Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional copy of words, thoughts, or ideas of others to use for oneself without proper acknowledgment of the academic sources. In other words, it is the theft of other people’s ideas or information without their consent. Plagiarism covers all kinds of published or unpublished works in manuscript, printed, or electronic form. The article, written by the Write My Essay For Me team, will provide you with more information about forms of plagiarism and how to avoid it. 

Forms of Plagiarism

Direct plagiarism

That is the most blatant form of plagiarism. The writer commits direct plagiarism when he/she copies text from other sources and pastes it into his/her work with no citation or quotation. Even if the writer changes some words and phrases in the text but leaves most of the copied texts untouched, it is still considered plagiarism.

Citation/quotation without acknowledgment

Whenever a writer uses a quotation to put any extracted content of others’ works in his/her academic paper, the writer must put the quotation within an indentation or quotation marks and with a complete reference to the cited source. The research paper should present separate original parts of the author and the borrowed content.

Interpretation

That is the act of re-expressing someone else’s text in your own words, viewed as the most common type of plagiarism in academic research articles. By collecting critical points from different sources and rewriting them in your own words, paraphrases are still inadmissible as if they were your thoughts and ideas. If you want to get ideas from various sources and use them in your work, you must follow the rules of interpretation. For example, if you cite the source correctly, you can avoid plagiarism.

Guides to the prevention of plagiarism

Write it yourself

The leading cause of plagiarism is the negligence and laziness of the writer in doing his/her academic paper. The writer needs to put effort into creating the academic content that is their own. In addition, the writer’s argument is the most important message that he/she aims to convey in the research paper. Therefore, the writer needs to plan the research and seek assistance from any available sources such as professors, librarians, and other campus support staff. Finally, the writer should only use referenced material to strengthen his/her argument, not to replace it. 

Organize your timeline

It takes time to organize a good assignment. Procrastination decreases the available amount of time until the due date. Eventually, the writer would run out of time or be overstressed to finish the academic paper. This pressure often leads to carelessness and a craving for a quick and easy solution, such as copying someone else’s work. The writer may avoid this situation by starting their work well in advance and formulating a clear agenda for the paper. Even if the professor/lecturer does not require the submission of drafts at every stage of the writing process (e.g., brainstorming, creating a thesis statement, overview, writing, reviewing), the writer should consciously do so.

Consider good paraphrasing

Mere modification of the original content by using synonyms or words does not erase the trace of plagiarism. Proper paraphrasing requires that the writer understands the content of the source. With that knowledge, the writer then uses his/her own words to summarize such concepts. However, the citation is still essential for such paraphrased content. Don’t forget that a direct copy of the unique words or phrases from the source shall be put in quotation marks.

Cite and quote correctly

The writer must always quote the work, words, ideas, and phrases used directly or indirectly in the academic paper in the correct style. In addition, the writer should cite all content, including text, graphics, illustrations, graphs, or tables. The correct style is surely available with the requirements for the paper. Writers may seek guidance or style manuals at most information desks and online. They can also provide more tips on how to avoid plagiarism.

Use programs to check plagiarism

Plagiarism checkers are a great tool. Running a document through such a program will check whether your text is your intellectual property. Unfortunately, mistakes in citation and quotation are widespread. Therefore, if you are unsure whether you cite the text correctly, you should seriously consider running the document through such a tool.

The Write My Essay For Me team hopes that the information above will help you have fundamental insights into plagiarism prevention, laying an essential foundation to get a high score in essay writing.