Define Patchwriting

Defining Patchwriting: A Guide to Understanding and Avoiding This Form of Plagiarism

Patchwriting, a subtle yet serious form of academic dishonesty, often goes undetected because it's more nuanced than outright copying. This article will dissect patchwriting, exploring its characteristics, consequences, and how to avoid it. Understanding patchwriting is crucial for students and researchers alike to maintain academic integrity and produce original work.

What is Patchwriting?

Patchwriting involves taking text from a source, altering a few words or phrases, and presenting it as your own work. It's a deceptive practice because while the original wording is changed, the overall structure, argument, and even sentence construction remain largely unchanged. This differs from proper paraphrasing, which involves completely restructuring the source material while retaining the core meaning and properly citing the original. Patchwriting essentially creates a patchwork of borrowed phrases and sentences, masking the source but failing to give credit where it's due.

For example, imagine a source text stating: "The rapid advancement of technology has significantly impacted global communication." A patchwritten version might read: "Technology's fast development has had a large effect on worldwide communication." Although some words have been replaced, the core sentence structure and meaning remain almost identical. This constitutes patchwriting because it fails to appropriately acknowledge the original source.

Distinguishing Patchwriting from Paraphrasing

The key difference between patchwriting and proper paraphrasing lies in the level of transformation applied to the source material. Paraphrasing involves thoroughly rewording the source text, changing the sentence structure, and using your own vocabulary to express the same idea. Crucially, paraphrasing always includes a citation indicating the source of the information. Patchwriting, conversely, only superficially alters the wording, leaving the underlying structure and argument unchanged without proper attribution.

Identifying Patchwriting Techniques

Patchwriting employs various techniques to disguise its plagiarism. These include:

Replacing synonyms: Switching single words for their synonyms without changing the sentence structure.
Rearranging sentence structure minimally: Reordering phrases or clauses but retaining the overall sentence flow.
Inserting or deleting minor words: Adding or removing articles, prepositions, or conjunctions to slightly alter the phrasing.
Changing the voice (active to passive or vice versa): This can mask the origin but still leaves the fundamental ideas unchanged.

These subtle manipulations aim to evade plagiarism detection software, but they don't negate the act of plagiarism.

The Consequences of Patchwriting

Patchwriting carries severe academic consequences. Educational institutions view it as a serious breach of academic integrity, often resulting in:

Failing grades: Assignments found to contain patchwriting can lead to failing grades on the specific assignment or even the entire course.
Suspension or expulsion: Repeated instances of patchwriting can result in suspension or even expulsion from the institution.
Damage to reputation: The academic record and reputation of the student are severely tarnished, impacting future opportunities.
Retraction of publications: In research settings, patchwriting can lead to the retraction of published articles, damaging the author's credibility.

Avoiding Patchwriting: Best Practices

The best way to avoid patchwriting is to properly paraphrase and cite your sources. Here's how:

1. Understand the source material completely: Read the text thoroughly to grasp its central ideas and arguments.
2. Take notes in your own words: Summarize the key points using your own vocabulary and sentence structures.
3. Construct your own arguments: Use the source material as supporting evidence, integrating it into your own analysis and interpretation.
4. Cite your sources accurately: Always cite the source using a consistent citation style (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).
5. Use paraphrasing tools cautiously: While helpful for understanding complex texts, don't rely on them to generate your writing.

Summary

Patchwriting is a form of plagiarism that involves superficially altering the wording of a source text while retaining its core structure and meaning without proper attribution. It differs significantly from proper paraphrasing, which requires complete rewording and clear citation. Patchwriting has serious academic consequences, ranging from failing grades to expulsion. Avoiding it requires careful attention to paraphrasing techniques and accurate citation of sources. Developing strong writing skills and a deep understanding of academic integrity are essential for avoiding this deceptive practice.

FAQs

1. Is patchwriting always intentional? While often intentional, patchwriting can sometimes result from poor understanding of paraphrasing and citation practices. Regardless of intent, it's still considered plagiarism.

2. Can plagiarism detection software detect patchwriting? While sophisticated software can detect many instances, it's not foolproof. Human review often plays a crucial role in identifying subtle forms of patchwriting.

3. What is the best way to paraphrase effectively? Read the source, understand its main points, then write your own explanation using different words and sentence structures. Always cite the source.

