7 Best Paraphrasing Tools for Academic Writing

Academic writing and paraphrasing are two things that are tightly related to each other. In academic writing, writers frequently use content from other people to provide the basis of their own discussion, as well as use them as evidence to support or refute a point.

Since quoting too much is not considered good writing, people have to rely on paraphrasing as well. By paraphrasing the content of other people in their own words, writers can maintain the tone they were using as well. 

However, paraphrasing is not so simple to do. It requires that the writer have a large active vocabulary, something which is not always possible. So, now writers have turned to use automated means i.e., online paraphrasing tools. But there is an absolute truckload of paraphrasing tools available online. So, which one should you choose? In this article, we will narrow down the choice to the seven best paraphrasing tools for academic writing.

  1. Editpad 

The first tool on our list is Editpad. It is actually a toolkit that provides a lot of content optimization tools. One of these is a paraphrasing tool. Of course, in this article, we are only going to discuss the paraphrasing tool. The paraphrasing tool by Editpad helps students in paraphrasing complex sentences without altering their original meaning.

Some useful features of this online tool are:

  • Has four paraphrasing modes.
  • Paraphrases text by using advanced AI technology.
  • Can paraphrase in multiple languages.
  • Let’s users upload their files aside of copy-pasting them.
  • Let’s users download the output as a DOC file.


Sample text from this article: https://www.edu-special.com/5-study-tips-for-high-school-students/ 

These features are helpful for academic writers because they can do the following:

  • Help them keep the tone of their content formal and professional (with Formal Mode) as it is required in academic writing.
  • Due to file upload and download support, academic writers can quickly upload their drafts, edit them, and download the edited version.
  • Due to support for 15+ languages, it is viable for multilingual, and foreign academic writers as well.

Available for free, and can be upgraded to premium to add more functions. The minimum price for premium is $7/week.

Source: https://www.editpad.org/tool/paraphrasing-tool

  1. Paraphraser 

The second tool on our list is Paraphraser. Paraphraser is well…exactly what its name suggests.  This tool is quite similar to Editpad’s paraphrasing tool but there are differences. Given below are some of its prominent features.

  • There are five paraphrasing modes
  • It supports 20+ languages
  • Lets the users upload and download their files in DOC format (Standard MS Word file format)
  • Lets the user customize the output

The sample text used is the same as in Editpad, in fact, we will take this opportunity to inform you that this sample text will be used for most tools on this list. So, if it is not mentioned where the sample text is from, then it is automatically this one.

So, how do these features help an academic writer? Academic writers can utilize them to:

  • Improve the readability of their academic write-up.
  • Paraphrase text from other sources instead of quoting them.
  • Support for 20+ languages makes it even more viable for foreign academic writers.

Since it is freemium, it can be utilized for free. However, for $20/month, you can get access to extra modes and paraphrase more words per session. Premium mode is handy for academic writing as it has more modes that provide more variety.

Source: https://www.paraphraser.io/

  1. WordAI 

WordAI is a paraphrasing tool powered by machine learning that claims it can rephrase your content to make it attractive to both Google and readers. A person can input their entire article, paper, or essay to WordAI and it will paraphrase it reliably.

So, what are its features that make it so enticing? Well, in short, it can do the following:

  • Thoroughly restructure sentences 
  • Provide multiple rephrase for a single input (up to 1,000)
  • Always writes completely unique content

In the image, you can see that there are two articles with similar headings. The left is the original, and the right is the rephrased version. It is observed that the paraphrased version is completely different from the original.

So, how does this affect academic writing? Well, academic writers can utilize WordAI and its features to:

  • Ensure that their academic write-up is completely unique
  • Uses natural language so that it is more readable and understandable

These are some ways in which WordAI can improve academic writing. WordAI is not freemium, it is premium only and costs $57/month. However, it can be used for free for three days on a trial period.

Source: https://wordai.com/

  1. ParaphraseOnline 

ParaphraseOnline is a powerful paraphrasing tool that is also very easy to access. It does not require the user to create an account, and it does not bother them with ads, or captchas. Normally, such tools are very poor with regard to features, but that is not the case with ParaphraseOnline. 

Let’s see the most notable features of this tool.

  • Four paraphrasing modes that provide varied outputs
  • Support for English, Spanish, and Tagalog is present
  • Users can customize the output to their liking

It can be seen that the tool makes many small changes and that each change can be customized by clicking on it. The list of alternate synonyms is long enough for any user to find a word that is to their liking.

This tool is beneficial for academic writing because:

  • It can rephrase the content in four different ways. An academic writer can utilize the more suitable mode that is better for their write-up.
  • The customizable output allows a writer to choose words and synonyms that are better, thus improving the quality of their academic write-up.
  • Very helpful to undergraduate students because it is free to use.

