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Paraphrase in six steps: read the source twice, write its main claim in one line, list the terms you must not swap, rebuild the sentence with a new structure, check every claim against the original, then read both versions aloud. Change the wording and the order, never the claim, the degree of certainty or the technical terms.
Updated 2026-10-28
Most meaning loss happens in the first draft, before any tool is opened. A writer reads a sentence, keeps the first half in mind and rebuilds the second half from memory. The rebuild is grammatical and the claim is subtly different.
A word-for-word substitution fails in the other direction. It keeps the claim and destroys the rhythm, because a synonym carries its own shade of meaning. Substituting "said" with "claimed" adds doubt the source did not express.
Step 1. Read the source twice. Read once for the claim and once for the qualifiers.
Step 2. Write the main claim in one sentence, in your own words, with the source closed. If you cannot do this, you do not yet understand the sentence well enough to reword it.
Step 3. List the terms that must survive unchanged. Technical terms, proper names, numbers and units belong on this list. Rewriting "randomised controlled trial" as "random test" is a meaning change, not a paraphrase.
Step 4. Rebuild the sentence with a new structure. Move the subject, split a long sentence into two, or merge two short ones. A rewrite that only swaps adjectives leaves the sentence pattern of the source in place, which is the pattern that similarity detectors and human readers notice.
Step 5. Check every claim against the original. Read your version next to the source line and mark each claim: present, missing or added. An added claim is the most common defect in a student paraphrase.
Step 6. Read both versions aloud. A hedge that disappeared ("may", "in some cases", "one study found") is easier to hear than to see. Restore every hedge you dropped.
The dropped hedge. "Exercise may reduce stress" becomes "exercise reduces stress". The rewrite is shorter and stronger, and it is wrong.
The widened subject. "One small trial in adults over 60" becomes "research shows". The population and the size of the evidence vanish.
The swapped technical term. "Prevalence" becomes "rate", or "correlation" becomes "cause". Both substitutions read well and both change the claim.
The copied sentence pattern. The words change, the clause order does not. A reader who knows the source will see it, and a similarity check may still score the passage high.
Every number in the source appears in your version.
Every proper name and technical term is unchanged, or is explained rather than replaced.
No claim appears that the source does not make.
Every hedge survives: may, might, suggests, in this sample.
The sentence pattern differs from the source, not only the vocabulary.
The citation names the source. Paraphrasing removes the quotation marks, not the obligation to cite.
The sentence rephraser produces a first draft fast. Use it on a sentence you already understand, then run steps 5 and 6 yourself. A synonym swap cannot tell you that a hedge went missing.
The academic paraphraser keeps a formal register while it rewrites. It is useful for the wording, not for the checking.