SciSpace is widely known as an AI paraphrasing and literature review tool for academics. Their target users are researchers, students, and educators. Although its paraphrasing tool is not its main tool (its literature review tool is), SciSpace still says that its paraphrasing tool can "bring out the best in your writing."
We decided to test this claim by making SciSpace and Engram go through several different assessments. Read on to see if SciSpace was all it claimed to be and also to see how Engram does in these assessments.
• We used three criteria, accuracy in meaning, naturalness, and appropriateness, to assess the quality of the outputs from the assessments.
• We did a comparison between SciSpace's and Engram's paraphraser by doing two in-depth analyses of five sentences.
The TL;DR
As numbers speak louder than words, we will provide the numbers upfront. Engram's output sentences were preferred twelve out of thirteen times.
Although most the SciSpace's sentences fulfilled our three criteria for high-quality writing, SciSpace sentences had a variety of different issues that led to our preference for Engram's sentences. We go into the details of each sentence's reasons for not being picked later in the post.
What is SciSpace?
SciSpace, formerly known as Typecast, provides a workspace for researchers to assist them in different phases of the research and academic writing process. It's an all-in-one AI tool for literature review.
What is Engram?
Engram is an AI writing tool optimized to help non-native speakers level up their English. It has built many features, such as the grammar checker, paraphraser, and translator, to help everyone achieve their full potential through English.
Visit Engram to try out Engram's features.
Best AI Paraphraser for Non-Native English Speakers: Grammarly, QuillBot, Paraphrasing Tool, Paraphraser.io, Wordtune, Engram (2023)
What is important when choosing between paraphrasing tools?
In the real world, whether it be in school or professional settings, your message or ideas need to be communicated with clarity and impact.
A study found that 73% of employers seek candidates with strong written communication skills, but surprisingly, 40% of the Gen X population experience written miscommunications every week. This shows that the bare essentials of good writing are not even met. With this in mind, we evaluated each paraphrased statements on the bare essentials of good writing.
Criteria for grading
Before we started our evaluation, we defined "quality" on three basic criteria: accuracy in meaning, naturalness, and also appropriateness. By defining quality, we hoped to eliminate any subjectivity or variance in the results.
Natural-sounding: Does the phrase contain any grammar errors? Is the phrase awkward?
*We will use natural-sounding, and fluent/fluency interchangeably throughout the post.
Appropriateness: Is the phrase appropriate for a certain scenario and/or purpose?
In-depth analysis 1
SciSpace's Academic vs. Engram's Academic
For this exercise, we took apart a long scholastic paragraph, and viewed each sentence on its own.
SciSpace, like Engram, has many tones, but for this analysis, we decided to focus on SciSpace's Academic tone and Engram's Academic Style. This tone and Style was chosen, as this was the tone that most of SciSpace's users would use in their written works.
For appropriateness, we evaluated whether the sentence was straightforward and comprehensible. Additionally, we also saw whether the emphasis was placed on the right part of the sentence.
For the excerpt, we used the example given by SciSpace in their online paraphrasing tool trial.
"Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a fast-growing discipline of computer science that creates intelligent machines that can perform human activities. AI technology is becoming more widespread in healthcare, banking, and transportation. AI’s efficiency, precision, and decision-making could transform various industries. AI learns and improves through machine learning algorithms. These algorithms allow robots to evaluate massive datasets and find patterns and insights that humans cannot. This has advanced natural language processing, computer vision, and speech recognition. However, AI may cause employment loss and prejudice in decision-making. Thus, AI research and development must consider ethics. AI can improve our society and lives, but it must be utilized ethically." - SciSpace
SciSpace
Engram
Sentence-by-sentence analysis
1. Engram
SciSpace did not encompass all the nuances in the word "fast-growing," as the word used to replace this was "expanding."
Engram, on the other hand, expressed "fast-growing" well with the word "rapidly expanding."
2. Engram
SciSpace's sentence emphasizes the "application" part of artificial intelligence as being widespread, which is slightly different from the input. The input wants to emphasize that the importance of artificial intelligence led it to be widespread in these three sectors.
