Paraphrase the idea, not only the vocabulary
A useful paraphrase shows that you understood the original. Read the passage until you can explain its point without looking at it. Then restate that point in a structure that fits your own argument. Swapping a few words for synonyms often creates awkward prose and can leave distinctive phrasing almost untouched. A stronger rewrite may combine sentences, change their order, or move from a passive construction to an active one while preserving the facts.
Use the controls above according to the job. Fluency smooths a draft that already says what you mean. Academic and Formal reduce casual language; Academic also tells the model to retain citations. Creative introduces more varied vocabulary, while Anti-plagiarism aims for new wording and sentence structures. Light strength makes restrained edits, Medium is a practical default, and Strong is best when you are prepared to compare the result closely with the source.
A reliable paraphrasing workflow
- Paste a focused passage rather than an entire unreviewed document.
- Choose the lightest setting that solves the actual writing problem.
- Compare the output sentence by sentence. Restore technical terms, qualifiers, names, numbers, and quotations that changed.
- Edit for your natural voice and reconnect the passage to the paragraphs around it.
- Cite the original source wherever its ideas or evidence appear.
AI can make a sentence sound confident while subtly changing its claim. It may flatten uncertainty, invent a transition, or turn correlation into causation. For academic, legal, medical, or technical material, return to the original source and verify every important detail. Keep quotation marks around exact language, and never let a rewriter fabricate a citation. The final check is simple: a reader should receive the same meaning, understand how the passage supports your purpose, and still be able to find the source you used.
Keep attribution separate from phrasing. Before you rewrite research, note the author, title, page or section, and the specific idea you intend to use. Add the citation while drafting instead of hoping to reconstruct it later. Common knowledge usually does not need a citation, but a source’s interpretation, unusual statistic, method, or original argument does. If you are unsure, cite it. Also check the rules that apply to your class, publication, or workplace: some allow AI-assisted editing, some require disclosure, and others restrict it. A transparent process protects both the source and your credibility.