After leaving school, young people are eager to enter higher educational establishments and get their degree. Their specialties differ considerably, with some choosing one of state-based Institutes of Technology and others preferring to study something as narrow as veterinary sciences in Cornell. Then there are those who are interested in more general and extremely prestigious places like Harvard or Stanford. A uniting element is essay-writing task that all of these students should perform. It’s not as easy as it might seem, and paraphrasing plagiarism is an essential skill here.
Plagiarism entails copying information from some source and presenting it in a work. It’s critically important to avoid it because even smallest instances may result in a failing grade or even suspension.
Paraphrasing Vs. Plagiarism: Definitions and Differences
Plagiarism means copying parts of someone’s content and presenting them as your own without citing its author, thus pretending it belongs to you. Also, note that plagiarism may be unintentional, including wrongly formatted sentences or simple bad paraphrasing. In essence, unless you are using a direct citation, your text shouldn’t be shown as copied even if you cited its true author.
Definition of paraphrasing is basically complementary. It’s an ability to reword text in a way that will pass through all plagiarism checking systems and come out clean. You should be able to summarize main ideas of an author and put them into your own words.
Differences in terms of plagiarism vs paraphrasing or proofreading lie in the closeness of your text to original one. You can define plagiarism as word-for-word copying, which is forbidden. Paraphrasing helps present the same ideas but it doesn’t repeat what was already written somewhere. That’s a great way of relying on someone’s text but not copying it.
Best Paraphrasing Strategies
There are several ways to paraphrase plagiarism. Check list below and pick rule you like best.
- Diversify a sentence. Include more words into it, expand it and add your own thoughts.
- Change structure or words themselves. Use gerund instead of infinitive and rely on synonyms to avoid direct repetition.
- Use free paraphrasing tool. It works with parts you’d like to re-phrase by itself.
- Manipulate active and passive voices. Replace them with one another.
At the same time, there are things that a student who is paraphrasing plagiarism should remember. Check so your text wouldn’t turn into strange patchwork with impossible word combinations and senseless repetitions. Evaluate your final result through free plagiarism checker to make sure no plag is present.
Detect plagiarism in your paper
Good Examples of Paraphrasing
Level of success in paraphrasing depends on how much you change. See examples below. They show how this task should be done.
| Original | Acceptable Paraphrasing: Synonyms and Change of Structure |
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It is possible to sustain long-distance relationship if several strategies are followed. First, communication is essential. A couple must interact at least twice a week to stay aware of all news and changes in each other’s lives. The second strategy is that of action mirroring. At some pre-arranged time, a couple should do the same activity, such as watch the same movie and then discuss it. Source: Lopins, Liza. “Staying Together Despite the Distance.” Communication Studies, vol.3, 4, 2013, pp. 4–15. |
With modern ways of communication, people continue being involved romantically despite living in different regions. There are two main rules that they should follow to succeed. To begin with, they should talk minimum several times in a week. It’ll allow them to know what is happening. Another option entails engaging in identical action at the same time. For example, a pair might go to a cinema simultaneously (Lopins 5).
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Asexuals face significant difficulties because straight part of population views them as LGBT while LGBT community often considers them straight. Source: Morgan, Kimberly. “Asexuality.” Sexual Diversity, vol.5, 19, 2018, pp. 33–45. |
Due to differences in opinions, both heterosexual and LGBT people refuse to acknowledge asexuals, which creates big problems for the latter (Morgan 40).
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| Original |
Acceptable Paraphrasing: Synonyms and Expansion |
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Homosexuality remains underrepresented in media. For this reason, homophobia is still rampant, resulting in more than 1700 attacks on a monthly basis within the country. Source: Taylor, Joseph. “Fighting Discrimination.” Sexuality Research, vol.7, 12, 2017, pp. 18–30. |
Same-sex relationships do not get a sufficient amount of attention in mainstream media, meaning that TV shows and movies still rarely feature a protagonist that would be non-straight. Such lack of representation continues fuelling hate crimes, with almost 2000 victims suffering every month in the US (Taylor 23). |
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Dark fiction is a universal way of addressing one’s trauma. Reading, writing, or depicting dark scenarios with made-up characters often bring value to the victims. Source: Stoant, Karen. “Coping with Sexual Abuse.” Fiction as Empowerment, vol.10, 24, 2018, pp. 3–22. |
Stories with dark themes are viewed as good option of softening the effects of one’s PTSD or solving difficulties they encounter on a daily basis. That is why consuming this type of fiction is seen as therapeutically useful (Stoant 14).
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To ensure you understand difference between paraphrase vs plagiarism and know how to cite paraphrase correctly, check example of bad rewording below.
| Original | Plagiarism |
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Harassing people online is a crime in many countries because of the impact it might have. Some victims commit suicide under the force of online abuse. Source: Li, Dawn. “Cyber-bullying.” Online Crimes, vol.3, 6, 2014, pp. 4–8. |
Harassing people in the Internet is illegal in many countries because it leads to disastrous consequences. Some victims kill themselves because they cannot deal with abuse (Dawn 7). Why is it plagiarized? Original author is cited in this text but it’s still plag because many phrases are copied word-for-word. Occasional rewording isn’t sufficient. |
Contact EduBirdie to Kill Plagiarism Once and for All
Whenever student is paraphrasing plagiarism, certain rules should be followed. You should learn how to reword content correctly and how to summarize without plagiarizing. If you’re still worried, though, don’t hesitate to ask EduBirdie for help. We know how to eliminate it entirely, so we can edit or write your paper in such a way that it will be 100% unique. Our writers know what they’re doing, so entrust your task to them and be secure in knowledge that no plagiarism will be present in your work!
