this beginner's guide.

You may stop after any of these steps, and you will have successfully avoided plagiarism. To fully develop your writing, you will probably prefer to progress through as many steps as you can.

Step 1: Direct Quotation

• Find the idea that you want to include.
• Write this idea in direct quotes.
• Add the author’s name and page number.
• Put the full reference at the end of your document, to make sure you remember to include it.
• You have avoided plagiarism. Stop here, or continue to Step 2, to develop your writing further.

Universities also place the burden of understanding plagiarism and attribution conventions on students. There are myriad information-laden web-based self-help tutorials and workshops on related sites for the universities in this study. Many are excellent resources and can be helpful. Nevertheless, the lack of additional, detailed individual assistance about the techniques of engaging in academic writing conventions, particularly for students studying in off-campus or distance modes, raises issues of equity for plagiarism management policymakers. (Sutherland-Smith, 2010:9).

References: Sutherland-Smith, W. (2010) "Retribution, deterrence and reform: the dilemmas of plagiarism management in universities", Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management , 32(1) 5-16. Available at Taylor and Francis Online  (Accessed on 11 January 2019).

Step 2: Paraphrase

• Decide what the key information is, for the purposes of your discussion.
• Change the order of the ideas and the words. This can help you to emphasise your interpretation of the original text.
• Change the word form/grammatical form if necessary.
• Use synonyms if appropriate, but do not change any specific terminology. In the example below, terms such as 'plagiarism management', 'universities', 'students' and 'distance' were not changed. The best place to find suitable synonyms will be elsewhere in the same article.
• If some words stay the same in the same order (three or more consecutive words), you need to use quotation marks around these words.
• Repeat the author's name or a pronoun through the paraphrase, so it is clear that we are still reading a paraphrase.
• Add a detail about where the information came from, if necessary. Here, the information 'through her study of eighteen policies on plagiarism from different universities' was added, to give some context to the claims.
• Keep the author name and page number (you may have been told that you do not need the page number for a paraphrase, but if the idea came from one specific page, it is still useful to include it. That way, you can check the information again if you need to.)
• You have avoided plagiarism. Stop here, or continue to Step 3, to develop your writing further.

The responsibility for learning how to reference correctly and avoid plagiarism tends to be passed from the university to the students, as Sutherland-Smith (2010:9) found, through her study of eighteen policies on plagiarism from different universities. She also points out that although many universities provide self-access resources for students to try to learn more about this area, the support provided is, on the whole, inadequate. Sutherland-Smith expands further to explain that this inadequacy is partly because the advice provided is not specific enough for each student, and partly because distance students will often receive even less support. She concludes that these issues carry implications for the decisions around plagiarism management, as some students may receive more assistance than others, leading to questions of inequity.

Step 3: Add your own examples (optional)

Do you have any examples of what is being discussed? These could be from your own practice or professional experience; from observations you have made; from other literature or published materials.

• Include an example with a phrase such as 'To illustrate...' or 'An example of this can be seen in...'
• Include the reference if your example is from published materials.
• You have avoided plagiarism. Stop here, or continue to Step 4, to develop your writing further.

The responsibility for learning how to reference correctly and avoid plagiarism tends to be passed from the university to the students, as Sutherland-Smith (2010:9) found, through her study of eighteen policies on plagiarism from different universities. She points out that many universities provide self-access resources for students to try to learn more about this area. An example of this can be found on the website “Writing Centre Online” (UCL Institute of Education, 2019), which includes a “Beginners Guide” page with step-by-step instructions on avoiding plagiarism, as well as various links to referencing and plagiarism resources . Despite this type of provision, Sutherland-Smith observes, the support provided is, on the whole, inadequate. Sutherland-Smith expands further to explain that this inadequacy is partly because the advice provided is not specific enough for each student, and partly because distance students will often receive even less support. She concludes that these issues carry implications for the decisions around plagiarism management, as some students may receive more assistance than others, leading to questions of inequity.

Step 4: Add your own comment (Optional)

Do you have any comments on the ideas? These could be:

• To support the ideas.
• To suggest the ideas are not valid.
• To show how the ideas connect to something else.
• To comment on the context.
• To add another critical comment.

Make sure it is clear, through the language you use, which is your comment, and which is the original paraphrase.

See the section on criticality for more ideas: Criticality

The responsibility for learning how to reference correctly and avoid plagiarism tends to be passed from the university to the students, as Sutherland-Smith (2010:9) found, through her study of eighteen policies on plagiarism from different universities. She points out that many universities provide self-access resources for students to try to learn more about this area. An example of this can be found on the website “Writing Centre Online” (UCL Institute of Education, 2019), which includes a “Beginners Guide” page with step-by-step instructions on avoiding plagiarism, as well as various links to referencing and plagiarism resources. Despite this type of provision, Sutherland-Smith observes, the support provided is, on the whole, inadequate. It is interesting to note that this inadequacy can be seen at both an institutional level and from a student perspective, which will have implications as discussed in the following section . Sutherland-Smith expands further to explain that this inadequacy is partly because the advice provided is not specific enough for each student, and partly because distance students will often receive even less support, possibly, we could note, as they are wholly reliant on online materials . She concludes that these issues carry implications for the decisions around plagiarism management, as some students may receive more assistance than others, leading to questions of inequity. It could be considered that inequities are a particularly important issue in discussions of plagiarism management, given that controls on plagiarism could be seen, in principle, as intended to make the system fairer .

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“Paraphrasing” means rewriting the same information in a different way. It helps you to better integrate the ideas into the particular piece you are writing.

Step-by-step paraphrasing

• Use synonyms if appropriate, but do not change any specific terminology. In the example below, terms such as “plagiarism management”, “universities”, “students” and “distance” were not changed. The best place to find suitable synonyms will be elsewhere in the same article.
• Add a detail about where the information came from, if necessary. In the example below, the information “through her study of eighteen policies on plagiarism from different universities” was added, to give some context to the claims.
• Keep the author’s name and page number (you may have been told that you do not need the page number for a paraphrase, but if the idea came from one specific page, it is still useful to include it. That way, you can check the information again if you need to).

