Does Turnitin Detect Paraphrasing: How to Paraphrase Safely?

turnitin detect paraphrasing

When you’re writing a paper, it’s crucial to ensure that you’re utilizing your own language to the maximum extent. That’s where paraphrasing plays a significant role – rephrasing content to convey the identical concept using your personal phrasing. However, if caution isn’t exercised, paraphrasing might result in complications with Turnitin. If you face any issues, you can easily order “write my essay” from our reliable essay writing service. In this article, we’ll delve into the workings of Turnitin, what it can and cannot identify, and the proper method to paraphrase securely, thereby avoiding any potential penalties. Let’s commence!

What is Paraphrasing?

The definition of paraphrasing is “to express the same idea differently.” Paraphrases are often used when you need to avoid plagiarizing someone else’s exact words. They’re also useful when you want to take time to create a fuller explanation of an idea. Turnitin is a service that detects plagiarism via the similarity of submitted student papers to previously submitted material in online databases. The result is that students who submit their essays to Turnitin find that many of their own words are flagged as being copied. If you’re caught using an excessive amount of paraphrased text, you’ll be penalized in the same way as if you were caught plagiarizing.

Can Turnitin Detect Paraphrasing?

Well-done paraphrasing is like taking a new approach to an old idea. It can make your text more interesting and creative without resorting too much time or energy from original thoughts, of course! But if you do it poorly, let’s just say that Turnitin will be able to see through any plagiarism, so keep those ideas flowing so they do not detect anything fishy on their end.

How Does Turnitin Detect Paraphrasing?

The software that Turnitin uses to detect plagiarism is called iThenticate. It works by doing two things:

First, it checks whether your essay contains any passages from previously submitted material. If it does, it will score these against the uniqueness of your ideas and the expression of those ideas.

Second, it checks how closely the passages in your essay match these previously submitted passages.

In general, iThenticate scores more highly when the writing style is similar to essays. This helps separate students who plagiarize unintentionally from those who attempt to cheat deliberately.

Does Turnitin Check Word for Word?

No, Turnitin is not capable of checking for plagiarism by word-for-word matches. Instead, it looks at the overall text and how it is expressed.

So if you paraphrase without changing the original text’s meaning, you should be fine. However, if you make small changes in wording or change from one idea to the next, iThenticate may be able to detect this.

How Does Canvas Detect and Prevent Cheating?

In addition to using Turnitin, Canvas, a learning management system acquired by the social networking giant Facebook,  also follows plagiarism detection guidelines very closely. Its plagiarism detection system looks for similarities between papers submitted to the site and previously submitted material.

How Canvas Helps Prevent Cheating?

The plagiarism detection system uses unique algorithms, so students won’t find how it works online. However, here are some of the things you should be aware of:

Canvas detects similarities between papers and previous submissions. It doesn’t automatically flag them as plagiarism but instead presents them as a similarity that can then be investigated further. You may also want to check Canvas’s plagiarism tutorial, which discusses the differences between unintentional plagiarism and cheating.

Is Reusing Your Own Work Plagiarism?

Yes, even if you’re doing it on purpose. Although sometimes this could be intentional plagiarism, like the case where a writer uses their work to fill out an assignment sheet,  sometimes it could be unintentional plagiarism, such as when a writer copies and pastes an assignment into a word-processing document and then forgets to change it.

How to Safely Paraphrase to Avoid Plagiarism?

There are multiple ways to paraphrase and avoid plagiarism safely, and among them include:

  1. Transition words are the best way to avoid plagiarism issues. When you’re paraphrasing, never use conjunctions like “because” or “since” because these are used excessively in your original text. If you’re paraphrasing something that has a lot of conjunction words, it’s best to look for different verbs or adjectives that can be used to describe the original text.
  2. Using verbs and adjectives with caution is also a good way to avoid plagiarism. Using the same verbs and adjectives repeatedly can be a sign of intentional plagiarism, so try to change them up to be on the safe side.
  3. Even tough choices are good to do when paraphrasing because this helps avoid plagiarism issues. Instead of just rewording everything you read, use a different language instead.

However, if you copy and paste something you found online, don’t forget to add quotation marks and a reference.

Challenges and Problems of Paraphrasing

  • Language Choice

Be wary of the language you use when paraphrasing. Some may unintentionally or purposefully copy and paste exactly what they read, which can be a problem regarding plagiarism issues.

  • Citations

When paraphrasing material from online sources that don’t require citations, be sure to add quotation marks and a correct reference.

  • Forgetting

Sometimes it may be easy to forget to change a sentence or two when paraphrasing material for an assignment. This can lead to unintentional plagiarism issues, so be sure to check everything you write.

  • Copying

Sometimes it may seem impossible to avoid plagiarism issues when you feel like you’re copying and pasting material. Keep in mind that this isn’t the case, so be sure to follow other paraphrasing suggestions instead.

  • Unintentional Plagiarism

Even if you’re paraphrasing to avoid plagiarism issues, sometimes the writer may accidentally forget to change some parts of the text. This can lead to unintentional plagiarism issues, so be sure to check everything you write.

How Can I Avoid Being Penalized for Paraphrasing?

Here are some tips that will help you avoid being penalized when paraphrasing:

  1. Paraphrase material that doesn’t require citations when possible, or add quotation marks and a correct reference from online sources that require citations.
  2. Avoid using the same words and phrases repeatedly, especially if there are a lot of conjunctions in the original text. Instead, try using different verbs or adjectives to help avoid plagiarism issues.
  3. Choose your words carefully when paraphrasing because this can help you avoid unintentional plagiarism.
  4. Check everything you write before submission to be on the safe side.

Conclusion

Conclusion: So, what have we learned about paraphrasing and Turnitin? Paraphrasing is a great way to avoid plagiarism, but you need to be careful not to change the meaning of the text or accidentally copy part of the original. The software is designed to detect copied text, but if you care when paraphrasing, you can avoid any issues when it comes to Turnitin. You can safely paraphrase any source without worrying about getting caught by Turnitin by following these steps.