洗稿 (xǐgǎo): to plagiarize by paraphrasing

Meanings

1 to plagiarize by paraphrasing
2 to launder a draft (rewrite someone else's article to dodge plagiarism detection)

Characters

洗

Examples

这家公众号被指控洗稿。

Zhè jiā gōngzhònghào bèi zhǐkòng xǐgǎo.

This WeChat official account has been accused of plagiarism-by-paraphrase.

原创作者很反感被人洗稿。

Yuánchuàng zuòzhě hěn fǎngǎn bèi rén xǐgǎo.

Original authors hate having their work laundered.

Tips

culture

Coined around 2014 by analogy with 洗钱 (xǐqián, 'money laundering'): swap synonyms, reorder paragraphs, and tweak details until copy-detection software won't flag it but the substance is still stolen. Legal pressure on 洗稿 in China grew sharply after 2018 as 公众号 (WeChat official accounts) became a major content economy.

usage

Compare 抄袭 (chāoxí, copy-paste plagiarism — clearer-cut) and 搬运 (bānyùn, 'haul over' — reposting without credit, common on video platforms).