essay how to avoid plagiarism

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How to Avoid Plagiarism | Tips on Citing Sources

Published on 6 December 2021 by Tegan George . Revised on 3 April 2023.

When you write an academic paper, you build upon the work of others and use various credible sources for information and evidence. To avoid plagiarism, you need to correctly incorporate these sources into your text.

• Keeping track of the sources you consult in your research
• Paraphrasing or quoting from your sources (and adding your own ideas)
• Crediting the original author in an in-text citation and in your reference list
• Using a plagiarism checker before you submit

Even accidental plagiarism can have serious consequences , so take care with how you integrate sources into your writing.

Table of contents

Keeping track of your sources, avoiding plagiarism when quoting, avoiding plagiarism when paraphrasing, citing your sources correctly, using a plagiarism checker, checklist: plagiarism prevention, free lecture slides, frequently asked questions about plagiarism.

One of the most common ways that students commit plagiarism is by simply forgetting where an idea came from and unintentionally presenting it as their own. You can easily avoid this pitfall by keeping your notes organised and compiling a list of citations as you go.

Clearly label which thoughts are yours and which aren’t in your notes, highlight statements that need citations, and carefully mark any text copied directly from a source with quotation marks.

In the example below, red indicates a claim that requires a source, blue indicates information paraphrased or summarised from a source, and green indicates a direct quotation.

Notes for my paper on global warming

• Greenhouse gas emissions trap heat and raise global temperatures [cite details]
• Causes more severe weather: hurricanes, fires, water scarcity [cite examples]
• Animal habitats across the world are under threat from climate change [cite examples]
• Just this year, 23 species have been declared extinct (BBC News 2021)
• ‘Animals are changing shape… some are growing bigger wings, some are sprouting longer ears and others are growing larger bills’ in order to cool off (Zeldovich 2021)

Managing sources with the Scribbr Citation Generator

To make your life easier later, make sure to write down the full details of every source you consult. That includes not only books and journal articles, but also things like websites, magazine articles, and videos. This makes it easy to go back and check where you found a phrase, fact, or idea that you want to use in your paper.

Scribbr’s Citation Generator allows you to start building and managing your reference list as you go, saving time later. When you’re ready to submit, simply download your reference list!

Generate accurate citations with Scribbr

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check..

Quoting means copying a piece of text word for word. The copied text must be introduced in your own words, enclosed in quotation marks , and correctly attributed to the original author.

In general, quote sparingly. Quotes are appropriate when:

• You’re using an exact definition, introduced by the original author
• It is impossible for you to rephrase the original text without losing its meaning
• You’re analyzing the use of language in the original text
• You want to maintain the authority and style of the author’s words

Long quotations should be formatted as block quotes . But for longer blocks of text, it’s usually better to paraphrase instead.

Paraphrasing means using your own words to explain something from a source.

Paraphrasing does not mean just switching out a few words from a copy-pasted text. To paraphrase properly, you should rewrite the author’s point in your own words to show that you have fully understood it.

Every time you quote or paraphrase, you must include an in-text or footnote citation clearly identifying the original author. Each citation must correspond to a full reference in the reference list or bibliography at the end of your paper.

This acknowledges the source of your information, avoiding plagiarism, and it helps your readers locate the source for themselves if they would like to learn more.

There are many different citation styles, each with its own rules. Your instructor may assign a particular style for you to use, or you may be able to choose. The most important thing is to apply one style consistently throughout the text.

The examples below follow APA Style .

Citing a single source

Citing multiple sources

If you quote multiple sources in one sentence, make sure to cite them separately so that it’s clear which material came from which source.

To create correctly formatted source citations, you can use our free Citation Generator.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

And if you’re citing in APA Style, consider using Scribbr’s Citation Checker , a unique tool that scans your citations for errors. It can detect inconsistencies between your in-text citations and your reference list, as well as making sure your citations are flawlessly formatted.

Most universities use plagiarism checkers like Turnitin to detect potential plagiarism. Here’s how plagiarism checkers work : they scan your document, compare it to a database of webpages and publications, and highlight passages that appear similar to other texts.

Consider using a plagiarism checker yourself before submitting your paper. This allows you to identify issues that could constitute accidental plagiarism, such as:

• Forgotten or misplaced citations
• Missing quotation marks
• Paraphrased material that’s too similar to the original text

Then you can easily fix any instances of potential plagiarism.

There are differences in accuracy and safety between plagiarism checkers. To help students choose, we conducted extensive research comparing the best plagiarism checkers .

When using someone else’s exact words, I have properly formatted them as a quote .

When using someone else’s ideas, I have properly paraphrased , expressing the idea completely in my own words.

I have included an in-text citation every time I use words, ideas, or information from a source.

Every source I cited is included in my reference list or bibliography .

I have consistently followed the rules of my required citation style .

I have not committed self-plagiarism by reusing any part of a previous paper.

I have used a reliable plagiarism checker as a final check.

Your document should be free from plagiarism!

Are you a teacher or lecturer who would like to educate your students about plagiarism? You can download our free lecture slides, available for Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint.

Open Google Slides Download PowerPoint

Accidental plagiarism is one of the most common examples of plagiarism . Perhaps you forgot to cite a source, or paraphrased something a bit too closely. Maybe you can’t remember where you got an idea from, and aren’t totally sure if it’s original or not.

These all count as plagiarism, even though you didn’t do it on purpose. When in doubt, make sure you’re citing your sources . Also consider running your work through a plagiarism checker tool prior to submission, which work by using advanced database software to scan for matches between your text and existing texts.

Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker takes less than 10 minutes and can help you turn in your paper with confidence.

To avoid plagiarism when summarising an article or other source, follow these two rules:

• Write the summary entirely in your own words by   paraphrasing the author’s ideas.
• Reference the source with an in-text citation and a full reference so your reader can easily find the original text.

Plagiarism can be detected by your professor or readers if the tone, formatting, or style of your text is different in different parts of your paper, or if they’re familiar with the plagiarised source.

Many universities also use   plagiarism detection software like Turnitin’s, which compares your text to a large database of other sources, flagging any similarities that come up.

It can be easier than you think to commit plagiarism by accident. Consider using a   plagiarism checker prior to submitting your essay to ensure you haven’t missed any citations.

Some examples of plagiarism include:

• Copying and pasting a Wikipedia article into the body of an assignment
• Quoting a source without including a citation
• Not paraphrasing a source properly (e.g. maintaining wording too close to the original)
• Forgetting to cite the source of an idea

The most surefire way to   avoid plagiarism is to always cite your sources . When in doubt, cite!

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

George, T. (2023, April 03). How to Avoid Plagiarism | Tips on Citing Sources. Scribbr. Retrieved 3 September 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/preventing-plagiarism/avoiding-plagiarism/

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Other students also liked, consequences of mild, moderate & severe plagiarism, the 5 types of plagiarism | explanations & examples, what is self-plagiarism | definition & how to avoid it.

How To Avoid Plagiarism: Tips + Tricks To Safeguard Your Writing

• Posted on November 1, 2021 December 16, 2021

Finding the right balance between referencing original content and creating your own material is crucial to avoiding plagiarism in all settings, from academic to commercial. Whether you’re a high school student, undergraduate, or professional writer, plagiarism comes with serious consequences. Here’s what you should know about how to avoid plagiarism in your writing.

Referencing Other Content

Acceptable references in our strategies to avoid plagiarism include quotes of any length, as long as you define that someone else said it and use the proper citation style for clear source attribution.

In most cases, you don’t need to use more than a paragraph when quoting someone. You can also use formatting adjustments, like a call-out box, to indicate that this is someone else’s words.

References are appropriate when you’re relying on someone else’s knowledge, authority, or experience to make a particular point. Quoted references work best when they’re from notable public figures or organizations, including company sources.

It’s also appropriate to use an exact quote when someone gave it with that intention. If you’re writing a news article and someone gives you a statement, you should always use as much of it as possible.

The primary thing to understand about referencing other writing is that it’s heavily situational and can admittedly be difficult to know when something technically does or doesn’t need to be quoted and/or cited in full. A how-to guide for building a deck likely won’t require a quote, but a doctor’s recommendation for using medicine sure would.

In-text references with hyperlinks are usually good for web content. If you’re printing something or have no other rules to follow, the APA style guide (with full references at the end of a document) are a widely acceptable default.

Understanding Research

Research is the process of collecting information, usually about a specific topic, to help understand how something works or make a decision.