Text Comparison

Example original text.

Universities also place the burden of understanding plagiarism and attribution conventions on students. There are myriad information-laden web-based self-help tutorials and workshops on related sites for the universities in this study. Many are excellent resources and can be helpful. Nevertheless, the lack of additional, detailed individual assistance about the techniques of engaging in academic writing conventions, particularly for students studying in off-campus or distance modes, raises issues of equity for plagiarism management policymakers. (Sutherland-Smith, 2010:9).

Example paraphrased text

The responsibility for learning how to reference correctly and avoid plagiarism tends to be passed from the university to the students, as Sutherland-Smith (2010:9) found, through her study of eighteen policies on plagiarism from different universities. She also points out that although many universities provide online self-access resources for students to try to learn more about this area, the support provided is, on the whole, inadequate. Sutherland-Smith expands further to explain that this inadequacy is partly because the advice provided is not specific enough for each student, and partly because distance students will often receive even less support. She concludes that these issues carry implications for the decisions around plagiarism management, as some students may receive more assistance than others, leading to questions of inequity.

Sentence Analysis

Original : Universities also place the burden of understanding plagiarism and attribution conventions on students.

Paraphrase : The responsibility for learning how to reference correctly and avoid plagiarism tends to be passed from the university to the students, as Sutherland-Smith (2010:9) found.

Comment : Here, the following changes have been made:

• Order of ideas or words (look for where “university” appears)
• Word form (active “place the burden on” changed to passive “to be passed to”)
• Synonyms (“understanding” changed to “learning how to”, “plagiarism and attribution conventions” changed to “reference correctly and avoid plagiarism”). Note some key terms have not been changed.

Original : There are myriad information-laden web-based self-help tutorials and workshops on related sites for the universities in this study.

Paraphrase : She also points out that [...] many universities provide online self-access resources for students to try to learn more about this area.

• Order of ideas or words (look for where “university” appears).
• Word form (descriptive “There are” changed to active “many universities provide”).
• Synonyms (“information-laden web-based self-help tutorials and workshops on related sites” changed to “online self-access resources”, “myriad” changed to “many”). Note some key terms have not been changed.
• Some information has been added, to help explain the meaning (“for students to try to learn more about this area”).

Original : Many are excellent resources and can be helpful.

Paraphrase : N/A

Comment : This sentence was not included in the new paraphrase, as the writer felt it was not important for their discussion.

Original : Nevertheless, the lack of additional, detailed individual assistance about the techniques of engaging in academic writing conventions, particularly for students studying in off-campus or distance modes, raises issues of equity for plagiarism management policymakers.

Paraphrase : ...The support provided is, on the whole, inadequate. Sutherland-Smith expands further to explain that this inadequacy is partly because the advice provided is not specific enough for each student, and partly because distance students will often receive even less support. She concludes that these issues carry implications for the decisions around plagiarism management, as some students may receive more assistance than others, leading to questions of inequity.

Comment : Here, the following changes have been made: •    The information has been divided into sub-points, to try to express the point more clearly. Some explanatory words and linking words have been added, to help explain the meaning and to show that it is the original author who has made these claims (“Sutherland-Smith expands further to explain that...”) •    Synonyms (“issues of equity” changed to “questions of inequity”, “raises issues” changed to “carry implications”). Note some key terms have not been changed.

As Hyland (1999) describes, referencing is central to academic writing: “Reference to previous work is virtually mandatory in academic articles [...] as a strategy for supporting current claims" (Hyland, 1999, p. 362).

The simplest way to think of referencing is to imagine that your reader might want to find out more about a piece of information or check the facts for themselves. Your reference shows them where to look .

It is important to provide correct references for any information which you give in your essay. Information could include ideas, facts, phrases, or anything else.

This means that you need to include references for all information , even if it is from something which you do not consider “academic”, such as an unregulated website. (Technically, it is probably best to avoid these sources of information anyway).

You need to provide a reference, whether or not you are using the exact words. Even if you change the words, someone might want to find out more about the information you are referring to.

If you use the same words as the original, you need to use quotation marks around this section, followed by the reference. If you do not use the same words, you do not need the quotation marks, you only need the reference itself. Make sure you include a list of references at the end of your essay. See the referencing guidelines for how to do all of this.

Referencing makes your point more convincing . Your reference shows that this information has been published somewhere, and you did not just make it up. If it is an opinion, your reference shows that other people writing in this area also share your opinion, which makes the opinion more interesting for your academic reader.

Sometimes you might want to think of your opinion as unique. It might be a coincidence that someone else thought of the same idea as you. Even if it is a coincidence, and you thought of the opinion by yourself, putting a reference to someone who also thought this way makes your opinion seem more valid to the academic community, as it is not simply one person's idea. Sometimes, it might be the case that you are the first person to have thought of an idea. If that is the case, you need to show how your idea is different from another person's idea. In all of these situations, you still need references!

It is a good idea to have a reference for every claim you make, if possible. Do not worry about using referencing too often. As a general rule, it is better to use the references too often than not enough. This does not refer to the number of different authors/texts, but the frequency of citing those authors. It should be high-frequency overall. You may have been given some advice not to use too many references. This advice means you don't need to have a long list of authors that you didn't read properly. Instead, it is better to use fewer texts, but read them in more detail. You may follow the examples on this site, or you may use a slightly different format. The most important aspect is to be consistent and use the same format for all your references.

In this situation, you need to use “cited in”. It is often useful to describe the secondary quotation a little more and show how it fits in with the first author. Here is an example. The writer had read Gray et al (2011) but wanted to mention another reference they used.

Example –  Secondary citation :  To further support their argument , Gray et al (2011:866) summarise a number of other studies which reported positive evaluations of coaching by coachees, including statistics such as "participants estimated return on investment of 5.7 times the initial cost" ( McGovern et al, 2001, cited in Gray et al, 2011:866). Studies such as these appear to indicate that coaching can be worthwhile for the individual and the organisation. Source: Anonymous UCL Institute of Education student (2013).

In this example, only Gray et al (2011) will appear in the reference list at the end of the assignment, as this is the only one that the student has read as a primary source.

