Do You Think Rewriting Content Is Plagiarism?

As long as you are rewriting and not copying then no it is not plagiarism. This is done all of the time by professional journalists.

 

Thank you. I feel a lot better now!

 

Depends on how you define rewriting... What exactly are you doing? Changing words?

 

No, for me, it isn't about changing a few words. The entire take on the article is different, from my own perspective. Only pertinent facts, information, etc., is used. Example: If a news report said, "Today, two bombs went off near the Boston Marathon finish line, injuring six people." I would write: "I looks like some nut decided to blow the hell out of Boston's most famous foot race today, and it looks like a lot of people got hurt." And, again, I do cite the source.

 

There are only so many solutions to any given problem. If you are able to read the work of others and truly understand and grasp the concepts, then presenting them in your own words while demonstrating an ability to apply a personal angle, should not be construed as plagiarism. Out right copying or the application, as is, of another person's work without referencing them is.

 

If you steal from one author, it’s plagiarism; if you steal from many, it’s research.

And yes, I stole that quote from somewhere.

 

I tried this once at one job I had. I couldn't take it, so I stopped that job after a couple of weeks. Even though I restructured, reorganized, rewrote, and passed Copyscape with flying colors, I was disgusted at how all the articles I would look up as "research material" all had the same content in mind, just re-written ad nauseam. And here I was, adding to that steaming pile!

Is this really okay? Is it acceptable to have this kind of content business running and thriving? I find it disturbing.

 

No,
Rewriting is not copying. Use your own words, share your views and ideas. In todays world no information is secret, everything is online, unless and until you are the 1st to publish information then only it would be considered as fresh or unique content. You can see many people in this thread have rewritten their thoughts.

 

rewriting is not really a plagiarism. In any case to make something new you use the experience of predecessors. Writing of something unique can not do without the use of existing material.

 

There is a difference between doing research and getting facts for article etc. and rewriting those facts so that they are not worded exactly the same then rewriting an entire article. If you rewrite an article that someone else wrote you basically are just article spinning without the software.

When someone hires me to do a sales letter rewrite I do not write the same sales letter again but a bit differently. The angle is new but the facts that back the product and features and benefits remain the same. They are just rewritten so that they are not the same words as the previous sales letter.

 

Of course it is plagiarism. It is like when you call your product Cucu - Cola. This way, you are copying someone's business idea, product quality, marketing and entire process, promising that you will deliver a similar product and in fact, it is usually an inferior good. Same goes for writing or any other artistic form.

 

The best way to understand this is to ask yourself a question. If you saw an article, which is very similar to yours (for which you invested a lot of time and effort) would you be pleased or insulted? Furthermore, how would you react if said someone is trying to make money based on your effort?

 

Not always. If someone just read the whole article and get few ideas this isn't plagiarism. But if he try to copy it and change some words on it then it will be plagiarism.

 

If you open one site, copy a line, paragraph or the entire text, and then just change the way it is written that is plagiarism.
If you open twenty sites, read the material and then write about the subject, based on the research you've done, then it is not plagiarism. One is original work, one is not. One requires you to know what you're writing about, the other does not.

 

No, it's not. Sometimes a writer cannot convey his or her idea to the audience, but others can. Rewriting (or normally I call Ever Green) means you read others' ideas then rewrite in your way which is more understandable for readers. Sometimes, reading others' posts then summary some valuable and necessary information is a good way to bring value for them. Plagiarism means you copy the total idea of another person's writing, conversation, song, or even idea and passing it off as your own.

 

When you're using some literature sources to learn the subject and create the article based on your conclusions - you write unique content.
But changing the word order or structure and simply copying one's thoughts is definitely plagiarism.

 

Yes, but the main difference is that then you are working with the original text. That is, someone who has the copyrights for the text has given you the task of rewriting it. Otherwise you're just copying someone else's work and "improving" it. Which is plagiarism, once again.

 

There are definitions of plagiarism. Academic definitions of plagiarism are much stricter than plagiarism in marketing content, but just ask yourself this simple question: When you read the source and your rewritten version side by side, is it obvious that the one came from the other? If it is, rewrite again.

It's almost impossible today to come up with an entirely original piece of marketing content, it's all based on something else.

If you still have doubts and don't want to get into trouble, you can always reference your sources in the article you are creating.

 

Its incredible how many replies this post has received. Somehow, I feel that this topic is very relevant to many bloggers.

 

This topic is a quite controversial, as many writers are rewriting and there're a lot of folks who like to say something like "Booo, you're all plagiarists!"

As for me, I always read a lot of articles on the similar topic to my own, before I start writing. Especially, if I'm not a big expert in, for example, hoovers or in sorts of caviar. But it doesn't mean, that when I'm rewriting I'm plagiarising. No! I do my research, and tell my story in my own words.