Most people do not do real, original research. In fact, you’re not doing research right now while reading this article. You may be studying plagiarism, but that’s different from designing a test and gathering information to create a conclusion for a new understanding of the subject.

This is an essential distinction because original research cannot be plagiarism. If it’s plagiarized, then by definition, it’s not original research. Even people who do this type of research often cite numerous sources for their conclusions, although the addition of original information-gathering makes it unique.

We’re clarifying this because learning material from someone else lets you reference the ideas and concepts without quoting them directly. In other words, you don’t need to do your own original research to create original content, but you should understand the subject well enough to write convincingly about it from a new angle.

What Plagiarism Is NOT

Plagiarism does not occur when dealing with things that are too common to be attributable to one person. This includes anything that’s common knowledge (like the fact that water’s freezing temperature is 32 degrees Fahrenheit), single words (like “No”), and common sayings or idioms (like “What goes around comes around”). 

Similarly, plagiarism does not apply to names or proper nouns. Sometimes online plagiarism checkers, like Turnitin , may falsely identify multi-word names of things or titles of common research topics as plagiarism (i.e., “The Prevalence of Childhood Obesity”).

Changing Words to Avoid Plagiarism

Are you plagiarizing if you “rewrite” by changing a few words in a sentence but otherwise keep it the same?

Yes, this still counts as plagiarism and commonly happens when the intent is to paraphrase the original source.

These kinds of questions come up a lot. Can I reword a sentence to avoid plagiarism? Can I reorder the material or sentence structure, so it’s presented differently? Can I write it in a different tense?

All of these count as plagiarism because they’re avoiding originality in favor of trying to change something just enough so that it’s liable to sneak by anyone checking for it. However, this goes against the spirit of originality (not to mention the law), which says that you should always try to write something in your own words—and when you can’t, cite it.

Changing words has one more problem: It rarely works. There are plenty of words with similar meanings, and finding them is as easy as going to a site like Thesaurus.com and searching for the word. Most synonyms don’t quite match the original word, though. Replacing words runs the risk of losing coherency in a sentence, and astute readers will notice this.

For example, let’s say that my truck is having trouble. If I decide to replace words in that sentence, I might write that my van is straining. The difference between a truck and a van is relevant because these are completely different sorts of vehicles. Furthermore, the word straining implies a specific type of trouble not suggested in the original sentence.

Changing words to avoid plagiarism can destroy the meaning of sentences. If you don’t want the intention of the sentence you’re copying, why are you duplicating it at all? It often takes just as little time to write a new sentence that doesn’t risk distorted meaning.

Strategies to Avoid Plagiarism

Here are some strategies to help you avoid plagiarism and maintain professional and academic integrity.

#1: Don’t Look Too Closely at Other Material When You’re Writing

Plagiarism occurs when you copy something else too closely. If you study the topic and learn about it first, then write about it, you’re a lot less likely to end up plagiarizing it.

This can be hard to do if you’re writing something exceptionally long or need to add many references to it. If you’re dealing with many facts and figures, quote directly, use quotation marks and proper citing, and link to the source text to neatly avoid the issue.

#2: Present Your Opinion on the Matter

Another great way of avoiding plagiarism is presenting your thoughts, opinions, or experiences on the topic while discussing it. A helpful format here is “X says Y, but I think Z.” That lets you start by quoting someone else, then presenting your own opinion.

Originality is the best way to avoid plagiarism. Clearly explaining one position, then your thoughts and how they differ can help you add a lot of content without relying on external sources.

#4: Understand the Different Types of Plagiarism

When it comes to both professional and academic writing, there are many more types of plagiarism than you might’ve realized. The most commonly known ones are direct and complete plagiarism, source-based plagiarism, and self-plagiarism. 

These typically involve some level of intentionally presenting another author’s words without proper citation. But unfortunately, it’s possible for what’s authentically your own work to still be accidental plagiarism—whether in the form of improperly summarizing someone else’s exact words, forgetting an in-text citation, or even presenting your own ideas from an older research paper…but forgetting to cite yourself.

#3: Use a Plagiarism Checker

Plagiarism checkers can scour the internet to see if your content matches anything else too closely.

They’re not 100% perfect, but the most advanced ones come pretty close. Hundreds of thousands of students , teachers , and copywriters rely on Quetext to help them identify any and all instances of plagiarism that matter. Quetext even takes this a step further by allowing writers to generate the proper citation, be it MLA, APA, or Chicago style, right inside their document. 

In fact, this tip comes last because it should always be the last step before submitting your writing to your teacher, boss, or whomever it goes to. Even writing with the best intentions can benefit from the close eye that only advanced technology can provide.

Strategies NOT to Use to Avoid Plagiarism

Knowing what to do is essential for internalizing how to avoid plagiarism, but there are also a few strategies to avoid.

#1: Don’t Base All of Your Content on One Source

Plagiarism is particularly easy if you only have one source for your material. Drawing from one source is also a surefire way to limit the scope and credibility of your writing, as opposed to referencing a variety of content and viewpoints.

#2: Don’t Just Reword Content

Rewording content is functionally plagiarism even if it manages to slip past checkers. As explained above, rewording content isn’t just unethical, it’s often ineffective because it can destroy meaning in your material. If the content isn’t something you understand enough to explain in your own way, you’re better off referencing the direct quote, using quotation marks and citing the original source.

#3: Don’t Quote Too Much

While some quotes are unavoidable, part of understanding how to avoid plagiarism is knowing how much you can fairly cite or quote directly before it becomes a problem.

The correct ratio depends on the topic, but try to avoid having more than one quoted sentence every few paragraphs. If you have a long quote, add more commentary before your next quote to balance it out better.

Remember, content that’s only made up of quotes is both hard to read and often pointless for the reader. Original insights and commentary are far more valuable and are what bring meaning to the quotes you’re incorporating.

Final Thoughts

Avoiding plagiarism is important for both ethical and professional reasons. Fortunately, once you know how to reference, cite, and expand on material, it’s also easy to avoid. When in doubt, run your content through a plagiarism checker that will do the detective work for you before it ever becomes a problem.

Sign Up for Quetext Today!

Click below to find a pricing plan that fits your needs.

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How to Avoid Plagiarism and Craft Original Content

Plagiarism can catch even seasoned writers off guard, as seen in the case of the esteemed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Accusations of copying arose in connection with her work, 'The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys,' shedding light on the fact that plagiarism is not exclusive to novices.

In this guide to avoiding plagiarism, our paper writing service is here to help you with ethical writing! We'll explain what plagiarism is, why it's important, and ways to steer clear of it. We've also got FAQs and more to make sure your writing stays on the right path. Let's learn together and make your writing both original and ethical!

Let's Understand What Is Plagiarism 

Plagiarism is more than just a word tossed around in academic discussions—it's a serious matter with real consequences. Simply put, it's when you use someone else's words, ideas, or work without giving them credit. It's like taking a shortcut without acknowledging the original path.

Think of it as borrowing without permission. If you copy and paste a chunk of text or paraphrase someone else's work without citing them, that's plagiarism. It's not just about following rules; it's about fairness and honesty in sharing knowledge.

To understand plagiarism, it's essential to recognize its different forms, from directly copying sentences to tweaking them slightly without acknowledging the source. It's a bit like walking a fine line between creating something original and borrowing too much from someone else.

In this exploration of plagiarism, we'll break down its various aspects and why it's a big deal. It's not about complicating things; it's about respecting the intellectual contributions of others and maintaining transparency in your own work. So, let's dig into the details and gain the insights needed to produce writing that's both original and ethical.

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Why Is It Important to Avoid Plagiarism

Understanding the importance of steering clear of plagiarism goes beyond mere academic protocol; it's about upholding the principles of integrity, credibility, and personal growth. Here's why avoiding plagiarism is a non-negotiable aspect of responsible writing, according to our research paper writing service :

• Credibility Matters: When you present someone else's work as your own, it erodes the trust your audience or readers place in you. Originality builds credibility, establishing you as a trustworthy source of information.
• Respect for Intellectual Property: Just as you wouldn't want someone to take credit for your hard work, it's essential to respect the intellectual property of others. Citing sources appropriately is a way of acknowledging the effort and creativity that went into creating the original work.
• Fostering Your Own Growth: Writing is not just about producing content; it's a journey of personal and intellectual development. By avoiding plagiarism, you actively engage with the material, enhancing your understanding and contributing to your own growth as a thinker and writer.
• Adhering to Academic Integrity: In educational settings, plagiarism is a breach of academic integrity. Learning is a collaborative process that involves building on existing knowledge, and giving credit ensures a fair and ethical academic environment.
• Legal Consequences: Plagiarism can have legal repercussions. It's a violation of copyright laws and can lead to legal actions, damaging not only your reputation but potentially resulting in severe consequences.

