Is using a paraphrasing tool cheating?

Many paraphrasing tools are available online, and mostly discussion ends at heated debate. A lot of people ask, "is using a paraphrasing tool cheating"?

People have different opinions about whether paraphrasing tools should be legit or not. If we see overall, the audience of paraphrasing tools is building regularly.

In this article, I will discuss whether "using a paraphrasing tool is cheating" or is normal. The answers will be based on logic and statistics. So let's start from here.

Who uses paraphrasing tools?

Paraphrasing tools are common between students, content writers and many others. Students usually go for paraphrasing, when they need to finish an assignment before its deadline.

Paraphrasing and plagiarism are two different things, which latter results in academic misconduct. Both students & content writers use paraphrasing tools based on their needs.

Why do people use paraphrasing tools?

Plagiarism has many types, and it is not acceptable anywhere. Content marketers give strict guidelines to writers so that they avoid plagiarism. Meanwhile, educational institutes only allow 10~20% plagiarism in academic work.

Students and content writers need something to get away with plagiarism. Paraphrasing tools are the primary source that help them to avoid plagiarism and write better content.

Now we know who uses rewriting tools and why they do so. Let's find out whether using such tools is cheating.

Is using a paraphrasing tool cheating?

It is not cheating when someone uses these tools to get instant help. The main function of these tools is to help content writers and students. 

Below are some reasons why it is not cheating when someone uses a paraphrasing tool.

1. Using paraphrasing tools for assistance

It is not cheating when a student or content writer uses any rewording tool for assistance. 

Sometimes, we find it difficult to concentrate on content that makes it difficult for us to write. This is where we can use such tools to complete our work before its deadline.

2. Using paraphrasing tools for sentence structuring

Top paraphrasing tools allow users to structure sentences in a better way. This feature is extremely helpful for beginners to write their content in a better way. Anyone can write difficult sentences and make them look professional.

3. Using a paraphrasing tool for grammar mistakes

Good grammar is the main ingredient of quality content. Nobody wants to read content that has lots of grammar mistakes. Grammar is a huge concern for those who write anything. 

Grammar mistakes take the charm away from the content. Paraphrasing tools help writers to remove grammar & punctuation mistakes easily.

When using a paraphrasing tool is considered cheating?

Generally, using paraphrasing tools is cheating because it rephrases the sentences and words without changing their meaning. It also does not give acknowledgement to the real author. 

Before using a paraphrasing tool, you must know its legal terms to enhance credibility. It is crucial to know about the things that represent your content as a master copy of cheating. 

A few of them are:

• Not citing the author's name
• Paraphrase sentences instead of words
• Do not use quotation marks to quote text or source
• Replace words without changing the sense of the sentence or meaning
• Violates the copyrights of the original author

1. Not citing the author's name

Cheating occurs when you do not mention the author's name after paraphrasing. It is compulsory to lastly cite the "source of reference" from where you took the information. Although, it is all about deceiving someone's efforts and ideas without giving attribution.

2. Paraphrase sentences instead of words

The purpose of using the paraphrasing tool is to escape from plagiarism. But when you only paraphrase the sentences and do not change the word's sense, it refers to cheating. 

Because replacing the sentences will never change the sense of the individual words. You can avoid cheating by using synonyms and similar words to paraphrase sentences.

3. Do not use quotation marks to quote text or source

First rule of paraphrasing is to change the words but keep the information intact. When you do not use quotation marks to represent the source, it results in cheating. 

You can avoid plagiarism by giving proper reference to the genuine source with quotation marks.

4. Replace words without changing the sense of the sentence

When you use paraphrasing tools to make your content plagiarism free. It is important to express the information in your own words. 

When you rearrange the words without changing their accurate meaning, it results in cheating. Try to avoid replacing words with their synonyms and put your work at risk.

5. Violates the copyrights of the original author

Violating the copyrights of the original author is a serious crime. Many writers have proper licenses and legal protection for their sources. So, it is an offense of stealing someone's actual information without acknowledgement. 

You should prevent your work from plagiarism by following different strategies. Use paraphrasing tools only to get insight of the topic, not for the final results to represent.

Use of paraphrasing tools is a good practice, but its appropriate guidance is more important. Above mentioned points will help you make a good decision to write the content in your own words. 

Because a single mistake in reusing someone's information creates various problems. Here using your critical thinking is more efficient than cheating on someone's ideas.

Risks of using paraphrasing tools

Use paraphrasing tools only to produce a copy of the text from the sources. Otherwise it results in academic or professional misconduct. 

A student may not be familiar with intentional plagiarism but later identify with high profile detecting tools. Whereas the professionals get stuck intentionally or unintentionally by copying the genuine information. 

This results in various risks which are as follows:

• It may never create the original content, which leads to unintentional plagiarism.
• It keeps the intent of the original context, even after replacing the words.
• Limited vocabulary only changes the word's meaning but never removes plagiarism.
• Using paraphrasing tools never creates quality content.
• Paraphrased content is not well structured and effective to present.
• Paraphrasing risks also include legal and ethical issues.
• Violation of academic integrity by not giving accurate information.
• Loss of credibility by not representing the professional work.

People often use paraphrasing tools to get quick and instant results. But the excessive dependency on the output of paraphrasing tools puts impactful risks. It also leads you to legal actions and professional consequences.

Conclusion

Using paraphrasing tools for assistance is helpful, but you should be mindful of its uses. You can use paraphrasing tools to generate an idea about the topics. 

Consequently it refers to cheating when you paraphrase the content and do not credit the author. Stealing someone's information and taking full credit is ethically wrong. 

So try to avoid plagiarism by original writing and use your own words to explain the problem. This article disclosed many facts that will help you to use paraphrasing tools more responsibly.

Keep it reminded that "use of these tools is a smart act but its efficient usage causes many difficulties. Some of them are:

• Violation of academic and professional integrity.
• loss of trust and credibility.
• lack of critical and intellectual thinking.

Therefore, try to avoid being addicted to paraphrasing tools and bring unique content.