You can often say that something is similar to an author's point, or connected to an author's point. You can even say that something contradicts an author's point. Using a reference doesn't only mean showing exactly where the information came from. It can also mean showing how information is connected to something that is published. It could also mean showing how an author's statement may be applied in a different context. Here is an example of something similar to this.

Example –  Using a reference to show connections: As some of Bion's (1961) work has shown , groups can be particularly resistant to learning, preferring (if we can speak of a group as having a "preference") to preserve itself. As learning often means movement and change, it can be resisted by a group. Whether or not an 'organisation' can be considered equivalent to a 'group' in this context is outside the scope of this discussion, but insights such as those from Bion's work have been applied very usefully to analyses of the way that organisations may function in particularly conservative ways (see, for example, Armstrong, 2005). It can be useful to remember this when working with various staff members within an organisation. Source: Anonymous UCL Institute of Education student (2013)

For more information, please refer to the UCL guidelines on academic integrity, which include definitions of plagiarism.

• Academic Integrity
• Turnitin FAQs  (UCL Wiki, access only via VPN/network)
• Guidance for students submitting work via Turnitin in Moodle  (UCL Wiki, access only via VPN/network).

If you are a UCL student and interested in the similarity report of your assignments, you may find this Moodle course useful:

•   Turnitin Similarity Checker (self-access UCL Moodle course - login required).

SPE 103 - Jung/Stupar - Spring 2024

• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Ask a Librarian! Get Research Help This link opens in a new window
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Plagiarism Checkers

• Easy Bib In addition to helping you create MLA citations, Easy Bib also has a plagiarism checker.
• Grammarly Plagiarism Checker Grammarly offers not only a free grammar and spellcheck service, but will check your paper for plagiarism as well.

Plagiarism: What is It?

Plagiarism: How to Avoid It

Plagiarism is using others' ideas or words without correctly crediting them for their work. When we create essays or papers for a class that require us to do research, we draw directly on others' words and ideas to build evidence for our paper. So, how do we ensure that when we avoid plagiarizing when we write?

• Don't procrastinate starting your research . Thorough research takes time, both to read sources and process the information. When we don't thoroughly digest what we've read, we tend to directly reproduce it and can't successfully paraphrase.
• Learn how to paraphrase.  Good paraphrasing is more than just switching the order of a few words. Read the passage several times until you feel comfortable with its ideas. Look up any terms that are unfamiliar to you. Once you feel comfortable with the content, summarize the passage without looking back at the original. Then, use a citation to indicate you are drawing upon another's ideas.
• Take thorough notes as you read.  When you come across an idea or a piece of information that is relevant to your topic, write down not only the quote, but the page number where you found it. Differentiate in your notes between your ideas and the author's. When you create an outline for your paper, you can plug these notes directly into that outline, which will make writing your rough draft much easier.
• Do your own work.  Don't ask others to do work for you. Don't copy others' work and pass it off as your own. Period.
• When in doubt, cite.  Any information you get from a source, whether factual or conceptual, that is not common knowledge must be cited. For example, we all know without researching it that George Washington was the first President of the United States. But, we may not all know that Washington had slaves' teeth, not wooden dentures. So, in this case, we would need to provide a citation to establish the truth of the information so that others could verify our claims. Even though both are historical facts. (MountVernon.org)

“George Washington and Slave Teeth.” George Washington's Mount Vernon , www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/health/washingtons-teeth/george-washington-and-slave-teeth/.

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Another Harvard racial-justice scholar is accused of plagiarism.

Harvard professor Christina Cross is a rising star in the field of critical race studies. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, secured the support of the National Science Foundation, and garnered attention from the New York Times , where she published an influential article title “The Myth of the Two-Parent Home.”

Cross’s 2019 dissertation, “The Color, Class, and Context of Family Structure and Its Association with Children’s Educational Performance,” won a slate of awards, including the American Sociological Association Dissertation Award and the ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award, and helped catapult her onto the Harvard faculty.

According to a new complaint filed with Harvard’s office of research integrity, however, Cross’s work is compromised by multiple instances of plagiarism, including “verbatim plagiarism, mosaic plagiarism , uncited paraphrasing, and uncited quotations from other sources.”

I have obtained a copy of the complaint, which documents a pattern of misappropriation in Cross’s dissertation and one other academic paper. The complaint begins with a dozen allegations of plagiarism related to the dissertation that range in severity from small bits of “ duplicative language ,” which may not constitute an offense, to multiple passages heavily plagiarized from other sources without proper attribution. (Cross did not respond to a request for comment.)

The most serious allegation is that Cross lifted an entire paragraph nearly verbatim from a paper by Stacey Bosick and Paula Fomby titled “Family Instability in Childhood and Criminal Offending During the Transition Into Adulthood” without citing the source or placing verbatim language in quotations. Here is the paragraph from Bosick and Fomby:

We use data from the PSID and two of its supplemental studies, the Child Development Supplement (CDS) and the Transition into Adulthood Supplement (TAS). PSID began in 1968 as a nationally representative sample of approximately 4,800 households. Original respondents and their descendants have been followed annually until 1997 and biennially since then. To maintain population representativeness, a sample refresher in 1997 added approximately 500 households headed by immigrants who had entered the United States since 1968. At each wave, the household head or the spouse or cohabiting partner of the head reports on family household composition, employment, earned and unearned income, assets, debt, educational attainment, expenditures, housing characteristics, and health and health care in the household. In 2015 (the most recent wave available), the study collected information on almost 25,000 individuals in approximately 9,000 households.

And here is the paragraph from Cross, with identical language italicized:

This study draws on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1985-2015) and its two youth-centered supplements, the Child Development Supplement (CDS) (1997-2007) and the Transition into Adulthood Supplement (TAS) (2005-2015). The PSID began in 1968 as a nationally-representative sample of nearly 5,000 U.S. households . Original sample members and their descendants were followed annually until 1997 and have been followed biennially since then . To maintain population representativeness , in 1997, a sample refresher added approximately 500 households headed by immigrants who had entered the United States since 1968. At each wave, the household head or the spouse or cohabiting partner of the head reports on household composition , and household members’ employment, income, educational attainment, and health status. In 2015, the study collected information on nearly 25,000 individuals in approximately 9,000 households.