How to Avoid Plagiarism with These Tips

Now that we understand the significance of steering clear of plagiarism, let's delve into practical strategies to ensure your writing remains both original and ethically sound. From managing your sources effectively to understanding how to edit an essay through plagiarism checkers, each of these tips plays a crucial role in safeguarding your work:

• Manage Your Sources
• Effectively Credit Your Sources with Proper Citation

Avoid Plagiarism While Quoting

Express ideas in your own words through paraphrasing, share your original thoughts, ensure originality with a plagiarism checker.

Let's explore these tips in detail, along with examples of plagiarism, and equip ourselves with the tools to create content that stands on the pillars of integrity and authenticity.

Manage Your Sources Effectively

To prevent plagiarism, it's crucial to keep a detailed record of your information sources. Imagine you're researching the effects of artificial intelligence on job markets. Ensure you note down the author's name, the publication date, and the page numbers of the articles or studies you consult. This meticulous approach not only helps you avoid accidentally using someone else's work without acknowledgment but also facilitates a structured and accountable writing process.

Credit Your Sources with Proper Citation

Crediting sources is an essential part of academic writing. When incorporating information or ideas from a source, whether through direct quotes or paraphrasing, adhere to the citation style prescribed by your institution or publication. Common styles include APA, MLA, Harvard style citation , and Chicago style format .

For example, in APA style, you'd include the author's last name and the publication year, like this: (Author, Year). This practice not only upholds academic integrity but also allows readers to trace back and explore the referenced material for a deeper understanding. Remember, the goal is not only to steer clear of plagiarism but to contribute to the scholarly conversation by acknowledging the voices that have shaped your understanding.

When incorporating quotes into your writing, it's essential to do so judiciously. Quotations should complement and enhance your ideas rather than overshadow them. For instance, if you're discussing the impact of globalization on cultural diversity, a well-placed quote from an expert in the field can provide valuable support. When considering how to avoid plagiarism, remember to maintain a balance – use quotes to emphasize key points while ensuring the majority of your text is comprised of your original thoughts and analysis.

Original Famous Quote : 'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.' - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Correct Quoting : In the face of challenges, Franklin D. Roosevelt once famously declared, 'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.'

Incorrect Quoting 1 : Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, 'Fear itself is the only thing we have to fear.'

Incorrect Quoting 2 : 'Fear itself is the only thing we have to fear,' Franklin D. Roosevelt stated.

Explanation: In the correct quoting example, the quote is integrated seamlessly into the sentence, providing context and attributing the statement to Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the first incorrect quoting example, the order of the words in the quote is changed, altering the original phrasing. In the second incorrect quoting example, although the meaning is preserved, the attribution is separated from the quote, which may lead to confusion about the source. When incorporating quotes, it's important to maintain accuracy in both wording and attribution to ensure proper representation of the original source.

Paraphrasing is integral to avoiding plagiarism. Instead of copying a passage verbatim, rephrase it in your own words while retaining the original meaning. For example, if you come across a study on the effects of exercise on mental health, paraphrase the findings to fit seamlessly into your discussion. This demonstrates a deep understanding of the material and allows you to incorporate external ideas into your work authentically. Strive for a synthesis of your voice with the insights you've gathered, ensuring a harmonious blend of originality and external support.

Original Famous Quote : 'Imagination is more important than knowledge.' - Albert Einstein

Correct Paraphrase : Creativity holds greater significance than mere facts, according to Albert Einstein.

Incorrect Paraphrase 1 : Knowledge is less crucial than imagination, as stated by Albert Einstein.

Incorrect Paraphrase 2 : According to Albert Einstein, knowledge is less important than imagination.

Explanation: In the correct paraphrase, the essence of the original quote is retained, emphasizing the importance of imagination over knowledge. However, in the first incorrect paraphrase, the meaning is altered by suggesting that knowledge is less important than imagination. In the second incorrect paraphrase, the emphasis on the lesser importance of knowledge is maintained, but the structure of the sentence is changed, deviating from the original meaning. It's crucial to capture the intended meaning accurately while rephrasing to avoid misinterpretation.

Your unique perspective and insights are crucial in enriching the academic conversation. It's important to note that while expressing your thoughts, you should also be aware of a concept known as 'self-plagiarism.' So, what is self plagiarism? This occurs when you reuse your own work without proper citation or permission, which can be considered a breach of academic integrity.

As you delve into topics like the implications of artificial intelligence in healthcare, ensure that your expressions are fresh and tailored for each piece of writing. While it's acceptable to revisit your own ideas, be cautious not to recycle entire sections verbatim without acknowledgment. For example, if you've previously discussed the role of AI in diagnostics in another paper, consider how you can present that information in a new light. If you find yourself in need of additional ideas, consider using our essay writer help . This approach maintains the authenticity of your work while ensuring your understanding of how to avoid self plagiarism.

Leveraging technology through a reliable plagiarism checker is a proactive step to maintain the originality of your work. Before finalizing your writing, you can run it through our professional plagiarism checker for accurate results. This tool not only highlights potential instances of unintentional appropriation but also provides you with the opportunity to review and rectify any oversights.

Why Choose Our Plagiarism Checker?

• Accurate and Fast: Our advanced algorithm ensures a swift and thorough analysis of your text, saving you time while securing the integrity of your work.
• User-Friendly: Checking your work is as easy as copying, pasting, and clicking. Our user-friendly interface streamlines the process, eliminating unnecessary effort.
• Free of Charge: We believe in promoting academic integrity, and hence, our plagiarism checker is entirely free. There is no need to worry about additional costs – just focus on creating original content.
• Comprehensive Check: Our tool scans your paper against thousands of sources, offering a detailed analysis and highlighting any areas of similarity.
• Security and Safety: Your work is analyzed with the latest and best software, ensuring a secure environment for your text.

How to Use Our Plagiarism Checker:

• Copy your text.
• Paste your paper into the designated tab.
• Get prompt and precise results.

Additionally, our tool not only detects examples of plagiarism but also helps you understand which parts of your paper may need improvement. If you require additional tips on how to avoid plagiarism or assistance with editing, proofreading, or creating a new paper, our writing professionals are ready to support you.

Congratulations on navigating our guide to ethical writing and avoiding plagiarism! Remember, your unique voice and ideas are your most powerful tools. By citing sources correctly, using quotes and paraphrasing effectively, and staying mindful of self-plagiarism, you're on the right track.

If you ever feel uncertain, don't hesitate to ask for guidance. And remember, it's always a good idea to check your work with plagiarism detection tools. If you need extra support, you even have the option to pay for essay that's 100% unique. Keep writing with honesty, and let your ideas stand out in the academic world.

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Can You Provide an Example of Plagiarism?

How to avoid plagiarism efficiently, what repercussions does plagiarism carry, how can plagiarism be identified.

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

How to avoid plagiarism: 10 strategies for your students

Tech Wire Asia

The News Record | Olivia Romick

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The International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI) defines academic integrity as not just avoiding dishonest practices, but rather “a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to six fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage.” And while it might feel like enough to post these high-level tenants on the wall of a classroom and move forward, it’s wholly more valuable (and complicated) to provide actionable ways to avoid plagiarism and embody these values.

There are myriad ways to support students in and outside of the classroom. And when it comes to avoiding plagiarism, many might say instantly, “Just get a plagiarism checker!” However, genuine instruction and learning goes beyond that: a successful approach to learning needs to contain guidance on areas that surround accurate research and citation; adequate time management; definition of misconduct and support if misconduct ensues.

Below are ten specific strategies for instructors that specifically support the skills students need to not simply avoid plagiarism, but to authentically learn and grow.

• Ensure students know the difference between academic integrity and plagiarism.
• Outline and define emerging trends in academic misconduct.
• Teach students how to properly cite sources in a paper.
• Support students’ development of time management skills.
• Emphasize the value of and way to paraphrase correctly.
• Clearly outline the institution’s and course’s policy on academic misconduct and AI writing usage.
• Define the steps taken after misconduct is suspected.
• Explain the concept of authentic learning.
• Describe how authentic learning can help students avoid plagiarism.
• Consider options for a plagiarism checker and an AI detection tool.

