In research writing, copying text word by word from another paper is not permitted unless it is used as a direct quotation, which is rarely encouraged in technical and scientific papers. Instead, the idea must be rewritten in original language and properly cited. This approach prevents plagiarism while giving due credit to the original author.
First, fully understand the original text before attempting to rewrite it. A sentence should never be paraphrased unless its meaning is clearly understood. Read the paragraph carefully, identify the central idea, and detach yourself from the exact wording used by the original author.
Second, rewrite the idea using your own sentence structure and vocabulary. Simply replacing a few words or rearranging the sentence order is not sufficient. The new sentence must differ clearly in expression while preserving the original meaning.
Third, insert a citation immediately after the rewritten sentence or at the end of the paragraph. This informs the reader that the idea originates from previous research, even though the wording is original.
Example
Original text from a published paper
“Deep learning models have demonstrated superior performance in image classification tasks by automatically learning hierarchical feature representations from large-scale datasets.”
Incorrect method (plagiarism)
“Deep learning models show better performance in image classification by learning hierarchical features automatically from large datasets.”
This is plagiarism because the sentence structure and key phrases remain almost identical.
Correct method (paraphrasing with citation)
Deep learning approaches have achieved notable improvements in image recognition because they can extract multi-level feature representations directly from extensive training data (Author et al., Year).
Although the idea is the same, the sentence structure and wording are substantially different, and the citation properly acknowledges the source.
Another example using a paragraph
Original text
“Existing intrusion detection systems suffer from high false alarm rates and poor adaptability to evolving network attacks, which limits their effectiveness in real-world deployments.”
Correct rewritten version with citation
Several studies indicate that conventional intrusion detection methods generate excessive false positives and have difficulty adjusting to newly emerging attack patterns, thereby reducing their usefulness in practical network environments (Author et al., Year).
Here, the idea is retained, the wording is original, and the citation is correctly provided.
Direct quotation (rarely recommended)
Direct quotations should be used only when the exact wording is essential. In such cases, quotation marks must be used together with a citation.
Example
“Existing intrusion detection systems suffer from high false alarm rates and poor adaptability to evolving network attacks” (Author et al., Year).
However, most SCI and Scopus indexed journals discourage frequent use of direct quotations in technical manuscripts.
Important rules to follow
Always cite the source even when paraphrasing. A single citation may cover several sentences if they all refer to the same source, but clarity must be maintained. Use a consistent academic writing style throughout the manuscript. Ensure that the similarity index remains within acceptable limits, typically below 10–15 percent depending on journal policy.
Conclusion
Direct copying is unacceptable in academic research. The correct practice is to understand the original idea, rewrite it completely in your own words, and provide proper citation. This approach upholds academic integrity and greatly improves the likelihood of acceptance in SCI and Scopus indexed journals.
Source: sureshtechlabs.com