There’s nothing worse than getting accused of plagiarism in school, especially if you didn’t do it intentionally. When you write a paper for academic purposes, you should include information from outside sources.
This will give authority and credibility to any written work and is a common requirement in academic papers. But there is a significant difference between using outside sources to enhance your work and copying another person’s work word-for-word, then claiming the information as your own. By doing this, you will plagiarize others.
What is plagiarism
Plagiarism happens when you present someone’s ideas or thoughts in your work without the acknowledgment of the author. There are different kinds of plagiarism, the most common of which are direct and accidental. Direct plagiarism is when you copy a section of another person’s work word-for-word without using attributions or quotations. Aside from being highly unethical, this could also be grounds for disciplinary actions.
Accidental plagiarism occurs when you forget to cite your sources or misquote your sources. It can also occur when you unintentionally paraphrase another person’s work by using the same or similar words. Although unintentional, this won’t free you from the consequences of plagiarism.
Why should you avoid it?
One of the first reasons why you should avoid plagiarism is that you’ll put yourself at risk for school. This is especially dangerous if you have a scholarship. Once you get caught plagiarizing, the school could revoke the financial assistance you receive.
The final decision would depend on the existing circumstances. Getting accused of plagiarism will always lead to adverse consequences. Therefore, it’s very important to check your school’s policies regarding plagiarism. Cases of plagiarism can lead to a simple suspension or worse, expulsion. This is why you should always be very careful before submitting your work. Cheating isn’t worth any consequence.
Use a plagiarism checker online
Students in college must complete different kinds of written paperwork and coursework. Essay writing is an inevitable part of college and you need to accept this. Just make sure that whenever you write a paper, you run it through a plagiarism fixer. The popular StudyClerk plagiarism checker for students is an excellent tool for you to use. By running your text here, you will find all potential plagiarism issues, then fix them before submitting your paper. This will make you feel more reassured before you submit any written work.
NEVER copy and paste
If you research using the internet, you may have a habit of copying and pasting bits of information into your document. Later, you would use the same document as the basis of writing your draft. This is a dangerous practice as you might accidentally confuse your own ideas with the text you copied. While this habit saves time and is more convenient, you must be very meticulous when you practice it.
Make sure to place any text that you have copied in quotation marks, then clearly indicate the source. You can also place any copied text in a different color or font than your own typed text. This will make it easier to distinguish your ideas and your references.
Paraphrase while adding your original ideas
Sharing information that’s already available is a common practice. You can quote and paraphrase in your work but make sure to include your own ideas in the content you have paraphrased too.
Stating another person’s research as-is won’t add anything new to the literature that already exists. If you do this, people won’t take you seriously. You have to convince your readers that you have your own point to prove by strengthening it using existing concepts.
Cite all of your sources correctly
The best way to avoid plagiarism is to keep track of all the sources you use. This may be a tedious task, but it’s very important. It’s essential to take note of your sources while researching and make sure to record the source of every bit of information that you will mention in your work.
Aside from article and book sources, also remember to include videos, websites, blog posts, and more. When writing a research paper, it’s normal to use outside sources. But it is also essential in academic writing to use these sources appropriately. This means that you will need to do some proper paraphrasing using a paraphraser and quoting. It is important for you to cite all of the external information in your paper through a reference list or in-text citations.
It is also a requirement to always include in-text citations that would point to the original author. You should remember that each of the in-text citations in your paper must correspond to a complete reference at the end of your work. Before you start creating the reference list of your paper, you should first check the requirements of the citation style given by your teacher. Make sure to apply this style consistently throughout the list.
Conclusion
You should avoid plagiarism at all costs. This is an immoral and unethical act that will lead to bad consequences. Despite this, plagiarism still happens often. Fortunately, today, there are many tools you can use to avoid plagiarism. Use them to ensure original work each time.
Author’s Bio:
Julius Sim is part of the management team at Edubirdie. He looks after the customer service department and creates tie-ups between various departments and writers to ensure that his company employs only the best and delivers the work as per students’ expectations. He loves blogging about student life and the solutions.
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