Let’s dive into this list in more detail. In the next section, you’ll find each tip framed as a question that a student might plug into a search engine (“What’s the difference between academic integrity and plagiarism?”), followed by suggestions and resources that support the development in that topic.

What is plagiarism? What is the difference between academic integrity and plagiarism?

In the classroom, it is important to have an aligned definition of plagiarism, even if it's assumed to be common knowledge. Explicit instruction for students has a measurable impact on mitigating misconduct. So to start things off, let's define plagiarism.

To plagiarize means to “steal or pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own” and/or to “use (another's production) without crediting the source.” In fact, plagiarize (and plagiarism) comes from the Latin plagiarius “kidnapper.: An integral tenant of the Western world’s concept of academic integrity involves citing the original source of information, giving appropriate credit where credit is due.

Truth be told, many consider “plagiarism” and “academic integrity” to be synonymous, when in fact, they cover different aspects of similar ideas.

In a previous Turnitin blog post , we recognize that “while plagiarism is indeed an act of academic dishonesty and academic misconduct, it isn’t the entirety of academic integrity.” In fact, academic integrity really is the commitment to live by the values listed by the ICAI (above) and plagiarism, specifically, “is a subset of academic dishonesty, and one way to violate academic integrity.”

Students, then, need to understand what plagiarism is and isn’t, as well as their school’s policies on integrity and misconduct, so that they can approach their work with gusto and honesty. Instructors benefit from communicating their policies around academic integrity not just at the start of an academic semester, but throughout the year. In addition, it is worth talking with students about forms of plagiarism, which can be seen on Turnitin’s Plagiarism Spectrum 2.0 , covering twelve different types of unoriginal work, including traditional forms of plagiarism and emerging trends. Furthermore, instructors should explicitly list resources that students can turn to in times of need (tutors, office hours, citation guidelines, etc.) so that the temptation to plagiarize is lessened even more.

When students study or publish abroad, it’s worth noting that the concept of authorship and citation is deeply rooted in Western principles. There are significant cultural differences in plagiarism that need to be considered, so educators and students alike can uphold integrity as global citizens while also respecting the cultural norms of different learning communities.

What are emerging trends in academic misconduct?

There are a variety of trends in academic misconduct out there today. From contract cheating and electronic cheating devices, to word spinners and online test-banks, there is a vast world of shortcut options. There is also concern around AI Writing tools and how they may transform the landscape of academic integrity .

Some instructors may fear that by talking about shortcut solutions, they introduce the concept of plagiarism and thereby open a door for students. The opposite is true for many educators, however, who find that by discussing shortcut solutions openly and clearly communicating their plagiarism policies, students know what is expected of them and which recommended resources to turn to in times of need.

Additionally, there has been lots of meaningful discussion around the appropriate use of AI writing tools in education. Depending on the instructor’s or institution's policy around AI tools, it is of utmost importance for a student to have an understanding around expectations concerning AI for each and every assignment. And as instructors more readily utilize AI writing detection, it’s equally important to have a context within which to interpret any particular AI writing detection score . In particular, this infographic enumerates many of the variables that educators should consider when interpreting each student's AI writing score

A meaningful first step can be Turnitin’s eBook, “Emerging trends in academic integrity” for a complete look at trends in academic misconduct. This free, downloadable guide talks about how to identify cases of misconduct and mitigate them, as well as how to deliver remote assessments with integrity, which helps institutions and instructors alike to build a strong foundation of integrity for authentic learning.

How do I cite sources in a paper?

Instructors at every grade level and in every subject should cover correct citations. Referencing others’ work creates a strong association between one writer’s thinking and the perspective of other scholars in that field. According to the University of Washington (USA): “Scholarship is a conversation and scholars use citations not only to give credit to original creators and thinkers, but also to add strength and authority to their own work. By citing their sources, scholars are placing their work in a specific context to show where they ‘fit’ within the larger conversation.”

If students understand the value of citations and how to craft them in their papers , it can lead to confidence long-term in submitting their own writing and not that of others’, illustrating their own understandings, and developing their own voice in the academic space.

How can I develop time management skills?

Time management is essential to success, not only in academia, but in life. As early as possible, students should learn time management skills so that they can organize their work, schedule time to study or research, and balance their extracurricular and academic activities. When students plan ahead, there is less likelihood that they will choose shortcut solutions for assignments because they are confident in their own approach and the time required to research and revise.

If students are struggling with time management, interventions by tutors or teachers may be helpful prior to a larger assignment or exam. Online resources, too, can be helpful; Blair Fiander, founder of Blair’s Brainiacs, offers advice on how to keep motivated while studying remotely and tips for independent study and revision .

How do I paraphrase correctly?

Paraphrasing supports learning outcomes because it requires students to analyze, summarize, interpret, and restate others’ writing. It supports and strengthens research because it brings in other ideas without interrupting the flow of writing the way a direct quote sometimes does. However, if a student doesn’t know how to paraphrase information accurately or effectively, there is a greater chance that they will unintentionally plagiarize, or even seek alternative methods, including word spinners or AI writing tools to complete an assignment.

When students can read a body of text and then put it into their own words, not only do they avoid plagiarism, they also more deeply absorb complicated concepts and enhance their own thinking. Paraphrasing can often help students to feel more confidence about research they conduct and produce. Check out Turnitin’s Paraphrasing Resource Pack , a comprehensive set of ready-to-use resources for those seeking to enhance this valuable skill.

What is my school’s policy on academic misconduct and AI writing usage?

Just as roadways function better with clearly posted speed limit signs, so too, can students complete their best, original work when they understand expectations. In addition to the syllabus and rubric, which gives students a roadmap on what is needed to complete the assignment, students also need an understanding of the honor code and how a school approaches suspected misconduct.

When a student body receives education around academic misconduct, there is a significant decrease in cases of plagiarism. A 2020 study found that after 12 semesters of academic misconduct data, there was a 37.01% reduction in instances of detected plagiarism following explicit interventions on academic misconduct ( Perkins, et al. ).

Sharing a policy can take many forms. The University of South Australia provides students with a 12-page written Academic Integrity Policy that not only defines key terms, but also outlines levels of offense and their specific consequences. Kingston University in London offers a landing page that defines academic misconduct and the university’s procedures. Instructors, furthermore, should update their honor codes for online learning environments because with the increase of online instruction during the pandemic, many universities reported an uptick in misconduct.

Institutions, as mentioned above, also need to update their academic integrity policies to include AI and ideally, clearly outline what constitutes use and misuse within the charter.

All of these steps provide clear guidelines for students who need to know how to submit high quality assignments, as well as what happens if misconduct occurs.

What happens if I’m caught plagiarizing?

If a student’s assignment has suspected plagiarism, there are several things that may happen, depending your institution’s policies:

• An escalation policy, which needs to have been communicated to the students prior to any assignments, is enacted.
• Conversations between students and instructors, which could include a deep-dive into how research was conducted, how references were cited (or not cited), as well as any examples of a student’s previous work as a comparison.
• Administration or academic panel involvement (if needed).
• Next steps, be they a rewrite, a failed grade, expulsion, or other.

Plagiarism not only tarnishes the act of learning, but it can also affect a student’s or institution’s reputation, the quality and respectability of research, and the value of a diploma. And while it’s never a pleasant experience to go through this process, sometimes simply knowing there are serious penalties for misconduct deters students from seeking shortcut solutions.

Hamilton College Reference Librarian Julia Schult says, "Plagiarism isn't a bad thing simply because it's intellectual theft—although it is that. It's a bad thing because it takes the place of and prevents learning." As such, many instructors and institutions are opting for an alternative to the zero-tolerance approach when it comes to misconduct, in order to put learning back into the equation.

There is an increased desire for restorative justice which, unlike traditional punishment, looks “to see students not only learn from their mistakes, but to simultaneously re-establish their standing and give back to the institutional community” ( ICAI 2018 ). The University of Minnesota (USA) has provided a program entitled “Academic Integrity Matters” (AIM) for students who have engaged in scholastic dishonesty and accept responsibility for violating the Student Conduct Code. Based on restorative justice principles, this program offers an opportunity for students to attend facilitated meetings with community members to reflect on the importance of academic integrity. Participants and community members discuss and agree on an educational opportunity the student will complete in order to demonstrate understanding of academic integrity and move beyond the disciplinary space.

