Introduction
As academic publishing standards tighten, maintaining originality in your research manuscript is non-negotiable. Many researchers—especially early-career PhD scholars—often face unintentional plagiarism issues due to improper citation, paraphrasing errors, or lack of awareness. This raises a critical question: is it safe to use plagiarism removal services to clean up your manuscript before submission to reputed journals?
Let’s break it down in the context of Indian academia, UGC-CARE-listed journals, and private research practices.
Understanding the Role of Plagiarism Removal Services
Plagiarism removal services typically offer rewriting, paraphrasing, and citation correction to reduce similarity indexes. These services do not remove content but aim to make the writing more original by expressing the same ideas in new language. In principle, they serve a valuable function—especially for scholars who struggle with English or academic writing conventions.
However, the “safety” of these services depends on the following factors:
- How they work
- Who provides the service
- What standards they follow
- Whether your university allows it
Let’s explore each.
Are These Services Ethically Acceptable?
Using plagiarism checkers is completely ethical—Turnitin, iThenticate, and other tools are regularly used by scholars and universities alike. But using third-party services toparaphrase can be seen in two ways:
- If the service merely helps improve writing clarity and fix minor citation gaps, it’s often considered acceptable.
- If it replaces large sections of the manuscript without proper academic judgment, or if the scholar doesn’t understand the changes made, it can cross the line into ghostwriting or academic dishonesty.
Always remember: removing plagiarism should not involve removing responsibility. You must review and approve every change.
Risks of Using Poor-Quality Services
Several low-cost vendors—especially those advertising “plagiarism removal in 2 hours” or “guaranteed journal acceptance”—can do more harm than good.
Here’s why:
- They may introduce factual errors during rewriting.
- They may reduce technical accuracy to lower similarity.
- They may use AI tools that generate repetitive or robotic language.
- Some even fabricate citations or create paraphrased text that doesn’t align with your research intent.
Such changes can easily be caught during peer review or desk rejection stages. Worse, if a journal editor suspects manipulated or AI-generated content, your manuscript could be blacklisted.
Are UGC and Indian Universities Okay with These Services?
UGC and AICTE don’t explicitly forbid the use of writing support or editing services. However, their guidelines emphasize:
- Originality of content
- Proper citations
- Author accountability
Most Indian universities run student submissions through Turnitin. If a university detects poorly paraphrased sections or identical sentence structures in multiple students’ work (a common problem with template-based services), it may trigger disciplinary action.
Hence, if you choose to use a plagiarism removal service, ensure:
- It is customised to your manuscript.
- It avoids template language.
- You remain involved in the rewriting process.
- You do the final check using Turnitin or iThenticate yourself.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
Avoid services that:
- Claim 100% plagiarism removal without understanding your work.
- Ask for full manuscripts without offering confidentiality agreements.
- Guarantee acceptance in a “UGC journal” or “international Scopus journal.”
- Offer content rewriting using AI tools only, without human editing.
These services often put your academic career at risk.
When Should You Use a Rewriting or Removal Service?
Here are some situations where using a reputable plagiarism removal service may make sense:
- You are reworking your thesis into a journal paper and struggling with paraphrasing large sections.
- You’ve self-plagiarised unintentionally across conference papers and now need help restructuring.
- You’ve translated a regional-language manuscript and need help reducing translation-induced similarity.
- You’re a first-time author who needs to meet a strict similarity requirement but don’t want to lose technical accuracy.
In all these cases, transparency and control are key. You should know what was changed,why it was changed, and whether it still reflects your research accurately.
Safer Alternatives to Explore
- University writing labs or faculty mentors: Some Indian universities now offer academic writing support within departments.
- Research supervisors or co-authors: Trusted academic colleagues can help revise sections and offer more contextual improvements than third-party vendors.
- Use Grammarly Premium or QuillBot carefully: These tools are helpful but must be reviewed thoroughly. Don’t rely blindly on automated changes.
- Hire academic editors who follow ethical standards. Ask them for a “tracked changes” document to maintain transparency.
Conclusion
Plagiarism removal services are not inherently unethical, but how you use them determines whether they are safe for academic publishing. For Indian researchers submitting to UGC-CARE or Scopus-indexed journals, the key lies in retaining authorship, being involved in revisions, and staying aligned with academic integrity.
Think of such services as tools—not shortcuts. Use them wisely, stay informed, and never outsource your understanding of your own work.