Key takeaways
- Paraphrasing with citation is legitimate scholarship; paraphrasing without citation is plagiarism.
- Changing a few words while keeping the original structure is patchwriting, not paraphrasing.
- Good paraphrasing expresses the idea in your own voice and structure.
Students are told to paraphrase instead of copying, but the line between acceptable paraphrasing and plagiarism is finer than it appears. Understanding the difference protects your work and your academic record.
What counts as plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting someone else's words, ideas, or data as your own without proper attribution. It includes copying verbatim without quotes, paraphrasing without citation, and submitting work you did not create.
What counts as legitimate paraphrasing
Legitimate paraphrasing restates an author's idea in your own words and sentence structure, then credits the source with an in-text citation. The reader understands the idea came from that author even though the wording is yours.
Patchwriting: the grey zone
Patchwriting keeps the original sentence structure and swaps individual words. It feels like paraphrasing but reads like a thin rewrite of the source. Turnitin often still flags it, and examiners treat it as plagiarism.
A simple test
- Could you explain this point without looking at the source? If not, you have not understood it yet.
- Does your version use a different sentence structure? If not, rewrite again.
- Did you add a citation? If not, add one regardless of how much you changed.