Patchwriting
Rewriting a source by swapping synonyms and reordering clauses while keeping its sentence structure — a paraphrase that is not one.
Patchwriting keeps the original's skeleton and changes its skin. It is the most common form of unintentional plagiarism, and adding a citation does not fix it: you are still presenting the source's sentence as your own writing.
It usually signals incomplete understanding rather than dishonesty — you cannot restate an idea in your own structure until you have actually grasped it. The reliable cure is to close the source, write what it said from memory, then reopen it to check you got it right.
Do it on CitationEasy
See also
ParaphraseRestating a specific passage from a source in your own words and structure, at roughly the same length, with a citation.PlagiarismPresenting someone else's words, ideas, data, or structure as your own, whether deliberately or through careless citation.Direct quotationReproducing a source's exact words inside quotation marks or as a block, with a citation that includes a locator.