This was not a one-off error. Later in the paper, Cross lifts another full paragraph from Bosick and Fomby, with minor word substitutions, without placing the copied language in quotation marks or properly citing the authors. Cross cannot plead unfamiliarity with the source: Fomby served on Cross’s dissertation committee, making the offense even more egregious.

Elsewhere in the paper, Cross borrows language from other academic sources, sometimes citing the authors but failing to place the verbatim language in quotations, and other times failing to cite the source at all, creating the false impression that it was her own work. For example, Cross lifts verbatim language from “ Examining the Antecedents of U.S. Nonmarital Fatherhood ,” by Marcia Carlson, Alicia VanOrman, and Natasha Pilkauskas—the last of whom also served on Cross’s dissertation committee—without the use of direct quotations, as required. Here is the paragraph from Carlson et al.:

To adjust for biennial interviewing starting in 1994, we assign the previous year’s reported values (adjusting earnings for inflation) as the missing year’s values for the time-varying covariates during noninterview (i.e., odd) years in the 1994–2006 period.

Cross directly copies this language, including the idiosyncratic use of parentheticals, with minor word substitutions, suggesting a certain amount of deliberateness. Cross writes, again with identical language italicized:

To adjust for biennial interviewing starting in 1997, I assign the previous year’s reported values (adjusting income for inflation) as the missing year’s values for the time-varying covariates during noninterview (i.e., even) years in the 1998-2012 period .

According to the complaint, Cross repeats this pattern of plagiarism in at least one other paper , “Extended family households among children in the United States: Differences by race/ethnicity and socio-economic status,” published in the academic journal Population Studies in 2018. The complaint alleges that Cross again uses material from others, including the same passages from her dissertation advisors, without proper attribution.

This complaint raises a number of pertinent questions. First, do the allegations rise to the level of “plagiarism”? To answer that question, one might turn to Harvard’s own policy, which states : “If you copy language word for word from another source and use that language in your paper, you are plagiarizing  verbatim  . . . you  must  give credit to the author of the source material, either by placing the source material in quotation marks and providing a clear citation, or by paraphrasing the source material and providing a clear citation.”

Second, what is happening at Harvard? We have seen an explosion of plagiarism allegations against prominent scholars and administrators in recent months, all associated with critical race studies and “diversity and inclusion” programs. Former president Claudine Gay, chief diversity officer Sherri Ann Charleston, DEI administrator Shirley Greene, and now star professor Christina Cross have each come under fire for alleged plagiarism.

This raises several additional questions. Did these scholars manage to earn positions at Harvard without a comprehensive review of their work? Why are Gay, Charleston, and Greene, in particular, still employed at Harvard, given the seriousness of the questions raised about their academic integrity? Harvard’s own policy recommends serious consequences for students who have committed plagiarism. Are professors held to a lesser standard?

Finally, given Harvard’s long-standing support for DEI policies and affirmative action programs, it is reasonable to ask whether scholars such as Gay, Charleston, Greene, and Cross rose through the ranks on their merits or, at least in part, on their identity and their politics.

Further investigation is needed. Independent researchers currently looking into plagiarism at Harvard should scrutinize not only these programs but also a control group in other, more substantive disciplines to determine whether plagiarism correlates with left-wing racial disciplines or is widespread throughout the university.

Time will tell. My sources say that more allegations are coming.

Christopher F. Rufo is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal , and the author of America’s Cultural Revolution .

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The Best AI Proofreaders and Paraphrasing Tools

As someone who writes frequently, I understand that you may already utilize some AI writing tools, just like I do. Writers have it easier now, with various tools to help spark inspiration and achieve a masterpiece. However, these AI writing tools are not absolutely perfect.

Sometimes, you may find yourself battling with countless errors in AI-generated content. This may even lead to you spending much time re-editing and optimizing the content. In such a scenario, there is one more trump card you can use ─ AI proofreading tools .

Top AI Grammar Checkers and Paraphrasing Tools

Whether you are a student, a professional writer, or an office worker who needs writing to get through your everyday life at work, the right tool can elevate your piece. Who is better to hold your hands through the journey of flawless and error-free writing than us?

Regarding experience, we are a team of copywriters with over fifteen years of experience in the Office software industry. So, it is safe to say we have tried enough AI writing and proofreading tools to give a fair assessment. Below is the list of the top AI grammar checkers and paraphrasing tools you can use and when to use them:

Quillbot  — for rewriting, shortening, and expanding content

WPS AI Spell Check — for pioneering integrated AI office solutions.

Ginger — for assisting multilingual authors in writing

Hemingway Editor Plus — for immersive writing check assistant

Microsoft editor — the preferred choice in the Microsoft software ecosystem

Trinka — for professional academic writing

Keep reading to explore more about our findings on these six tools. You should find a fit for yourself at the end of this article.

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Selecting Grammar Checker & Paraphrasing Tool: What Matters Most?

Even the most stunning piece loses its shine if there are grammatical and spelling mistakes. No writer is above typos. Therefore, you should be armed with the ultimate weapon to rid your writing of errors ─ an AI proofreader.

However, finding a trustworthy AI proofreading tool can be challenging since many of such tools are out there. Below are some key factors to consider when selecting the perfect grammar checker and paraphrasing tool to work with:

Accuracy is a primary focus when choosing a proofreading tool. Choose a tool that swiftly identifies and rectifies spelling, grammar, punctuation, and typographical errors. Ensure your proofreading tool can also detect commonly confused words and prevent mistakes from slipping by.

Many proofreaders offer basic spelling and grammar error corrections, but that is not what we need. Instead, go for tools that can do more, like subject-verb agreement, word choice, punctuation rules, and complex sentence structures.

Versatility

Having a tool that works well on a platform is great. However, what do you say about having one tool that works excellently across many platforms? This versatility eliminates the need for multiple proofreading tools. It can also make your work faster and more seamless. Choose a proofreading tool that can work across apps and browsers through extensions.

