Paraphrasing Laws: Tips to Effectively Paraphrase Text in Academic Writing

Students need to write throughout the school term. Whether it’s for an essay, a research paper, or an assignment. Writing academically requires students to keep the content as informative as possible. Adding irrelevant content to it can lead to bad grades and it can be harmful to your academic result.

Writing academically requires students to keep the content as informative as possible. Adding irrelevant content to it can lead to bad grades and it can be harmful to your academic result.

While adding relevant information to a piece of academic content, issues of plagiarism, clarity, and readability might occur. However, this problem can easily be fixed by paraphrasing.

There are a few laws of paraphrasing that every student should be familiar with if they want to use it to their advantage. Let’s take a look at them.

Laws of Paraphrasing

1.      Synonymizing

The first law of paraphrasing is to synonymize a piece of content. It is done by swapping out its words for more appropriate ones. Let us explain with an example.

The sentence “The woman ran to the store” can be synonymized as “The woman dashed to the store”

2.      Restructuring Sentences

The second law to paraphrase a piece of content is to restructure its sentences. Restructuring sentences can be done by changing them from active voice to passive voice or vice versa.

For example, the sentence “The Dog ate the bone” can be turned into “The bone was eaten by the Dog” simply by changing it from active voice to passive voice.

3.      Breaking and Joining Sentences

Lastly, the third law of paraphrasing that students should be familiar with is to break long sentences or join shorter ones. It can be done to increase sentence clarity as well as to make it look appealing.

To exemplify this, the sentence “The Cat ran. The Dog followed” can be turned into “The cat ran, and the Dog followed” by joining the two sentences.

Now that you know the laws of paraphrasing, here are a few tips that can help students use these laws of paraphrasing effectively in their academic writing.

Tips to Paraphrase Effectively

Paraphrasing a piece of academic content is actually quite easy. We’re mentioning some of the tips that can help students do it effectively.

1.      Understand the Original Text Before Paraphrasing

Understanding the original content is the first thing a student can do when they decide to paraphrase a piece of academic content. This can help in retaining the original meaning of the text when they paraphrase it.

Paraphrasing isn’t just about changing a few things to refresh the content but its meaning also has to be unchanged in order for it to be even considered as “paraphrased” content. This can only be done if the student knows the broader meaning of the original text.

This can only be done if the student knows the broader meaning of the original text.

Academic writing can also have a lot of nouns and subjects, changing them can alter the purpose of the content. Students can avoid doing this too if they simply go through the text before the paraphrasing session.

2.      Note Down the Points that Can Be Changed

When you’re going through the academic writing for the purpose of paraphrasing it. What you can do is keep a notepad beside you and write down any points that can be changed in order to effectively paraphrase it when you’re ready.

This can not only make it easier for students to paraphrase the whole content effectively but can also ensure that they don’t miss any point that can be changed. Keep a look out for words that can be replaced and sentences that are long so you can shorten them by breaking.

Keep a look out for words that can be replaced and sentences that are long so you can shorten them by breaking.

3.      Start Paraphrasing After This

Now that you’ve understood the meaning of the original passage and have noted down all the points that can be changed. It is time to paraphrase it using the laws mentioned above.

This might require some time but we assure you that the outcome will be well worth it since your academic work will be cleansed of plagiarism, readability, and clarity issues.

However, if you don’t have much time on your hands or you’re struggling to apply the laws of paraphrasing to your academic work. You can use an online paraphrasing tool for this purpose. These tools can work quickly and effectively to paraphrase your academic writing for you.

4.      Proofread the Final Content

After you’ve got your paraphrased content manually or by using a tool, make sure to proofread it for errors as oftentimes errors might slip undetected in the process.

Proofreading can be a great way to be sure that your academic work is free of any grammatical or readability errors that might’ve occurred in the paraphrasing session.

Conclusion

Students might face issues of plagiarism, readability, and clarity while writing academically. Paraphrasing can be a great way to get rid of all these issues. This article includes some of the paraphrasing laws that every student must know to paraphrase effectively along with some tips that can help them in the process.

Author:-

Zakria Ali is an avid educator and writer with a passion for sharing knowledge with a Ph.D. degree in Creative Writing from Edinburgh University.

Disclaimer:-

The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and the contents provided are only to offer guidance and tips on the practice of paraphrasing in academic writing. Before applying the laws and tips provided in this article to their academic work it is suggested for the students to exercise critical thinking and discretion