How to avoid plagiarism

How to avoid plagiarism

Plagiarism can be defined as the usage of someone else’s work, idea, or information without crediting them with acknowledgment for the same. It is also known as a form of theft, as people steal other people’s work or ideas without citing them as the source. Hence, like all other theft forms, this too has several disadvantages.

There are certain things that must be kept in mind while writing a research paper. One of the most important practices, in order to maintain academic ethics and integrity, is to ensure that the work is not plagiarized. In other words, the sources from which the information is taken must be cited and credited.

Academic integrity is very important while writing research papers, creating projects, or just presenting a term paper. It is one of the fundamental values. Therefore, the originator must be acknowledged for their work, rather than just stealing ideas or information. From them. Furthermore, merely paraphrasing and summarizing a work is also ofttimes regarded as dishonesty and plagiarism.

So, it is important to learn, how to not plagiarize.

In order to be able to establish your own points, in a stronger way, you should provide evidence for the claims or ideas. This ensures that the writer does not engage in plagiarism.  As it is considered to be an academic and intellectual offense, it also leads to the grave and undesired negative outcomes. the writer must realize that plagiarism should not be committed, even though it is unintentional or accidental.

In order to ensure that plagiarism is avoided, some of the steps can be followed.

Step One

It is very important to understand the context, beforehand, so that one can articulate their ideas, rather than borrowing ideas from others. It is important to ensure at any given point that no information is copy-pasted. The reference paper might be used to draw ideas and hence cited, but never can ideas be presented in the same words.  In order to do so, one might as well need to develop a greater understanding of how to paraphrase, and most importantly, correctly.

Step Two

While researching, it is important to keep in mind the important areas of research. Each piece of information must be utilized only after keeping notes or track of the source it is been taken from. Many times, it happens that students or researchers tend to forget the source from where the information was taken, and thus, they end up presenting the idea as their own, accidentally. No such mistakes can be committed. It is recommended to keep track of the sources in an organized manner so that they are cited properly. They may include websites, articles, journals, videos, magazines, and so on.

Step Three

Understanding what it means to paraphrase.

Paraphrasing can be defined as the practice of employing one’s own words in order to present an idea. The information or idea can be gained from a source but only the main or primary ideas can be discussed, but only by crediting due acknowledgment. For example, it is essential to restructure the sentence while establishing the ideas presented by an author. However, it is also important to keep the meaning unaltered. To be able to paraphrase with perfection, it is very important to ensure that only the ideas are similar but not how they have been presented. But they still need to be cited for reference.

Step Four

Another very crucial thing is quoting. Firstly, it is important to realize that quoting and paraphrasing are two very different things. In the case of long phrases and arguments, it is always better to paraphrase, rather than directly quote. Paraphrasing, in such instances, means that the writer has understood the text, and has been able to articulate their opinions and voices, rather than reinforcing what is known. However, in the case of shorter phrases, sentences, and arguments, quotations can be used but then also need to be cited in the paper.

Quotes are deemed absolutely necessary and appropriate when there is a need to introduce a definition or claim made by the original author. Quotations can also be used when paraphrasing is difficult as it may lead to loss of meaning. Maintaining authority may serve good, in many instances, which helps in establishing personal ideas. Quotes help you form stronger arguments and add value to your ideas.

Be it paraphrasing or quoting, the authority has to be established. And hence, citing them reveals academic integrity throughout the paper.

Step Five

Checking the score for plagiarism helps you understand if there has been anything in the paper that matches the source. This might be done with the help of various websites which generate plagiarism or similarity indexes so that changes can be made prior to submission.

Step Six

Each time you collect information, ideas, paraphrase or quote something, it is necessary that they are properly cited with the name of the author, work, publication date, and so on. Each citation must correspond to the entire reference, in a list at the end of the document usually. A Reference list or Bibliography at the end of your paper enables you to organize all the sources from where information has been taken or referred to, in order to establish the arguments.

However, there are various styles of Referencing, each of which follows specific details, rules, and guidelines. The most common ones are do my math homework, MLA, APA, Harvard, and Chicago Styles. One has to follow strict guidelines of the one chosen, throughout the paper.

These steps would help in avoiding Plagiarism scores while writing academic papers in order to maintain Academic honesty and integrity.