You should also consider a proofreading tool’s versatility based on language variants. Choose a tool that can work on different dialects like English Language AU, US, UK, and CA.

Feedback and Suggestions

A great proofreading tool doesn’t just detect your errors and remove them. They provide feedback and suggestions that improve your writing over time. Choose a tool that tells you what needs to be improved rather than swap out the writings.

Plagiarism Detection

Plagiarism detection is a major feature a high-capability proofreading tool should have. Choose a tool that helps you ensure originality and avoid duplicate content by scouring a multitude of resources on the internet. This ensures you do not take anything from the internet without authorization, and eventually get into trouble.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing or rewording is an indispensable feature as you may want to write concisely and expand at some time. This feature can help the tool suggest similes and other ways and tones that can make your writing unique.

User-friendliness

You do not want to spend valuable time that you can use to get other things done, trying to get the hang of your AI proofreading tool instead. Therefore, it is essential that you choose an AI proofreading tool that is not only of great quality but also easy to use. Also, consider choosing a tool with a free version that can help you with your casual writing, with the premium version reserved for professional writing.

6 Best AI Proofreading&Paraphrasing Tools for 2024 

In today’s digital age, where written communication plays a crucial role in various aspects of life, having access to efficient proofreading and paraphrasing tools can significantly enhance the quality of your content.

As such, choosing six AI editing tools among the multitude available is not a walk in the park. But, worry no more! We’ve evaluated each tool discussed in this article with the abovementioned factors and ensured they all passed well.

Our top 6 best AI editing tools are:

1.  Quillbot – The Best Rewriting Tool

Quillbot's user interface

Quillbot stands out as a versatile rewriting tool that empowers users to transform their writing effortlessly. With nine rewriting modes and adjustable intensity settings, Quillbot caters to various rewriting needs, from simple paraphrasing to comprehensive content reorganization.

One practical scenario where Quillbot shines is in content expansion, where complex ideas need to be communicated clearly and concisely. You can access Quillbot by visiting their website. Once you are there, you will see the available tools in the left sidebar. Click any of the tools to launch the user interface for each. Each tool will have a consistent layout with different features that you can use to start refining your content.

You don’t need to create an account; you can use the free version of Quillbot, but it comes with limitations. This tool offers an intuitive, clean, and user-friendly interface. However, you may find the initial learning curve challenging, especially when using advanced features. But, you can use Quillbot's data statistics feature to quantify the impact of your revisions, ensuring improved readability and coherence.

Top features:

Paraphrasing: Quillbot rephrases sentences and paragraphs, avoiding plagiarism, improving clarity, and finding alternative wording.

Summarizing: Quillbot efficiently condenses text into concise summaries for quick information extraction.

Content Generation: Quillbot aids in creating original, relevant content by providing prompts and starting lines.

Creative Writing: Quillbot aids creative writing by offering inspiration and overcoming writer's block.

Translation: Quillbot supports multiple languages translation, benefiting multilingual writers and content creators.

Learning and Research: Quillbot enhances learning and research by simplifying complex topics for efficient comprehension.

Subscribing to Quillbot is a great financial decision. It only costs $19.95 monthly, and you have a three-day money-back guarantee; talk of an organization that is confident in its product. You can also choose the $99 annual subscription, saving over 50%.

2. WPS AI Spell Check —The Best AI Proofreading Tool Integrated in Office

WPS AI Spell Check

Tired of copying text to an online AI editing tool and then pasting it back to Word? If you're accustomed to using desktop Office for writing, why not opt for an Office tool integrated with AI editing and proofreading capabilities! WPS AI Spell Check is an excellent proofreading and paraphrasing tool that is embedded in the WPS Office . Its seamless integration with office tools boosts efficiency, enabling users to work across the board without leaving the WPS office. You can use this tool for real-time spell check and corrections, leaving you with a polished document. 

Real-time Spell & Grammar Check

Not only spell check! WPS AI Spell Checker also provides a paraphrasing function with various tones, ranging from academic to business, and beyond. Simply set your desired goals, and you'll receive a well-rewritten paragraph.

AI Paraphrasing in different tones

WPS AI Spell Check is ideal for you in professional correspondence, where accuracy and clarity are paramount. This tool goes beyond basic spell checking; it provides comprehensive feedback on correctness, clarity, engagement, and delivery. Thus, enhancing your overall writing quality.

While it may lack extensive customization options and integration with other platforms, its affordability and accessibility make it a valuable addition to any writer's toolkit.

Seamless Integration: Integrated into WPS Office, WPS AI Spell Check offers real-time spell check and corrections, enhancing document polish without leaving the office suite.

Comprehensive Feedback: It provides feedback on Correctness, Clarity, Engagement, and Delivery, refining the overall quality of writing.

User-Friendly Interface: Its simple interface ensures even novices can utilize its features efficiently.

Paraphrasing in different tones:  One-click polish for your text, whether it's academic or work-related.

Affordability: The free version and a paid monthly subscription of $2.99 make it accessible for various user needs.

Overall, WPS AI is a leading integrated AI office solution. It seamlessly integrates with your workflow, enabling you to have advanced proofreading and suggestions without leaving WPS office applications.

3.  Ginger –The Best Multilingual AI Paraphrasing Tool

Ginger's user interface

Ginger is a versatile AI paraphrasing tool with broad language compatibility that offers services in over 40 languages. With its widespread language compatibility and browser plugin accessibility, this tool is for you if you are a writer like me who deals with diverse linguistic content.

From our review, we found out that Ginger shines in global content creation, where accuracy and fluency across multiple languages are crucial. Although the interface is visually lacking compared to other top tools, it makes up for that with how intuitive it is.

However, the rewriting styles are somewhat limited in the free version. Do not be discouraged yet! You can go for the premium version at $13.99 monthly or $79 annually for more enhanced customization options.

Broad Language Compatibility: With support for over 40 languages, Ginger is indispensable for users working on diverse linguistic content.

Web Browser Compatibility: Its plugin works seamlessly across various web browsers, ensuring accessibility worldwide.

Customization Options: While the interface is not that great, the premium version offers more customization options for rewriting styles.

