Sometimes, when a student writes an essay, he/she uses someone else information the same as it is without mentioning the real author, which leads to plagiarism. And when they remove it using the paraphrasing method, they get confused about whether it is entirely removed or there may be some traces left behind.

While some argue that paraphrasing can effectively avoid plagiarism from the essay, others contend that it still leaves some traces behind if not done correctly. Therefore, it is important to examine the effectiveness of paraphrasing as a means of avoiding plagiarism in academic writing.

So, to address this issue, in this article, we are going to talk about this topic and see whether paraphrasing effectively avoids plagiarism or not.

What is Paraphrasing?
The process of explaining someone else written work in different words without changing the context is called paraphrasing. It involves changing words with synonyms and restructuring sentences to keep the intent intact.

For students, paraphrasing can be beneficial in different scenarios other than eliminating plagiarism. But as you know, this article is all about avoiding plagiarism. We will stick to it.

The simple answer is yes. Paraphrasing helps students avoid plagiarism in their essays. If you are looking for a reason to say yes, don’t worry. Below we have discussed some paraphrasing techniques that will clear everything and how it contributes to avoiding plagiarism.

Synonymizing
As you know, paraphrasing is mainly concerned with changing words with different synonyms, and this is what synonymizing is. As you know, plagiarism occurs when you copy the same exact words and use them. But, when you will change some specific words in that text, it will surely remove the traces of plagiarism.

Suppose you have made an argument that is exactly matched with another source. You know that it occurs unintentionally, but your teacher will still consider it plagiarized. So, when you change words in that specific text, there are strong chances that plagiarism will be diminished.

Let us explain with an example how you can apply the synonymizing technique to alter the risk of plagiarism.

“Mary had to make a decision, and she knew that whatever decision she made, it would upset someone.”

Now, let’s paraphrase it by changing words with synonyms (applying synonymizing technique).

“Mary had to make a choice, and she felt that no matter what choice she made, it would disturb somebody.”

See, there’s a huge difference between the original text and the paraphrased one. So, there is a strong chance that paraphrasing can help avoid plagiarism.

Sentence Structure
Another useful technique of paraphrasing that can help to effectively avoid plagiarism is changing sentence structures, or you can say, “Flip the sentence.” In other words, you can say that you have to change the sentence voice from active to passive and vice versa.

As you know, in active voice, the subject comes first and the object later, but on the other side, in passive voice, the object comes first and the subject later. So, when you restructure sentences, you have to change the position of the subject and object.

Think about it from another perspective. When you change the structure of sentences, like from active to passive or vice versa, it will be a new version, which will avoid plagiarism in the essay.

Let’s make this easy to consume with an example. Below is an example of a sentence that is in passive voice.

“The notes will be given to you by the music conductor.”

Now, let’s change it from passive to active voice.

“The music conductor will give you the notes.”

See, the look of the structure of the sentence is changed, but still, it conveys the same meaning.

Implying this technique can effectively paraphrase the plagiarized text in the essay and make it unique.

Breaking and Joining of Sentences
Paraphrasing is not only about changing words and taking care of sentence structure, but it also involves breaking and joining sentences. This technique will be useful to break the pattern of plagiarism in the written essay.

Let us explain how!

As you know, the definition of paraphrasing, it’s all about explaining others’ written work in your own way. So, other than changing words or sentence structure, you can use this breaking and joining technique to paraphrase effectively.

To make this easy to understand, here’s an example.

Suppose you have a lengthy sentence that is plagiarized, just like the one given below.

“Sometimes, when I am certain that the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with the energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals-sounds that say listen to this, it is important.”

Now, let’s break this lengthy sentence into short parts.

“Sometimes, I engage the reader with a long sentence. I do this when I am certain that the reader is rested. The sentence burns with energy. It builds like a crescendo. The roll of the drums and the crash of the cymbals can be heard. These sounds say, listen to this. It is important.”

Now, the sentence is broken down into multiple pieces. If you note something in the latter sentence, you will see there are also some words changed and removed. This will break the pattern of plagiarism, and there are chances that plagiarism will be eliminated from the essay.

Note: If you want to paraphrase effectively, which can entirely eliminate plagiarism, use the above three techniques altogether. If you only use one technique to avoid plagiarism in your essay, there might be chances that some traces were left behind.

Conclusion
So, this article was all about does paraphrasing an essay help student avoid plagiarism. We have talked about this issue and highlighted what techniques students can employ to paraphrase their essays more effectively in order to eliminate plagiarism.

Keep in mind all the above-discussed techniques should be utilized together if you want to paraphrase your essay effectively.