Engram's sentence is more active and direct, as it emphasizes the process of adoption within the three sectors. It uses a straightforward structure, which allows the sentence to be more fluid.
3. Engram
SciSpace and Engram fulfill all three criteria, but Engram presents the capabilities of artificial intelligence from the get-go and more firmly asserts the artificial intelligence's potential to revolutionize multiple industries.
4. and 5. Engram
Because of the complexity of the idea, SciSpace's version of combining the two sentences into one might cause challenges in comprehension for some readers. Additionally, the sentence also appears slightly more dense.
6. SciSpace
SciSpace captured the meaning of the sentence, while Engram did not.
7. Engram
As this sentence is more about possibility, Engram's sentence is better as it puts a more notable emphasis that the potential outcomes are not definite but rather possibilities. The sentence also emphasizes that these outcomes are inherent in the implementation of AI technology.
8. Engram
Engram, like the input sentence, puts an emphasis that an action needs to be taken.
9. Engram
Engram's sentence is more concise and natural-sounding. A short sentence would be better in this case, as the sentence is asking for a certain course of action. Making it short and simple has a bigger impact for these circumstances.
Verdict
Engram was the better choice, eight out of nine times. SciSpace's output sentences have a variety of different reasons they were not picked, such as passive voice, meaning error, etc.
In-depth analysis 2
SciSpace's Fluent vs. Engram's Standard
We decided to do another in-depth analysis using the SciSpace's Fluent tone and Engram's Standard Style.
For appropriateness, we assessed whether the sentence was apt for everyday discourse.
We decided to paraphrase a quote from a 2015 commencement speech from Steve Jobs.
Excerpt from Steve Job's SpeechSciSpace
Engram
Sentence-by-sentence analysis
1. Engram
SciSpace's paraphrased statement has an awkward term "gazing ahead."
Engram's output fulfills all three criteria.
2. Engram
It is awkward to say "harmoniously merge in your forthcoming days," like it does in SciSpace, as the phrase sounds forced and unnecessarily wordy. SciSpace also changes the sentence into passive voice.
Engram's sentence is a much better sentence overall, and adds some creativity to the sentence by turning the original phrase "somehow connect" to "magically align." This phrase is not awkward, and is also grammatically correct, and fits the meaning of the sentence.
3. Engram
SciSpace changes the sentence to passive voice again, and although it is not awkward, the sentence does sound less engaging than Engram's output.
4. Engram
Although SciSpace's sentence is not awkward, or grammatically incorrect, the word "method" is different from "approach." The lesson that Steven Jobs wants to impart in this section is a way of thinking, so "approach" is a more apt word than "method."
Verdict
Engram wins overall in terms of quality in this in-depth analysis. Engram's sentences fulfilled all three criteria, and used active voice. SciSpace either did not use an apt phrase/word, or used passive voice in its outputs.
SciSpace vs. Engram: the takeaway
Engram wins in this comparison as, twelve out of the thirteen times, Engram's output was picked as the better sentence.
SciSpace's sentence was not chosen for a variety of different reasons, such as awkwardness and nuanced meaning changes.
We can see that for both academic and everyday purposes, Engram is the top choice. So why wait, try out Engram's paraphraser, and see your writing change from good to great.
Other factors to consider
Pricing
SciSpace's monthly subscription is $20, while Engram's PREMIUM is $12.99. Engram's PREMIUM does not only offer unlimited tries on its paraphrasing tool but also offers unlimited tries on its grammar checker and translation. With PREMIUM, you are also able to use the 7 different styles on Engram's paraphrasing tool.
User interface
Both user interfaces were easy-to-use, but SciSpace's paraphraser was a bit hard to find, as it is buried under its other more prominent features.
SciSpace also does not show the changes it makes to the input sentences. Engram's paraphraser marks the changes on the input changes by underlining them in red.
Data privacy
In terms of data privacy, SciSpace does not use your data, but it does store the data. Users can opt for privacy mode on Engram. This mode ensures that Engram does not store the user's data or use it for research.
Try our paraphrasing tool by clicking on the link below.
References:
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