Personal Trainer: Ginger Software offers a personal trainer feature that helps multilingual writers improve their English language skills over time.

4.  Hemingway Editor Plus –The Best Immersive Writing Assistant

Hemingway Editor's user interface

Hemingway Editor Plus feels similar to working within a professional writing suite due to its immersive writing canvas and intuitive editing features. This tool enables you to switch between writing and editing seamlessly. Everything you need to complete your writing is in this one tool. As such, there is less distraction, giving room for efficient writing and high-quality results.

This tool has a writing canvas that allows for seamless adjustment of text formatting and hyperlink integration, fostering creativity and clarity in writing. The newly introduced Plus version, going for $10 per month, features AI rewriting mode and a checklist for intuitive editing, enhancing the overall editing process.

Immersive Writing Experience: Hemingway Editor Plus creates an immersive writing environment, allowing users to focus on content creation without distractions.

Performance Score: This tool has a readability grade level analysis; the lower the grade on a scale of 10, the better the content.

Advanced Text Analysis: This tool is a master at highlighting complex sentences for readability improvement and suggestions for simplification.

High Flexibility: Hemingway Editor Plus integrates with other writing platforms like WordPress and Medium. It also offers the ability to export and save documents in various formats.

Furthermore, Hemingway editor has an algorithm that makes color-coded suggestions. The sentences highlighted in yellow are identified as lengthy or structurally complex. The way out is to split or simplify such sentences. Those highlighted in red point that the sentence structure may confuse readers due to length or complex phrasing. The solution here is to rewrite such sentences until the red highlight disappears.

The sentences highlighted in purple are those with a more suitable, simpler alternative. The solution here is to hover over them to see Hemingway's suggestion. The blue highlight signals adverbs that may appear weak or hesitant language in the piece. Hemingway suggests that they should be removed from the content.

Lastly, sentences highlighted in green indicate a passive tone. Although this is apt in some contexts, an active tonality usually makes a more powerful statement.

5.  Microsoft Editor –The Preferred Choice in the Microsoft Software Ecosystem

Microsoft Edito's user interface

Microsoft Editor is the preferred AI writing tool within the Microsoft software ecosystem. It seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Software, offering a cohesive editing experience across various platforms. It feels familiar and intuitive to a regular user of Microsoft software, enhancing the overall efficiency.

Microsoft Editor has a free version that provides basic grammar and spell-check functionalities. You need to subscribe to the premium version for $6.99 to unlock the premium editing features like text prediction, similarity checker, inclusiveness, advanced grammar, etc.

Style and Clarity Suggestions : Microsoft Editor offers style and clarity suggestions to enhance the readability and coherence of your writing. You can use it to identify issues such as wordiness, passive voice, and unclear phrasing.

Grammar and Spelling Checks : It provides real-time grammar and spelling suggestions as you type, helping to catch errors and improve overall accuracy.

Collaboration Tools: It offers collaboration tools that allow multiple users to edit and review documents simultaneously, facilitating collaborative writing projects.

Accessibility Features: Microsoft Editor includes accessibility features such as text-to-speech and readability options to assist users with different needs and preferences.

6.  Trinka – The Best Professional Academic Writing

Trinka's user interface

Trinka is a specialized AI proofreading tool for academic writing. It is an invaluable resource for researchers, educationists, academicians, scholars, and students. Its plagiarism detection encompasses a wide range of resources, ensuring academic integrity and enabling excellence.

Although similar to other editing software, Trinka tailors its suggestions, tone, and feedback to meet academic needs. However, its focus limits its appeal to users outside the academic community seeking more general-purpose editing tools.

Error-Free Academic Papers: Trinka provides real-time grammar and spelling checks, ensuring your academic papers are free from basic language errors.

Writing Analysis: Trinka provides detailed writing analysis, including readability scores and sentence structure evaluations. This analysis can help you identify areas for improvement and refine your writing style to meet academic standards.

Plagiarism Detection: Trinka includes a plagiarism detection feature that can scan academic papers for potential instances of copied or unoriginal content, ensuring academic integrity.

Citation and Reference Assistance: While specifics may vary, some writing assistants like Trinka may also provide support for citation styles. You can use this tool to format references according to academic standards such as APA, MLA, or Chicago.

Note that Trinka’s Premium monthly subscription is $6.67. The subscription comes with 10 free credits, which can be used to check for plagiarism, proofread files, and publication readiness checks.

Ultimate Comparison of AI Proofreading and Paraphrasing Tools 

If after reading the reviews of each tool above you still don't know which one to choose,

the table below provides an overview of these advanced AI tools for paraphrasing and editing, including their pricing :

With the help of AI-powered writing and editing features, I've significantly boosted my efficiency in reviewing various types of writing. While different software designs and interaction methods cater to most users' needs, it's essential to note that actual effectiveness depends on personal experience. After reading the article, use the summarized experiences and conclusions to choose the right AI writing and editing tool for your needs. If you frequently use Office for writing, using Office software integrated with AI Proofread would be your best choice. It eliminates the need to copy and paste into a browser website, significantly enhancing your writing efficiency. Click the button below to download WPS Office integrated with AI tools.

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Is AI Proofread really more accurate than Manual Proofread?

AI proofreading uses highly sophisticated algorithms to analyze texts and suggest corrections. As such, it is fast and can scan documents for typos, grammatical errors, and formatting inconsistencies quickly. However, this mode of proofreading may sometimes struggle to understand unusual phrases, making using it for creative or specialized texts difficult.

On the other hand, manual proofreading is time-consuming and can be inconsistent. However, you can easily grab contexts, styles, and intents. AI texts usually have more advantages than manual proofreading, especially for essays. It is advisable to combine both, first proofreading the texts with AI. Let AI do the heavy lifting, correcting basic mistakes, inconsistencies, typos, and grammar errors. Then, you can go in with your trained eyes and correct any arrears the AI falls short.

Is it safe to use AI writing plugins on websites or software?

It is generally safe to use AI plugins. They can also help you get over writer’s block easily, and some can help with search engine optimizations.

However, AI plugins usually generate contents that lack originality and can contain some errors. They can also lead to data leaks, as some websites can use your information without authorization. So, only choose plugins from reputable sources and be mindful of the data you submit to plugins.

