Paraphrasing academic writing is an important skill but for many, it is a very difficult task that can lead to plagiarism problems. For students whose first language is not English, it can be almost impossible.
You have read the literature but when it comes to summarising what you have learned it just seems like it is copied from other sources. You are struggling to find your own original way of expressing meaning but it’s just not coming. This is a common problem because paraphrasing is a very difficult skill and requires a deep understanding of the language you are writing in.
The most common mistake made by students attempting paraphrasing is to think that it is basically word substitution and that provided one or two words per sentence are changed all will be well when it goes through Turnitin. Sadly, this will not work and also you are very likely to use incorrect substitute words which alter the meaning in a way you do not want.
Successful paraphrasing means re-imagining entire paragraphs not working inside individual sentences and substituting the odd word here and there. You need to look at a whole paragraph, work out what its essential meaning is and then rewrite it in its entirety.
Example of paraphrasing adademic writing
Below is an example paragraph I have paraphrased showing how entire paragraphs can be re-imagined to avoid Turnitin problems.
Paraphrasing the literature review
Paraphrasing academic writing is most likely going to be needed for your literature review. It is here that you are summarising what is already known about your research problem. When paraphrasing literature review paragraphs it is important to make sure your citations are still in the right place. Also, remember that some technical terms cannot be substituted.
If you need help paraphrasing your academic writing then why not drop me an email. I offer a fast and reliable paraphrasing service that has successfully paraphrased thousands of pages for clients all around the world.