There is no price for Paraphrase online. It is a completely free tool, and all of its features are available from the start.

Source: https://www.paraphraseonline.io/

  1. Writesonic 

Writesonic is a comprehensive content generation and optimization toolkit. It can do a lot of things such as generating marketing copies and blog outlines. However, since our topic of discussion is academic writing, we will check out what it can do for academic writers.

Its “Content Rephraser” is a powerful tool that can paraphrase any given text in a variety of ways. Some of its notable features are given below:

  • This tool creates five different paraphrased versions of your content by consuming one credit. 
  • It supports many languages
  • It can translate content from one language to another and paraphrase it
  • Writes in a human-like manner

The sample text this time around is just what Writesonic provided themselves. You can see in the screenshot, that there are multiple versions of the original text available. Each is different from the rest.

Writesonic can benefit academic writing in the following ways:

  • It can help academic writers translate and paraphrase their work into another language.
  • Complete sentence restructuring allows writers to paraphrase their work and make it easier to understand. 
  • Multiple versions of an academic write-up allow writers to select the best version for publishing/submitting.

Writesonic is a freemium tool and the free version does not cost anything. The premium version starts at $12.7/month and goes up to $666/month. The difference between each package is the number of words available for content generation and rephrasing.

Source: https://writesonic.com/

  1. Prepostseo 

Prepostseo is an online platform that provides a variety of tools most of which are content optimization tools. Of course, one of them is a paraphrasing tool. The paraphrasing tool by Prepostseo has the following features:

  • Four different paraphrasing modes (three are free, one is paid)
  • Customizable output. Click the bold words to open a list of synonyms to replace with
  • Can rephrase in 18 languages
  • File uploading for input and downloading output is supported

How are these features useful for academic writing? Well, with these features you can:

  • Ensure that your academic write-up is highly readable.
  • Paraphrase large passages instead of quoting them
  • Improve upon parts of your write-up that are not “up to par.”

The paraphraser by Prepostseo is freemium, but you can purchase its premium versions ($19/month or $125/year) to get access to an extra paraphrasing mode and increase the number of words that can be paraphrased in one session.

Source: https://www.prepostseo.com/paraphrasing-tool

  1. Rephrase 

Rephrase is a great tool for paraphrasing your academic content. It is quite feature-rich, which makes it very suitable for academic writing. It has the following qualities:

  • Five paraphrasing modes (two free, three paid)
  • Can paraphrase in 20+ languages
  • Colored words/phrases in the output depict the changes. 

These features help an academic writer in the following way:

  • Multiple modes allow writers to paraphrase content to match a specific tone. 
  • Academic writers can avoid quoting excessively without exerting effort.
  • Ensure that the write-up matches a standard of quality with respect to writing,

Rephrase is freemium, so only two of its modes are free, you can upgrade to the premium version for as low as $7/week to gain access to all of its features.

Source: https://www.rephrase.info/

Comparison
Now that we have seen seven paraphrasing tools suitable for academic writing, let’s do a quick comparison. This comparison will help you to make a quick and informed decision as to which tool you should use.

EditpadParaphraserWordAIParaphraseOnlineWritesonicPrepostseoRephrase
Wordlimit1,500 (free)5,000(paid)600(free)1,500(paid)5,000Persubmission2,500PersubmissionDependent on package5,0001,500
No of ModesFour Five N/AFour N/AFour Five 
MinPricing$7/Week$20/Month$12.67/MonthFree$57/Month$10/Month$7/Week
MaxPricing$199/Year$150/YearCustomFreeCustom$350/Year$150/Year
Integration
with Other Tools
YesYesNoNoNoYesYes

Conclusion

And these were seven paraphrasing tools that can help academic writers create high-quality works without much hassle. All of the discussed tools have a free version either as part of a freemium package or as a trial period. All of the tools also have paid versions that are significantly superior to the free versions. 

We have highlighted how each paraphraser can help with academic writing, so the choice is left to you. You can reread this article, and decide on a tool that suits your needs best.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are paraphrasing tools accurate? 

 Yes, paraphrasing tools are very accurate. They paraphrase the content without changing its meaning.

Are there any disadvantages to using a paraphraser?

No, there are no disadvantages to using a paraphraser.

Can paraphrasing tools be used for academic writing?

They can be used for all types of writing including academic writing, creative writing, and even technical writing.

How do I know if the paraphrased content is plagiarism free?

You can run the content through a plagiarism checker to ensure it is plagiarism free.

Is there something I should know before paraphrasing? 

Always cite content taken from other sources even after paraphrasing because that is the responsible thing to do.