Introduction
In Indian PhD research, especially in humanities, social sciences, and interdisciplinary studies, students often find themselves writing long, complex sentences to convey nuanced arguments. These sentences might combine multiple references, theoretical ideas, and analytical observations into one extended flow. While such complexity can demonstrate academic depth, it also increases the likelihood of matching other published texts in plagiarism checks. This is particularly common in doctoral admission processes at private universities, where initial drafts are closely reviewed for originality under UGC’s plagiarism thresholds.
However, rewriting a long sentence without making it sound mechanical is a skill many researchers struggle with. When paraphrasing tools or overly rigid rewording methods are used, the sentence can lose its natural rhythm, making the thesis feel unnatural to readers. The goal is to preserve meaning and academic tone while ensuring the sentence reads as if it were written by a thoughtful human, not a software program.
Why Long Sentences Are Hard to Paraphrase Naturally
Long academic sentences often follow a predictable pattern—opening with a broad claim, supporting it with evidence, then qualifying it with exceptions or comparisons. For example, a student in a sociology thesis might write: “While rural development policies in India have aimed to reduce economic disparities, the uneven implementation of schemes across states has limited their overall effectiveness, as evidenced by disparities in literacy, health, and income indicators.”
Rewriting this sentence requires not only changing words but also restructuring the sequence of ideas. A robotic rewrite might simply replace “aimed to reduce” with “intended to minimise” or “limited their effectiveness” with “restricted their impact,” keeping the same order. This passes as different wording but still feels formulaic and risks being flagged by similarity tools. A more natural rewrite might reorder the sentence to emphasise the impact first, then describe the cause, which both improves originality and maintains readability.
Strategies for Human-Sounding Rewrites
The first step in rewriting long sentences is idea separation. Instead of attacking the entire sentence at once, break it down into its core parts—claim, evidence, and qualification. Once these components are clear, you can experiment with reordering them. For example, the earlier rural development sentence could be restructured as: “Economic disparities across Indian states remain despite decades of rural development policies, partly due to uneven scheme implementation, which has affected literacy, health, and income outcomes.” This version communicates the same message but feels less like a direct rewording.
Another technique is changing the sentence rhythm. Long academic sentences often have a predictable pause structure, with commas or clauses falling in similar places. Altering where the pauses occur—by shifting clauses, using connectors differently, or varying the length of each segment—can create a fresher flow. This is especially effective in literature reviews, where repetitive sentence patterns can make the writing monotonous.
For Indian researchers working in bilingual or multilingual contexts, thinking in another language before rewriting can help avoid robotic phrasing. Mentally summarising the sentence in Hindi, Tamil, or another familiar language, then translating it back into academic English, often leads to more original structures. This method reduces dependency on the original syntax and helps develop a natural academic voice.
Balancing Academic Tone with Simplicity
A common worry among PhD candidates is that simplifying a long sentence might make it sound less “scholarly.” However, in most cases, clarity strengthens academic writing. Examiners value precise arguments over unnecessarily complex constructions. For example, instead of: “It is pertinent to note that the observed discrepancies in educational attainment are reflective of systemic inequities entrenched within the socio-economic fabric of the nation,” you might write: “Differences in educational attainment reflect deeper socio-economic inequalities in the country.”
While the second version is shorter, it retains the academic point without sounding heavy-handed. In private university settings, faculty often encourage this approach, particularly for students whose first drafts show excessive reliance on textbook-style phrasing. UGC plagiarism checks focus on similarity, not sentence length, so simplifying without distorting meaning can still achieve originality compliance.
For long sentences that truly need to stay long—such as those detailing a multi-step argument—varying the connectors and clause order is key. Instead of chaining clauses with “while,” “although,” and “as,” experiment with starting the sentence mid-thought or introducing the consequence before the cause. This structural shift creates enough variation for plagiarism tools to read the sentence differently.
Conclusion
Rewriting long sentences without sounding robotic is not about replacing words mechanically but about rethinking structure, rhythm, and emphasis. For Indian PhD candidates navigating UGC plagiarism limits, these techniques make it possible to keep complex arguments intact while presenting them in a fresher, more authentic voice. Over time, practising these rewrites develops a writing style that feels both academically strong and unmistakably your own—a valuable skill far beyond plagiarism removal.