A similarity report does not distinguish between theft and carelessness. Neither does an institutional panel, once the matter reaches one. The defence is method, not intention.
The forms that catch people out
- Patchwriting. Rewriting a source sentence by swapping words while keeping its structure. This is plagiarism even with a citation, because the expression is not yours.
- Uncited method descriptions. Copying a procedure from the paper you took it from. Cite the source and describe it in your own words.
- Self-plagiarism. Reusing your own published text without citation. Journals treat this as a breach, particularly in introductions recycled across papers.
- Mosaic citation. Citing a source once, then continuing to draw on it for several paragraphs without further attribution.
- Uncited common knowledge that is not common. If you learned it from a specific paper, cite that paper.
Paraphrasing that actually works
Read the passage, close it, wait, then write what it said from memory in your own structure. Reopen it only to check accuracy. If you write while looking at the source, you will reproduce its shape.
If the original wording is genuinely irreplaceable — a definition, a legal phrase, a memorable formulation — quote it directly with quotation marks and a page number. Quoting correctly is never plagiarism.
Note-taking is where it starts
Keep quotations and paraphrases visually distinct in your notes from the moment you record them. Colour-code, or prefix every direct quotation with Q. Six months later you will not remember which was which, and that is when the accident happens.
Methods sections and self-plagiarism
There are only so many ways to describe a standard assay. Cite your own earlier paper explicitly, say the method is described in full there, and summarise rather than reproduce. Journals accept this readily when it is declared.
Check before submitting
Run a similarity check yourself. Read the report rather than the percentage — a 25% score composed of references and standard phrases is fine; a 6% score containing one uncited paragraph is not.
Then look at what matched. Any continuous run of matched text in your own prose needs rewriting or quoting.
On generative AI
Text produced by an AI tool is not yours and cannot be presented as though it were. Most journals now require disclosure of any AI use in preparing a manuscript, and some prohibit it outright. Check the policy of your target journal, and disclose.
Our editing service includes a similarity check, and we will tell you when a passage needs rewriting rather than silently rewording it.