Why doesn't my WPS have AI Spell Check?

This feature is currently still in the testing phase. On the 1st of April, all users will experience the latest version of WPS Office with AI Spell Check integrated.

There is a limit to the errors you can catch by yourself. Thankfully, you can harness AI proofreading and paraphrasing tools for quality and efficient writing.

This article has revealed the best 6 AI editing tools, measured based on their accuracy, versatility, coverage, user-friendliness, plagiarism detection, and ability to give feedback and suggestions.

So, whether you’re a student, professional, or content creator, integrating these tools into your writing workflow can significantly improve your writing skills and productivity.

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Top Free Tools to Check Plagiarism and AI for Assignments for Enhancing Academic Integrity

Introduction

The accessibility of information availability in the digital age presents issues for upholding academic honesty. Research papers and assignments that contain intentional or inadvertent plagiarism run the risk of being deemed authentic. But because of technological advancements, a plethora of tools have surfaced to successfully tackle this problem. Furthermore, the way students approach assignments has changed dramatically as a result of the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into academic work. We’ll look at the best free plagiarism detectors in this post, along with how artificial intelligence is changing the way assignments are created.

Importance of Plagiarism Detection Tools

Research that was published in the Journal of Medical Ethics states that approximately 14% of students acknowledge that they have committed major plagiarism, while almost 40% have admitted to either serious or minor plagiarism. This concerning figure emphasizes how important it is for educational institutions to have reliable plagiarism detection systems in place.

Turnitin: A popular tool for detecting plagiarism that is used by academic institutions all around the world is Turnitin. With 69 million academic publications and over 70 billion web pages in its database, it can successfully detect similarities in supplied content. Turnitin claimed over 2 billion content matches in 2020, demonstrating the breadth of its influence and role in upholding academic integrity. For instance, a review led by a trustworthy college uncovered that 30% of tasks put together by understudies who utilized help with Assignment contained huge counterfeiting, as distinguished by Turnitin. This highlights the apparatus’ vital job in battling scholarly untrustworthiness, especially in cases including assignment writers and article composing administrations. Turnitin’s powerful calculation recognizes word-for-word text matches as well as assesses reworded content, guaranteeing intensive investigation of submitted tasks. Turnitin’s UI gives point-by-point criticism on the creativity of the submitted work, helping educators survey the uprightness of understudy tasks. All in all, Turnitin assumes an essential part in maintaining scholastic guidelines and hindering literary theft, in this way advancing reasonableness and responsibility in schooling.

Grammarly : Popular writing tool Grammarly provides a full range of tools to improve writing quality, such as plagiarism detection, punctuation correction, and grammar checking. With more than 30 million users globally, Grammarly has established itself as a name associated with enhancing writing ability in a variety of settings. Grammarly claimed a 20% rise in users in 2021 over the previous year, a sign of the app’s increasing acceptance and popularity. In a survey among college students, for example, 85% of participants said Grammarly’s plagiarism detection tool helped them make their assignments more original. Grammarly’s plagiarism detection interface is shown in Figure 1, which also offers recommendations for enhancements and highlights concerns that have been found. Moreover, Grammarly’s compatibility with well-known word processors like Google Docs and Microsoft Word guarantees users easy access and use. Notwithstanding its plagiarism detection  identification capacities, Grammarly offers progressed composing experiences, including clarity scores and jargon improvement ideas. Grammarly’s comprehensibility investigation highlights, giving clients noteworthy experiences to work on the lucidity and cognizance of their composition. Generally speaking, Grammarly’s instinctive point of interaction, strong highlights, and broad client base position it as a trusted partner for essayists looking to improve their composing capability and keep up with scholastic respectability.

Copyscape: Copyscape is a specialized tool that looks for duplicate information on the internet in order to identify plagiarism. To guarantee the originality of their information, educators, content producers, and website owners turn to Copyscape because of its intuitive interface and robust search engines. Copyscape reported a 25% rise in usage in 2021, demonstrating the increasing significance of this tool for preserving the validity of work in the digital realm. For instance, using Copyscape reduced content theft and plagiarism by 40%, according to a case study done by a well-known blogging site. Besides, Copyscape offers extra elements, for example, bunch search and confidential list, taking special care of the necessities of clients with shifting substance prerequisites. 

AI-Powered Tools for Assignment Assistance

The way that AI is being used in academic work has drastically changed the educational landscape. AI-powered technologies help with research, writing, editing, and other parts of assignment creation in addition to helping detect plagiarism.

Scribe : With Scribe, users can increase productivity and develop their writing abilities with the aid of artificial intelligence. It has functions like sentence rephrasing, grammatical checking, and citation suggestions. With real-time text analysis, Scribe’s AI system gives customers practical advice on how to improve their assignments and maintain academic integrity.

QuillBot: It is an artificial AI-powered rewording device that helps clients, including essay writing service and clients of  essay writing services, in creating novel substance while safeguarding the first importance. Its natural connection point and high-level calculations make it an important resource for staying away from counterfeiting. In 2021, QuillBot detailed a 30% increment in clients, showing its viability in assisting essayists with making unique content’s rewording capacities, furnishing clients with different choices to reword sentences and keep away from copy content. By utilizing QuillBot, task scholars and clients of article composing administrations can upgrade the validity of their work while saving time and exertion.

Citation Machine : Citation Machine is an AI-powered application that streamlines the creation of bibliographies and citations in a variety of formats, including APA, MLA, and Chicago. It does this by evaluating entered data, including dates, publication titles, and author names, to streamline the normally laborious process of producing references. Citation Machine helps users rapidly and accurately create citations that meet academic requirements. Citation Machine saw a 25% increase in usage in 2021, which was indicative of the growing popularity of the tool among researchers and students. This useful application encourages correct attribution and academic integrity while streamlining the citation process and saving user’s time.