For instructors seeking restorative justice, there is an opportunity to turn plagiarism into a teachable moment , helping students to understand why there are safeguards in place to ensure original work. Furthermore, if students feel like they can fail safely , often risks are mitigated because they know that even if they make mistakes, they can rewrite, relearn, and rebuild trust to make it better in the future.

What is authentic learning?

Avoiding plagiarism is about prioritizing learning and its process above the end result. While explicit instruction and academic policies fortify academic integrity, it’s also important to nurture intrinsic motivation for learning. What is one way to help foster such intrinsic motivation in students? Authentic learning is one option.

Julia Hayden Galindo, Ed.D., from the Harvard Graduate School of Education , describes authentic learning as ”learning activities that are either carried out in real-world contexts, or have transfer to a real-world setting.” She goes on to say:

“Authentic learning tasks capture students’ attention and raise their motivation to learn because they touch on issues that are directly relevant to students’ present lives or future careers. The instructor’s role, in this mode of teaching, is to help students to make connections between their own ways of making sense of the material and the established cultural frameworks of the discipline” ( Stein et al., 2004 ).

Rooted in constructivist theory, authentic learning insists that actively engaging with problems and materials constitutes the best way to learn ( Mayo, 2010 ). As John Dewey said, “[E]ducation is not an affair of ‘telling’ and being told, but an active and constructive process” (Dewey, as cited in Mayo, 2010, p. 36). Stein, Issacs, & Andrews emphasize that authentic learning activities should have both personal and cultural relevance ( 2004 ). And as often as possible, instructors should merely be facilitators of learning, providing an environment for learning where students themselves lead the charge and engage with topics, wrestle with new ideas, engage in discussions with each other, and ultimately, dive into material that is meaningful to them on their own terms.

How does authentic learning help students avoid plagiarism?

At its core, authentic learning fosters intrinsic motivation. Instead of being driven by fear, by a higher grade, or even by approval of others, students instead work hard for themselves. They have an internal desire to try something new, make mistakes, acquire a skill, and increase their knowledge. And because it comes from within, they are less likely to seek shortcut solutions that would hinder or taint their genuine learning. If educators can foster in students such a desire to learn for its own merits, then even when under pressure or facing a deadline, a student will still seek to complete their own, original work.

• Using examples so students know how the material can be of use. Providing meaningful reasons for learning activities.
• Providing constructive feedback early and often to help students understand next steps in their learning journey, which includes positive feedback.
• Giving students control over their learning. Giving them opportunities to choose their own topics or reading lists and provide a variety of assessment formats , so they have control over how they demonstrate their understanding.

As James Lang put it in his book, Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty , educators should strive to inspire students “with appeals to the intrinsic joy or beauty of the task itself.” If educators nurture an environment that feels authentic, safe, and inspiring, with clear expectations and high standards for original work, research shows that cases of misconduct are low and the caliber of learning high ( Lang, 2013 ).

How can a plagiarism checker help me?

In an academic space where students and instructors alike are seeking to avoid plagiarism and promote original thought, this question is prominent. However, it is a question that should be asked in tandem with all of the questions above, as one element of a multi-faceted approach to academic integrity. Plagiarism checkers like Turnitin Feedback Studio act as a backstop solution to academic misconduct if all of the above methods should fail.

A tool like Turnitin Feedback Studio is beneficial because it utilizes a massive database of content to determine if there are similarities between a student’s work and writing that has already been published. If instructors opt for multiple submissions , then a student can receive up to three Similarity Reports before the due date to get feedback on their writing and improve it before submitting.

Utilizing tools like Draft Coach in the writing process also upholds integrity; with Draft Coach, students can receive immediate feedback, not just on similarity, but on citations and grammar as well. From there, students can revise their writing accordingly, which not only encourages real-time learning, but also equates to real time saved by teachers grading papers on the back end.

And within Turnitin Originality, there is an AI detection feature to help educators identify when AI writing tools such as ChatGPT have been used in students’ submissions, offering insights to inform next steps.

And while choosing a plagiarism checker is helpful in a variety of ways, it is important to note that Turnitin does not detect plagiarism . Our tools, in fact, detect similarity and offer insights to support instructors and administrators making their own informed decisions about student work.

In sum: Strategies for students to avoid plagiarism

In the end, avoiding plagiarism goes beyond having a tool to check for similarity. It is a robust, holistic approach that includes foundational instruction around citations and paraphrasing; a culturally responsive curriculum that clearly defines misconduct and policies in that community; the prioritization of student wellbeing to ensure that students feel seen in the classroom .

Students, instructors, and administrators can work together to utilize these strategies and establish a culture of academic integrity where authentic learning is the goal and high-quality, original work is seen daily.

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Avoiding Plagiarism

What is it?

Plagiarism is using someone else’s work, ideas, or data without indicating the original source and providing proper acknowledgement (KSU Student Codes of Conduct 18). Plagiarism is a major academic integrity violation with serious consequences. Using this handout can help you understand plagiarism and how to avoid it. For one-on-one help incorporating researched information into your writing, make an appointment with the KSU Writing Center.

Plagiarism may be unintentional. Unintentional plagiarism can result from correctly quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing a source but incorrectly citing (or neglecting to cite) the source in-text, at the end of the essay, or both. Reusing work submitted for other classes can also be considered unintentional plagiarism. Even if accidental, plagiarism can have serious consequences.

How can readers avoid plagiarism?

Keep clear, accurate notes during the research process . Consider using double-entry research logs to keep track of what you read and to record your own responses to sources. This note-taking strategy helps you better understand your topic because you are actively engaging with your source material as you identify patterns and disagreements among different sources.

Only use information from sources you understand . Could you effectively explain the source’s information to someone else? If not, it will be impossible for you to integrate it correctly, and you risk unintentional plagiarism.

Cite all information from sources correctly . Any time you refer to information or ideas that are not your own, you must cite the source within your text and make sure it is listed on your bibliography/works cited/references page. Citing sources correctly shows your readers which ideas and information you developed and which come from an outside source. Citations also provide your readers with a map to the original source.

Use the style format required by your instructor or the discipline . Different disciplines and contexts call for writers to follow different, often very specific, citation requirements. Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, use your discipline’s preferred style guide. Common styles include MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association), and CMS (Chicago Manual of Style). Ask your instructor if you are unsure of what style to follow. 

Remember that it is better to over-cite than to under-cite . If you are unsure about whether you must cite a source, err on the side of citing too much rather than too little.

Integrate researched information by summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting . Researched writing should demonstrate that you are familiar with the existing body of knowledge about your topic, including agreements and disagreements among scholars. Use source material to support your own ideas by blending summaries, paraphrases, and direct quotations

• Restate only the main ideas from a source in your own words.
• Reduce a longer text into a shorter form, omitting unimportant details.
• Use word choice and phrasing significantly different from the original; do not copy sentence structures.
• Include citation information both within the essay and in the list of sources at the end.

Paraphrases

• Restate a key point or idea from a source in your own words.
• Use approximately the same number of words as the original text.
• Show that you have evaluated the source and determined what is useful and important about it in the context of your own argument.
• Use word choice and phrasing that are significantly different from the original; do not copy sentence structures.
• Include citation information both within the essay and the list of sources at the end.

Direct quotations

• Provide the author's exact text, placed in quotation marks.
• Highlight unique, precise, or powerful language in the source text.
• Use lead-in/signal phrases. E.g., Smith writes… or Brown argues…

When integrating researched information, remember to...

• Summarize and paraphrase as much as possible; quote sparingly.
• Contextualize and analyze each source.
• Maintain your own voice as you introduce and comment on your research. 

Beyond avoiding plagiarism: citations improve your writing

Citing correctly means giving credit where credit is due . As you research and write, you will come to conclusions and form opinions based on your own and others’ ideas, experiences, and experiments. Giving credit to the thinkers and researchers whose ideas and information you reference is crucial not only to avoid plagiarism but also to highlight for readers which ideas are original to you.

Citing others’ work helps boost your own credibility . By integrating and citing credible researched information appropriately, you demonstrate that you are familiar with the current knowledge in your field.

Citing appropriately helps readers locate additional information on the topic . This allows readers to engage in the same “conversation” you have joined by researching and writing about your topic.

Visit writingcenter.kennesaw.edu for locations & hours or to make an appointment for one-on-one writing assistance.