4. Can I use quotes to avoid patchwriting? Yes, using direct quotes with proper attribution is acceptable. However, overuse of quotes can weaken your own argument. Aim for a balance between paraphrasing and direct quotations.

5. What should I do if I accidentally patchwrite? Acknowledge the mistake immediately. Contact your instructor and honestly explain the situation. Rewrite the affected section correctly and cite the source appropriately. Honesty is key in mitigating the consequences.

Search Results:

Academic Integrity Matters (AIM) Program aim.ok@ubc What is patchwriting? Patchwriting is a common, and often accidental, form of plagiarism. It often results from inexperience with integrating sources or lack of confidence in one’s own writing …

From Phrase to Discourse Level Patchwriting: Is it Possible to … She defines patchwriting as “copying from a source text and then deleting some words, altering grammatical structures, or plugging in one-for-one synonym-substitutes” (Howard 1993: 233).

Patchwriting - University of British Columbia Patchwriting What is it? • Incorporating quotes as if they were paraphrases • Talking out loud of reading, thinking, and writing How to teach it? • Oral summaries (vodcasts) • comPAIR • …

Composing the Anthology: An Exercise in Patchwriting - Writing … Rebecca Moore Howard defines “patchwriting” as a method of com-posing in which writers take the words of other authors and patch them together with few or no changes (233).*

Patchwriting - teachingandlearninginhighered.org Howard defines patchwriting as "copying from a source text and then deleting some words, altering grammatical structures, or plugging in one-‐for-‐one synonym-‐substitutes" …

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Module 5: Patchwriting In this module, you will learn to define and identify patchwriting. You will also learn how it differs from paraphrasing and summarizing, and how it is a form of plagiarism.

Handout - Samples of Patchwriting - University of Alabama Student Writing (Patchwriting): Cuba has become one of the hottest destinations for people to visit. Tourists have flocked there ever since the American government has lifted some of the …

Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting (and Not Patchwriting) The Citation Project (Jamieson & Howard, 2011) defines patchwriting as “restating a phrase, clause, or one or more sentences while staying close to the language or syntax of the source.” …

Good and original: Plagiarism and patchwriting in academic … Plagiarism is regarded as a heinous crime within the academic community, but anecdotal evidence suggests that some writers plagiarize without intending to transgress academic …

Is It Plagiarism or Patchwriting? Toward a Nuanced Definition The resulting text has been called patchwriting, cryptomnesia, unconscious plagiarism, and non-prototypical plagiarism, along with various subcategories including clause quilt, copy and …

Addressing plagiarism in academic writing: punishment or pedagogy? Patchwriting as a learner strategy • patchwriting (Howard 1999) is copying from a source text and then deleting some words, altering grammatical structure or plugging in synonym substitutes …

Patchwriting vs. Effective Summary - Lindsey Wilson College Patchwriting means “restating a phrase, clause, or one or more sentences while staying close to the language or syntax of the source” (Jamieson & Howard, 2011). Here is an example:

Writing from Sources, Writing from Sentences - ResearchGate Following Howard (1993), we define patchwriting as reproducing source language with some words deleted or added, some grammatical structures altered, or some synonyms used.

Patchwriting, Plagiarism, Pedagogy: Definitions and Implications The resulting text has been called patchwriting, cryptomnesia, unconscious plagiarism, and non-prototypical plagiarism, along with multiple subcategories, and the deﬁnition often shapes the …

Moving Beyond Transgression: Contextualizing Plagiarism and Patchwriting Although patchwriting in universities is often labeled simply as poor paraphrasing, and, by extension, as plagiarism, Howard (1992) suggested that patchwriting constitutes a …

What is Patchwriting? - Simon Fraser University What is Patchwriting? unapologetically violent acts, professional wrestling dives in head first. A large portion of wrestling’s cultural appeal is generated by the psychological …

7th Edition Avoiding Plagiarism Guide - APA Style 15 Nov 2021 · Another common type of word plagiarism occurs when students mistakenly think they have paraphrased an author’s words because they added or removed a few words or …

Supporting Source Integration in Student Writing - ed Howard suggested that patchwriting is a developmental stage of learning to use citations and is not a form of academic dishonesty. Instead, instructors need to help students to understand …

Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism - Lindsey Wilson College What is patchwriting? Jamieson & Howard (2011), define patchwriting as “restating a phrase, clause, or one or more sentences while staying close to the language or syntax of the source.”