Overall, it can be said that Because plagiarism is so common in academic contexts, using trustworthy plagiarism detection software is essential to upholding academic integrity. When looking for effective plagiarism prevention tools, educators and students might consider Turnitin, Grammarly, and Copyscape. Furthermore, the manner that assignments are created using AI has completely changed how students approach their academic work. Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms are used by programs like Scribe, QuillBot, and Citation Machine to help users write, paraphrase, and properly cite sources. Students can improve their writing abilities, stay away from plagiarism, and respect the values of academic integrity by making use of these resources. 

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What's a paraphrasing tool?

This AI-powered paraphraser lets you rewrite text in your own words. Use it to  paraphrase articles, essays, and other pieces of text. You can also use it to rephrase sentences and find synonyms for individual words. And the best part? It’s all 100% free!

What's paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing involves expressing someone else’s ideas or thoughts in your own words while maintaining the original meaning. Paraphrasing tools can help you quickly reword text by replacing certain words with synonyms or restructuring sentences. They can also make your text more concise, clear, and suitable for a specific audience. Paraphrasing is an essential skill in academic writing and professional communication. 

Why use this paraphrasing tool?

• Save time: Gone are the days when you had to reword sentences yourself; now you can rewrite a text or a complete text with one click.
•  Improve your writing: Your writing will always be clear and easy to understand. Automatically ensure consistent language throughout. 
• Preserve original meaning: Paraphrase without fear of losing the point of your text.
• No annoying ads: We care about the user experience, so we don’t run any ads.
• Accurate: Reliable and grammatically correct paraphrasing.
• No sign-up required: We don’t need your data for you to use our paraphrasing tool.
• Super simple to use: A simple interface even your grandma could use.
• It’s 100% free: No hidden costs, just unlimited use of a free paraphrasing tool.

Features of the paraphrasing tool

Rephrase individual sentences

With the Scribbr Paraphrasing Tool, you can easily reformulate individual sentences.

• Write varied headlines
• Rephrase the subject line of an email
• Create unique image captions

Paraphrase a whole text

Our paraphraser can also help with longer passages (up to 125 words per input). Upload your document or copy your text into the input field.

With one click, you can reformulate the entire text.

Find synonyms with ease

Simply click on any word to open the interactive thesaurus.

• Choose from a list of suggested synonyms
• Find the synonym with the most appropriate meaning
• Replace the word with a single click

Paraphrase in two ways

• Standard: Offers a compromise between modifying and preserving the meaning of the original text
• Fluency: Improves language and corrects grammatical mistakes.

Upload different types of documents

Upload any Microsoft Word document, Google Doc, or PDF into the paraphrasing tool.

Download or copy your results

After you’re done, you can easily download or copy your text to use somewhere else.

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The paraphrasing tool uses natural language processing to rewrite any text you give it. This way, you can paraphrase any text within seconds.

Avoid accidental plagiarism

Want to make sure your document is plagiarism-free? In addition to our paraphrasing tool, which will help you rephrase sentences, quotations, or paragraphs correctly, you can also use our anti-plagiarism software to make sure your document is unique and not plagiarized.

Scribbr’s anti-plagiarism software enables you to:

• Detect plagiarism more accurately than other tools
• Ensure that your paraphrased text is valid
• Highlight the sources that are most similar to your text

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How does this paraphrasing tool work?

1. put your text into the paraphraser, 2. select your method of paraphrasing, 3. select the quantity of synonyms you want, 4. edit your text where needed, who can use this paraphrasing tool.

Paraphrasing tools can help students to understand texts and improve the quality of their writing. 

Create original lesson plans, presentations, or other educational materials.

Researchers

Explain complex concepts or ideas to a wider audience. 

Journalists

Quickly and easily rephrase text to avoid repetitive language.

Copywriters

By using a paraphrasing tool, you can quickly and easily rework existing content to create something new and unique.

Bloggers can rewrite existing content to make it their own.

Writers who need to rewrite content, such as adapting an article for a different context or writing content for a different audience.

A paraphrasing tool lets you quickly rewrite your original content for each medium, ensuring you reach the right audience on each platform.

The all-purpose paraphrasing tool

The Scribbr Paraphrasing Tool is the perfect assistant in a variety of contexts.

Brainstorming

Writer’s block? Use our paraphraser to get some inspiration.

Professional communication

Produce creative headings for your blog posts or PowerPoint slides.

Academic writing

Paraphrase sources smoothly in your thesis or research paper.

Social media

Craft memorable captions and content for your social media posts.

Paraphrase text online, for free

The Scribbr Paraphrasing Tool lets you rewrite as many sentences as you want—for free.

Write with 100% confidence 👉

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Frequently asked questions

The act of putting someone else’s ideas or words into your own words is called paraphrasing, rephrasing, or rewording. Even though they are often used interchangeably, the terms can mean slightly different things:

Paraphrasing is restating someone else’s ideas or words in your own words while retaining their meaning. Paraphrasing changes sentence structure, word choice, and sentence length to convey the same meaning.

Rephrasing may involve more substantial changes to the original text, including changing the order of sentences or the overall structure of the text.

Rewording is changing individual words in a text without changing its meaning or structure, often using synonyms.

It can. One of the two methods of paraphrasing is called “Fluency.” This will improve the language and fix grammatical errors in the text you’re paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing and using a paraphrasing tool aren’t cheating. It’s a great tool for saving time and coming up with new ways to express yourself in writing.  However, always be sure to credit your sources. Avoid plagiarism.  

If you don’t properly cite text paraphrased from another source, you’re plagiarizing. If you use someone else’s text and paraphrase it, you need to credit the original source. You can do that by using citations. There are different styles, like APA, MLA, Harvard, and Chicago. Find more information about citing sources here.

Paraphrasing without crediting the original author is a form of plagiarism , because you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

However, paraphrasing is not plagiarism if you correctly cite the source . This means including an in-text citation and a full reference, formatted according to your required citation style .

As well as citing, make sure that any paraphrased text is completely rewritten in your own words.

Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own. Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas in your own words.

So when does paraphrasing count as plagiarism?

• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if you don’t properly credit the original author.
• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if your text is too close to the original wording (even if you cite the source). If you directly copy a sentence or phrase, you should quote it instead.
• Paraphrasing  is not plagiarism if you put the author’s ideas completely in your own words and properly cite the source .

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