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How to Avoid Plagiarism? Tips and Advice for Academics

Plagiarism is an important concept in writing and concerns all authors who publish any kind of document. So, what is plagiarism? Presenting other people’s work as your own without formally giving due credit through citations or acknowledgements is called plagiarism. One of the biggest mistakes that authors may make is to include sentences verbatim from other sources or even pass off someone else’s writing as their own without appropriate citation. While most authors may know how to avoid plagiarism, some may not be completely aware of this concept . This article aims to answer your questions about how and why authors should avoid plagiarism. 

The following activities can be considered plagiarism 1 : 

• Quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing information from a source without citing it 
• Using ideas or methods from a source without citing it 
• Using words verbatim from a source and also citing it, but not enclosing the text in quotation marks or an indented block 
• Close paraphrasing without citing the source 

Table of Contents

• Different forms of plagiarism 
• What is plagiarism in research? 
• Why should you avoid plagiarism? 
• Tips to avoid plagiarism 
• How to prevent plagiarism? A checklist 
• Frequently asked questions 

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is the act of “ stealing and passing off the ideas or words of another as one’s own,” or “using another’s production without crediting the source .” 2 According to the University of Oxford, 3 all published and unpublished work, whether electronic or printed, as well as text generated wholly or in part by artificial intelligence can be plagiarized. Re-using your own work without proper citation is also considered plagiarism. 

In addition to text, plagiarism can also involve other media such as software program codes, illustrations, graphics, and artwork. The only source that can be used freely without citation is information in the public domain or common knowledge such as well-known facts.  

Different forms of plagiarism

Some different forms of plagiarism are listed below. 3  

• Verbatim quotation without clear acknowledgement  

Readers should be able to distinguish between the author’s own words and that from another source. To ensure this, direct quotations should be cited and enclosed within quotation marks, indented as block text, or italicized. 

• Cutting and pasting from the Internet without clear acknowledgement  

To avoid plagiarism, information found on the Internet should be verified from other reliable sources and only trustworthy websites, such as government websites, should be referred to and used with clear citation. 

• Paraphrasing without proper acknowledgement  

Paraphrasing means rewriting text using different words although the meaning remains the same. Even if the words are different, the meaning or idea, if sourced from another work, should be duly cited. Close paraphrasing occurs when only very few words are revised from the original. Here’s an example: 4  

Original  

Wild cattle are probably the longest-running example in Europe of the conservation in semi-captivity of an otherwise extinct subspecies. They owe their survival to being a medieval status symbol; how they came to be such is unknown.  

Plagiarized version  

There are a number of herds of so-called ‘wild cattle’ in Britain. Their survival is due to their being a medieval status symbol, although it is unknown how they came to be such, and is one of the longest running examples of the conservation in semi-captivity in Europe of an otherwise extinct subspecies.  

Acceptable revision  

There are a number of herds of so-called ‘wild cattle’ in country parks in Britain. In his ‘History of the Countryside’, Oliver Rackham suggests that these herds are ‘probably the longest-running example in Europe of the conservation in semi-captivity of an otherwise extinct subspecies’ and attributes the cattle’s survival to the fact that they were ‘a medieval status symbol’. 1  

1 Oliver Rackham, The History of the Countryside (London: Phoenix, 2000), p. 39.  

• Collusion  

This includes unauthorized collaborations among students and failure to acknowledge assistance received while working in groups. You should be clear about the extent of collaboration allowed. 

• Inaccurate citation  

Citations must be accurate, and only those sources that have actually been referred to should be mentioned. 

• Auto-plagiarism  

Many universities prohibit concurrent submission of identical documents, that is, submitting work that has already been submitted for a different course, subject, university, etc. 

What is plagiarism in research?

Plagiarism in research could take many forms like copying another author’s work, strategy, methods, hypotheses, formulae, in addition to basic text. A plagiarism charge can have adverse effects on authors’ careers and also the reputation of universities and institutions with which they are affiliated. If plagiarism is discovered after an article is published in a journal, then that paper would need to be retracted and this can significantly affect any future publishing prospects of authors. Retractions negate the credibility or validity of any research, affecting not just the authors and institutions but also other researchers who may have referred to this source for their own research.  

Universities have clear definitions and strict policies on how to avoid plagiarism; two examples are given below. 

Stanford University  

“For purposes of the Stanford University Honor Code, plagiarism is defined as the use, without giving reasonable and appropriate credit to or acknowledging the author or source, of another person’s original work, whether such work is made up of code, formulas, ideas, language, research, strategies, writing or other form(s). Moreover, verbatim text from another source must always be put in (or within) quotation marks.” 5  

Carnegie Mellon University  

“Plagiarism is defined as the use of work or concepts contributed by other individuals without proper attribution or citation. Unique ideas or materials taken from another source for either written or oral use must be fully acknowledged in academic work to be graded. Examples of sources expected to be referenced include but are not limited to:  

• Text, either written or spoken, quoted directly or paraphrased  
• Graphic elements  
• Passages of music, existing either as sound or as notation  
• Mathematical proofs  
• Scientific data  
• Concepts or material derived from the work, published or unpublished, of another person” 6  

Why should you avoid plagiarism ?

You should avoid plagiarism for the following reasons 7 : 

• to ensure academic integrity  
• to ensure ethical practices in research 
• to give credit to authors whose work you’re referring to because it is a form of respecting someone’s efforts and work  
• to avoid hampering your own career and reputation and that of the affiliated institution 

An important way to avoid plagiarism is to cite sources appropriately. Proper citations are similar to roadmaps for future researchers who will refer to your work for their own research. These roadmaps help researchers in following your research trail on the same subject so that they don’t waste time and effort by repeating work that has already been done.  

Ways to avoid plagiarism in research

Listed below are a few ways to avoid plagiarism. 7  

• Plan : Make a list of the information you need and allocate sufficient time for both research and writing. If you spend most of your time on research, you may not have enough time for writing and may eventually copy text verbatim. 
• Cite accurately from reliable sources : Refer to only reliable sources and track them by using reference management software such as Zotero , Mendeley , and EndNote to help you organize all your citations. One of the most critical ways to avoid plagiarism is to add citations to the correct place in the text using specific rules, if applicable. 
• Paraphrase and rewrite : Don’t cut and paste text from sources into your document. Use your own words to rephrase sentences ensuring that you retain the intended meaning. 
• Use exact words cautiously : Use words verbatim only if absolutely necessary and always highlight such text and cite the source. 

Tips to avoid plagiarism

Here are some detailed tips to help you avoid plagiarism. 8,9  

• Learn the principles of good writing by attending related courses, seminars, etc. 
• Don’t modify the content in a source to suit your objectives. 
• Use a signal phrase, such as “According to [source],” at the beginning of sentences or paragraphs to clarify that you’re referring to another source. 
• Avoid changing technical, subject-specific, or coined terms in the source text. Highlight such terms by using quotation marks or italics. 
• Use examples to learn how to paraphrase source text accurately. Read the source text, understand what it’s conveying, and then rewrite it in your own words.  
• Quote only as much is needed from the source. Don’t quote the entire paragraph if only one sentence is sufficient. To shorten quoted text, use ellipses (…) to indicate omitted text. 
• Learn how to cite sources properly. Choose a specific referencing style followed in your field and familiarize yourself with it. 
• Learn how to detect plagiarism. After paraphrasing an example text, identify words in your text that are similar to those in the source. See if these words could be replaced with others without changing the original meaning. 
• Ensure that all the information that is not otherwise “common knowledge” is cited. Do note that something that is common knowledge to you may not be as common to others. 
• Obtain permission from authors when using significant portions of their work. 
• Proofread your work objectively to ensure that readers can distinguish between your own words or ideas and those from other sources. 
• Avoid accidental plagiarism by using a good plagiarism checker to identify any instances you may have missed. 

How to prevent plagiarism ? A checklist

Here’s a short checklist you can use after finalizing your document to help you prevent plagiarism. Make sure you have: 

• Not copied text verbatim. 
• Paraphrased appropriately in own language instead of just using synonyms. 
• Enclosed exact words within quotation marks, indented as a block, or italicized. 
• Used appropriate subject-specific citation style guide and followed all the formatting rules. 
• Included in-text citations wherever required. 
• Included all text citations in the reference list or bibliography as well. 
• Neither reused own previously submitted paper nor submitted papers to different institutions concurrently. 

