“Plagiarism,” a word every academic has certainly heard far too often. Yet, most academics do not fully understand the graveness of the term. To give those lost souls a rough idea, an academic paper meets only one fate if it fails the plagiarism test – “rejection.” There are several meanings to the term, but the simplest one definitely is “passing someone else’s intellectual property as your own.” What does intellectual property entail in terms of academic writing, you ask? In academic writing, intellectual property includes the original words used in the original sentence structure. If you have used someone else’s work without tweaking it a fair amount or without giving due credit, then that’s plagiarism. There are several tools used by universities, journals, and academic editing and proofreading services to detect plagiarism, such as “Turnitin,” which will not only give you a percentage of plagiarized text but also will give the source that you have plagiarized from. So, your every word in your paper is put under the test. If reading this gets you worried, then let’s just say there are fool proof ways in which you can avoid plagiarism. First, a text is considered plagiarized, only if a huge chunk of your work or an entire sentence has been “copy pasted as is” in your work, is highlighted by the plagiarism detection tool. Second, you have unintentionally used another’s work without citing your source. Now that we are clear on how you can plagiarize let’s move on to how you can avoid it. It is imperative that your paper is well-planned. When searching for literature, ensure that you plan how you will use the information in your sources. Use tools, such as Endnote or Zotero, that manage your citations. Take notes of the important information when you are reading through literature. This is the most effective way of avoiding plagiarism because taking notes infuses your understanding to someone else’s work, and your understanding is bound to be unique. Refer to multiple sources to ensure diverse content. This will not only avoid plagiarism but also show that your writing is well-informed and your ability to integrate abundant information. Change the words and the sentence structure used in the original work. The best way to do this is paraphrasing because it encourages you to imbibe your understanding of the text and discourages plain copying. When you are doubtful about the origin of an idea or a conclusion is from you or something you read, just simply cite the source. Ensure that you cite the original source for everything in your paper that is not your original idea, thought, or perception. Citing is a tedious job but it ensures you don’t come off looking like a copycat. Use quotes. This is for all those instances when your understanding of someone else’s words diminishes its impact. However, keep these instances as rare as possible, unless you are writing a qualitative paper. Educate yourself about the citing conventions followed in your field. Use tools like Turnitin or eTBLAST after you have completed your writing to ensure originality of your work. If you are wondering that, at this rate, you will have a citation for every sentence, relax because there are things that do not require citations in academic writing. The following don't require citations: Common sense and well-known facts Personal insight, experiences, and conclusion Information you gathered after conducting your own tests, interviews, etc. After you have completed writing, you must review the text and your reference list to ensure you have appropriately cited sources and provided a complete reference list. If this post leaves any questions unanswered or if you still find a high level of plagiarism, then be sure to consult your supervisor, guide, or instructor. In addition, if you have already written your research paper, you can get it edited and proofread from companies providing manuscript editing and proofreading services to fix language and grammar errors (if any) and remove some amount of plagiarism (if it exists).
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