Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
One of the hardest things for me to write in Textbroker is a recap. Not because they’re overly difficult, but because the system flags them as plagiarized content far too often. However, there are ways you can avoid plagiarism with a bit of imagination and the right tool.
Nowadays, it’s not too difficult to avoid copying when doing a recap. But back in the day, I had to really focus on what I was writing.
Here is my video on the topic if you’re interested in watching as opposed to reading the blog post.
Sometimes, Avoiding Plagiarism is Difficult
The whole point of creating a recap is to summarize an article. Now if you own the original, then it’s not too much of a hassle. However, many clients on Textbroker don’t and then want you to write something unique.
What makes them difficult is the overall content. Proper names, places, and things are specific pieces of information that may be vital to the recap as well as the original.
This often means that you’ll be creating similar content. And automated systems don’t take into consideration context. An automatic plagiarism checker will still flag the piece, and many clients will reject the article.
Today, Textbroker editors will examine articles flagged as plagiarized to discover if it’s a false positive. This is because it happens far more often than you’d think.
Unfortunately, many clients will still request revisions or reject an article if it’s too close to the original. Given the nature of a recap, you’d think clients would have a better understanding of what they’re going to get back.
Using Copyscape Compare to Avoid Plagiarism in Recaps
One tool I like to use, whether it’s for me personally or managing my writing team, is the Compare tool from Copyscape. It will analyze the text from two sources to give you a comparison of how closely they match.
This is provided by showing a “Similar” percentage rate. Usually, I strive for less than 5%, especially if I am writing a recap. This way, the Textbroker checkers won’t flag the piece as being plagiarized.
To use the free tool, just go to the Copyscape Compare tool website.
Enter the original text in one field. You can also use the web address in the URL field. Personally, I put the original in field number one, but I don’t think it really matters depending on what you’re scanning.
Enter the content you created in the second field. Simply copy your text into this field by pasting.
Then, hit the blue “Compare Items” button on the bottom. Copyscape will then analyze the two pieces of content for similar strings of words.
Now, depending on the context of the article, you might get false-positives. Names of people, places, and specific pieces of information are going to be the same.
However, you want to keep an eye out for common text that is more than three words long.
Once you identified similar strings of text, simply re-write those sections to become more unique.
So, Compare will help you avoid plagiarism to an extent. You’ll still have to create the content to make it appealing, comprehensible, and unique. And depending on the size of the article and available information in the recap, that can be incredibly difficult.
But, using this tool to fine-tune your Textbroker recap will be of great help.
Other Ways to Avoid Plagiarism
Although I think using the Copyscape Compare tool is brilliant to avoid plagiarism in any article, there are a few things you can do to make the process easier. The entire point is to make sure your content is as close to one-of-a-kind as possible.
And the more often you provide unique content that doesn’t exist anywhere else, the better are the chances of someone sending you more work. So coming up with ways to avoid plagiarism altogether or even false-positives is in your best interest.
For instance, you could:
Use the Premium Grammarly App
Grammarly is not only a grammar-checking platform, but the premium version also comes with a plagiarism checker.
This means that not only can you prevent copying other people’s content, but you can deliver better content to Textbroker clients. In fact, it comes with a slew of tools to help you as a freelance writer.
In other words, you have the potential to vastly improve your star rating and perhaps impress clients who may start sending you direct orders.
Never Copy and Paste
When doing a recap, never copy and paste information from the original into your own work. It’s too easy to forget to change the wording and is easily identifiable as plagiarism.
While writing recaps in Textbroker, I would jot down important information on a notepad. Then, I would create the content using my own voice and use the notepad as a reference. This cuts down a lot of copied text.
Use Synonyms
Synonyms are a great way to make a piece of content unique. Of course, you need to make sure that the word you choose makes sense in the article. Some synonyms may make the content seem…well, off.
I tend to take to Google if I need a synonym. I do this a lot, even when I’m writing for my own blog. You don’t want to saturate any content with the same terms, and sometimes you come across gems that make the piece stand out.
Reword Basic Facts
One of the best ways to avoid plagiarism false-positives is to reword basic facts of the recap. Put them in your own voice and perhaps add a bit of your personality.
One of the hardest things to reword is three-word phrases. Sometimes, you just can’t get around stating something a specific way. That’s when the imagination and synonyms can come into play.
Structure the Sentences Differently
This one is kind of like cheating in a way, but rearranging a sentence can often help avoid plagiarism. Especially if you use different terms within the sentence.
I don’t do this one very often simply because it does make me feel like I am plagiarizing the work. But when there are specific facts you’re covering in the recap, it might be the only way to express them.
Make Sure Your Content is Always Unique
Recaps are such a pain to write. Mostly because some clients don’t seem to realize that certain text can only be done a specific way. But if you explore some of the tips above, you’ll have a better chance to avoid plagiarism when using Textbroker.
In fact, the above can work well in virtually any scenario, whether you’re writing for a client or creating your own blogs.
How often do you write recaps in Textbroker? Do you get tagged for plagiarism if you do? Let me know in the comments down below.
For more information about Textbroker, don’t forget to visit my YouTube channel. I cover all kinds of topics regarding Textbroker, freelance writing, and WordPress blogging.
This post was proofread by Grammarly
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