Frequently asked questions  

Several online plagiarism checkers are available to check for text duplication, such as the Paperpal plagiarism checker or iThenticate by Turnitin. Such tools are usually used by universities, journals, and other publishers to ensure that all submissions are original and to prevent any copyright issues later. 10  

Plagiarism checkers are important because they quickly accomplish what would otherwise take several hours to complete manually. These plagiarism checkers use algorithms to compare text with an extensive database including journal articles, websites, etc. The scale at which these checkers function is also quite high because they scan billions of sources of text and data to identify a match between what you’ve written and the sources they’re trained to parse. However, the accuracy of these checkers may not be 100% because of false positives (flagging original content as plagiarized) and false negatives (failing to detect plagiarized content). The accuracy of plagiarism checkers depends on factors such as database size, algorithm quality, text comparison methodology, etc. Users should manually check flagged content to ensure accuracy. 

Here are a few best practices and ways to avoid plagiarism for students: 10   Take sufficient time to complete your work and don’t procrastinate.  Avoid simply copy pasting text from sources. Understand the whole concept and write in your own words. Learn how to paraphrase and how to cite accurately.  Use reliable and credible sources and acknowledge them.  Organize your notes; create a separate list of citations you’re using as you work.  Avoid simultaneously submitting the same article for different courses, universities, journals, etc.  Use a trusted plagiarism checker to detect any accidental or self-plagiarism. 

Mosaic or patchwork plagiarism refers to combining text from various sources into your own work without proper acknowledgement or citation. While paraphrasing involves rewriting text from a single source, mosaic plagiarism involves copying text from multiple sources.  Here’s an example of mosaic plagiarism: 12   Source 1 (Johnson, 2018):   “Adolescents today are facing a unique challenge that previous generations did not experience. The increasing usage of social media platforms has raised concerns about its impact on their mental well-being. Recent studies have indicated a correlation between the time spent on social media and the overall well-being of adolescents.”   Source 2 (Miller, 2019):   “The relationship between screen time and mental health among young people has been investigated extensively. It has been found that excessive screen time, especially on social media platforms, can contribute to feelings of anxiety and depression.”   Plagiarized text   Teenagers today face unique challenges unknown to previous generations. The increasing use of social media platforms has prompted concerns about their impact on youth wellbeing, leading to extensive investigation of the impact of screen time on mental health. Studies have shown a link between excessive screen time and mental health, with youth affected by feelings of anxiety and depression.   To conclude, to avoid plagiarism authors should use information from sources carefully and always cite or acknowledge accurately. We hope this article has given you an insight into what constitutes plagiarism and that the suggested tips will help you avoid plagiarism in research. 

References  

• Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations . 9 th ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2018, p. 81-84. 
• Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. Last accessed February 13, 2024. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarized  
• Plagiarism. University of Oxford website. Accessed February 13, 2024. https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills/plagiarism  
• A guide to referencing your work. University of Bristol website. Accessed February 17, 2024. https://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/referencing/page_05.htm  
• What is plagiarism? Stanford University website. Accessed February 16, 2024. https://communitystandards.stanford.edu/policies-guidance/bja-guidance-definitions-and-clarifications/what-plagiarism  
• Academic integrity. Carnegie Mellon University website. Accessed February 15, 2024. https://www.cmu.edu/policies/student-and-student-life/academic-integrity.html  
• How to avoid plagiarism. Harvard University website. Accessed February 17, 2024. https://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/how-avoid-plagiarism-0  
• Best practices to avoid plagiarism. Purdue University website. Accessed February 21, 2024. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/avoiding_plagiarism/best_practices.html  
• Tips on avoiding plagiarism. Northern Illinois University website. Accessed February 16, 2024. https://www.niu.edu/academic-integrity/students/plagiarism/tips-on-avoiding.shtml  
• Kumar PM, Priya NS, Musalaiah S, Nagasree M. Knowing and avoiding plagiarism during scientific writing. Ann Med Health Sci Res . 2014 Sep;4(Suppl 3):S193-8. doi: 10.4103/2141-9248.141957. PMID: 25364588. Accessed February 15, 2024. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4212376/  
• The accuracy of online plagiarism checkers: Are they up to the task? Medium. Published February 7, 2024. Accessed February 21, 2024. https://medium.com/@plagiarismexpertorg/the-accuracy-of-online-plagiarism-checkers-are-they-up-to-the-task-ba1e3be60fe7  
• What is mosaic plagiarism? Examples, types, and how to avoid it. Published December 12, 2023. Accessed February 22, 2024. https://www.turnitin.com/blog/what-is-mosaic-plagiarism-examples-types-and-how-to-avoid-it  

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Home / Guides / Plagiarism Guide / How to Avoid Plagiarism

How to Avoid Plagiarism

Understanding plagiarism and how to avoid are crucial to being an ethical and productive student, professional, and member of society. Before you learn to avoid it, you must first know what it is.

Guide Overview

• What is plagiarism?

Why you should avoid it

• Pick a topic you’re interested in
• Leave yourself plenty of time
• Keep good research notes!
• Start citing sources from the start
• Use quotations properly
• In-text citations
• Include your own ideas
• Check your work
• Use a plagiarism checker

Key takeaways

What is plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s creative/intellectual as your own, whether that be writing, speech, image, illustration, video, graph, etc. (although this guide will focus on writing).

Plagiarism can be both accidental and on-purpose. Most think of plagiarism being an unethical, conscious decision — when someone purposely steals another’s work and lies about it creating that work. However, plagiarism can also be the result of poorly-used quotes and paraphrases, or taking information without giving proper credit to the author. Even if it wasn’t on purpose, accidental plagiarism is still plagiarism and can have consequences.

In school, plagiarism could lead to disciplinary action, such as a failing grade, suspension, or expulsion. In university, confirmed plagiarism might be noted in your permanent record, which could affect scholarships or financial aid.

In a professional setting, plagiarism is illegal because it is protected by author’s rights and/or copyright. A professional that plagiarizes could face legal charges for infringing on copyright. Copyright is the original author’s legal right to the work they created. Authors control who else can use their intellectual property. Aside from copyright, there are other reasons to avoid plagiarism.

Plagiarism is unethical at best, illegal at worst. That is bad enough. However, plagiarism also robs you of real learning. It keeps you from contributing to the construction of knowledge.

If that doesn’t convince you to avoid plagiarism, also consider this: technology is advancing at an incredible pace. Climate science, medicine, neuroscience, robotics, alternative energy… All of these disciplines have made tremendous strides in the last decades and will continue to advance and grow.

Who do you think advances and grows this knowledge?

It could be you. It could be anybody. Researchers, scientists, writers, and academics aren’t grown in Petri dishes or printed on a 3D printer. They are people who were students at one point, discovered a passion, learned everything they could about it, and then just kept going, making discoveries and breakthroughs, and contributing to the construction of knowledge.

Build new knowledge

Building new knowledge cannot happen without knowing and understanding existing knowledge. Think about building knowledge like building a house. You can’t get to the roof (new knowledge) until you’ve laid the foundation and put up the walls (existing knowledge), right?

When you do your research about your topic, you are seeing how others laid the foundation, how they built the walls. Then, the roof is all you: the roof is your contribution, but it lies on top walls, on top of a foundation. The sources you cite in your paper are the beams that support the roof. They hold it up, but they are not the roof. They only help keep the roof in place.

The idea of constructing knowledge has never been more relevant than now.

You may be saying, “I just want to write my sociology research paper on the rise of social activism.” What does that have to do with a researcher studying solar energy and building new knowledge in a growing field?

It’s about the skills you need to reach your goal.

In order to learn something, you need to invest yourself in the process of learning, whether you’re a freshman just trying to make it through Intro to Sociology, or an internationally-known researcher who presents at solar technology conferences is Stockholm.

Plagiarism is taking the easy way out: It can lead to little-to-no learning, as well as failing grades or expulsion when you’re discovered. Because the likelihood is that you will be discovered.

To summarize, you want to avoid plagiarizing because:

• you won’t learn much
• you will probably get caught
• you will fail the assignment or the class. Or worse.

How to avoid plagiarism

Now that you know what plagiarism is and why it’s bad, take a deep breath, because avoiding it is not that hard.

To use another person’s words or ideas in your writing, you will need to cite your original source. In some instances, you may even need to get permission from the original publisher before using someone else’s work. Also, if you have a strong research and writing process, you’ll reduce the likelihood of committing accidental plagiarism.

Here are some tips for how to avoid plagiarism:

1. Pick a topic you’re interested in

If you’re in school, you will have to do academic writing. It’s unavoidable. So if you’re going to have to write research papers anyway, pick a topic you’re interested in.

Even in classes you have to take (as opposed to those you chose to take), there must be something interesting you’d like to learn more about. A research paper takes time and dedication to complete, so it’s in your best interest to choose a topic that’s compelling to you.

