What Are the Do’s and Don’ts of Paraphrasing in Coursework?

When you analyse deeply, you’ll see that paraphrasing is more than a writing technique. It is a process where you duplicate someone else's work in your own words. However, people think paraphrasing is just about changing words with their tough synonyms to make a fresh written work, but it is not true. The correct way of paraphrasing includes your ideas and a restructuring format.

You can also give a go to the paraphrasing tool so that you do not face the problem of plagiarism at the time of submission. You have to focus on the readability and clarity of your work. To make it clearer, there are some critical dos and don't s that every student should know to manage academic integrity. Students commonly use paraphrasing when they run out of time and face writer's block.

How to Paraphrase Correctly While Writing Assignments?

When you are willing to accomplish the paraphrase correctly, focus on the main highlighted points. Firstly, understand the source text and the message it is conveying with clarity. While analysing the meaning, you can use notes to write your thoughts and point of view. If you face any problem you can seek help from assignment desk. After completing your written work, compare it with the original so that you will know the difference and correct the mistakes. Change the voices from active to passive and synonyms with their accurate matching meanings. Let’s see some do and don’t s of paraphrasing in the next section.

Do's of Paraphrasing

The thing you have to focus on while paraphrasing is the counts in do’s. You have to ensure that you fully understand the meaning of the source work. Use your own words and thoughts in paraphrasing; there is no need to change only a few words. Also, you can use different sentence structures by changing the way the information is presented.

Read the Source

Reading is the best process for learning and generating new ideas.  When you paraphrase, your structuring and formatting of the work should look different from the original material. Thus, note down the main points to understand the core idea of the unique source. It works as an example, so you get to know about the readability and clarity that your writing must follow.

Understanding Crucial Points

When you are done with reading the source information, it is crucial to note down the key points. Comprehend your thinking skills by grasping the main idea. While writing, you have to focus on the meaning, not just the wording. The paraphrase parts should accurately reflect the source information, and if you are writing a sentence word-for-word, you have to use a proper citation of the sources.

Restate in Your Own Words

Once you have attained a good understanding and noted all the main points, the next step is to rewrite the information in your own words. This is the core step of paraphrasing. You can use different vocabulary and sentence structure rather than directly copying others' ideas and information. Maintaining the meaning is the real task, so after reordering the words, seek feedback from your classmates or friends.

Analyze and Proofreading

After writing the work based on your ideas, it will be beneficial for you if you consider using a plagiarism checker. Many of the sites provide a free plagiarism checker for students. It is a time-consuming method, but comparing the source with your work is also crucial. If you find any problem with copied work, then immediately change the sentence. Now, lets move on to the don’t s of paraphrasing.

Don'ts of Paraphrasing

The things you have to avoid when you paraphrase include the don’ts. Simply changing a few words or mixing the sentence structure is not paraphrasing; it's copying. This technique can lead to plagiarism, which is not a good thing if you are writing for an academic project. You have to avoid copying more than 3-4 words in a row.

No Need To Use Tough Synonyms

There is no need to use synonyms unnecessarily, but if there is a need, then use easy and appropriate synonyms. When you use a difficult synonym, the readers will fail to understand the real meaning. Also, instead of similar words, you can try to use unique words so that it will not complicate the readability. If you keep using the tough ones, your written work will lose its value.

Stop Avoiding Quotation Marks

When the students are in a hurry, they forget to use the proper quotation marks. Always remember that when you write someone else's sentence similar to your work, it is compulsory to use a suitable citation of the sources and close the sentence in double quotes. It is a fact that if you use quotation marks in phrases, your readers will be impressed with the work.

Do Not Change the Main Ideas

When you paraphrase the original information in your own words, be attentive that it does not change the main idea. You should be careful when writing the new sentences so that it does not change the real meaning. If half of the work contains clarity and half does not, then the efforts are valueless. You will not be able to generate high-quality coursework.

Final Thought

Most people think paraphrasing is the easiest and most convenient job. But you know, in reality, it's not. With a clear idea or source written work and the ability to rephrase, you can avoid plagiarism. Some students use a paraphrasing tool to avoid plagiarism problems, and it is more convenient and readable. To develop high-quality work, keep reminding yourself of the importance of these dos and don'ts.

When you have to work on the same topic, then paraphrasing is the easiest way, but there are limitations to everything. You can not copy words more than 3 or 4 in a row. Be attentive at the time you are paraphrasing and always recheck after the completion of the work. When you write your new sentence, keep checking that they do not change the real meaning and main idea of the topic. With the help of these techniques, you can easily generate a high-quality and plagiarism-free work.