If it’s something you want to learn about, you’re more likely to do the necessary research and focus on writing your paper. The topic you pick might be general and vague in the beginning. That’s okay.

2. Leave yourself plenty of time to complete your research and writing.

There is a reason you are given this assignment early on in the term. Research takes time. Writing takes time. Revising and proofreading take time. And, as you well know, this will not be your only assignment. You have other classes and other commitments. Time management is your friend.

Once you have a topic in mind, begin your general research. (*Here’s a secret: Many research papers started with Wikipedia – NOT because you use it as a source, but because it’s useful for background knowledge and it has tons of citations included. Use some of the sources listed at the end to continue your research!)

It’s possible you won’t have an angle for your research yet. That’s okay. As you begin to get some background knowledge, you will find yourself gravitating towards some ideas. Follow your curiosity, especially in the beginning.

However, keep in mind that you want to balance your sources. If you start reading a lot of research about the benefits of your topic, try reading a few about the drawbacks, to balance your research. Also, make sure you’re not reading only one or two authors. What do other people say? Especially people who disagree with your viewpoint.

3. Keep good research notes!

This cannot be overstated: your research notes can be the difference between a well-cited paper and accidental plagiarism, which you want to avoid.

If you’re making notes on a laptop, copy and paste the URL of where you found the information under the corresponding note.

It’s also a good idea to have some convention so you know whether something is a direct quote, or your own ideas, notes, interpretations of what you read. For direct quotes, you can use quotation marks (which you can then just transfer to your paper), or make the font a different color, or bold, or something. Whatever you choose, be consistent. That way you know if you see a section in red font, that’s always a direct quote.

If you get ideas and information from other sources, such as a TED Talk video, a PowerPoint online, or an editorial cartoon in the New York Times, you need to keep a record of those as well. They will also need to be cited in-text and places on your list of sources at the end.

4. Start citing sources from the start

Begin building your list of references from the start of researching your paper and taking notes. If you use a resource like EasyBib citing tools , it shouldn’t be too hard.

Even if you don’t end up using all of resources you record, it’s easier to delete sources from a list, than to hunt down missing sources later.

This will make it MUCH easier later when you have to complete your reference list or bibliography. Different styles call it different things:

• In MLA (the Modern Language Association), it’s called Works Cited.
• In APA (American Psychological Association), it’s called References.
• In CMS (Chicago Manual of Style), it’s called Bibliography.

Depending on what class your paper is for and what your teacher requires, you will use one of these styles for citations and your list of sources. Each style presents source information a little differently so make sure you know which style guide you need to use and refer to it often to make sure you cite correctly. Ask your teacher if you’re unsure which style to use.

5. Use quotations properly

Remember those excellent research notes of yours? Here’s where you use them. If there is a sentence, or a section, that you want to use to support your argument, you can use a direct quote.

As a general rule, keep direct quotations to a minimum. Remember that a research paper is about your ideas, not just repeating others’.

Make sure that all direct quotes have quotation marks around them. If you take any words out, indicate that with an ellipsis (…). Add the citation to the end of the quote.

Note: Depending on what citation style you are required to use, how you cite, both in-text and at the end of your paper, might be different. Make sure you know which you need to use and how to use it.

6. Paraphrase

Using a paraphrase, which is conveying the source writer’s idea using your own words, is also common practice in academic writing, and it’s acceptable when done properly.

So how do you do it properly?

Make sure you are conveying the writer’s original idea. Avoid making changes that will alter the meaning. When you paraphrase, you can change words using synonyms, you can change the order of the words in the sentence, you can change grammatical structures like verb tense, active and passive verbs, word forms, etc. The more you change it from the original, without changing its meaning, the better.

There are three reasons why you want to make sure your version isn’t too similar to the original:

• First, you don’t want your paraphrase to be tagged as plagiarism.
• Second, re-writing something in your own words helps you process and understand the information better.
• Third, you inject your own “voice” into your paper. This is what makes your paper “sound” like it was written by you.

Paraphrasing is more common in academic writing than using direct quotations, but again, remember that a research paper should be about your ideas. Other sources serve to bolster your argument. They are not the argument.

Note: Paraphrasing also needs attribution to the original writer. Make sure you cite correctly using the required style.

7. In-text citations

Any time you use ideas or information from another source, cite it in the text. Citations tell your reader exactly where your information came from.

Remember that citing your sources is the way to avoid plagiarism. It literally makes the difference between ethical and unethical writing.

Make sure you know which style you need to use, and refer back to the instructions regularly to make sure you’re citing correctly.

Tip: Bookmark an information page for the citation style you need to use and every time you cite, refer to it to make sure you’re citing correctly. Also, when you put together your list of sources, refer back to that bookmarked page.

8. Include your own ideas

If there is one idea, above all others, that you should engrave in your brain, it’s this: make sure your research paper includes your own ideas. In fact, your ideas should be the bulk of the paper.

The research you do is to give you an idea of what is already known about your topic. It helps guide your thinking. The research can help narrow the focus of your topic, but research is meant to be the starting point for your own ideas.

Let’s go back to the analogy of knowledge as a house. Your research paper is the roof on top. Note that you are not responsible for building the whole house. Other people have already come in before you and done a lot of the work. They laid the foundation and built the walls. Your research is checking what they’ve already done: this is what is already known about your topic. Then, you get to build your roof: this is what you are contributing.

Any sources that you cite in your paper will be beams that support the roof. If all you do is put up a bunch of beams (only quote and/or paraphrase), do you actually have a roof? No, not at all. In fact, if all you have beams, that is also plagiarizing!

However, if you put up a roof without beams, what would happen? Your roof would be wobbly and likely collapse because it has no support.

In order to build a strong roof, you need to know the foundation and walls are there. Then, you need some beams to help hold your roof up.

But you still need to build the roof yourself.

9. Check your work

After you finish writing a draft of your research paper, set it aside for a while – anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Then, come back and re-read it, checking it objectively:

• Is your topic clearly understood?
• Do your direct quotes have quotation marks and correct citations?
• Are your paraphrases also cited correctly?
• Are you using outside sources only to support your own ideas?
• Is the majority of your paper your ideas (and not repeating others’ ideas?)
• Do you have a list of sources at the end?
• Are you following the correct style guide and are you using it correctly?

Checking your own work isn’t always easy. You wrote it – of course you think it’s amazing! But getting in the habit of checking your own work, and trying to be objective, is excellent practice.

It’s also a good idea to ask someone else to read your paper and give you their opinion. Another convenient options: An online checker like the EasyBib paper checker . It’s available anytime, 24/7.

10. Use a plagiarism checker

Running your work through a plagiarism checker is a good way to make sure that you’ve cited all of your sources. This is also a good habit to get into because it gets you familiar with plagiarism checkers, it helps you learn how to interpret the results, and it helps you avoid plagiarizing.

The EasyBib plagiarism checker is useful and available with an EasyBib Plus subscription.

• You want to avoid all forms of plagiarism because it is an unethical practice.
• Citing your sources correctly is one way to avoid plagiarism.
• Making sure you use outside sources only as support for your own ideas is the other way to avoid plagiarism.

Published October 28, 2020.

By Halina Stolar. Halina has a master’s degree in teaching and taught English as a Second Language and writing for almost 15 years overseas. She now works as a freelance writer, and geeks out over grammar for fun.

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• Knowledge Base

What Is Plagiarism? | Definition & Examples

Plagiarism means using someone else’s work without giving them proper credit. In academic writing, plagiarizing involves using words, ideas, or information from a source without citing it correctly. In practice, this can mean a few different things.

Table of contents

Common questions about plagiarism, more tools and resources for avoiding plagiarism, frequently asked questions about plagiarism.

It’s easy to understand why you shouldn’t buy essays, but students often struggle with the details of quoting , paraphrasing , and citing sources . Below, we address some questions and misconceptions students often have about plagiarism.

I need to quote and paraphrase a lot. Won’t my paper be full of distracting citations?

It’s true that some papers do feature a lot of citations. There are ways to reduce clutter by citing more efficiently, such as:

• Combining multiple citations into one set of parentheses (usually separated by semicolons )
• Not repeating the full citation when you cite the same source multiple times in a row
• Using “ ibid. ” to indicate a repeated citation (in certain styles)
• Omitting citations for information that is common knowledge

Do I need to cite a certain number of sources? Can citing too much be a bad thing?

There’s no fixed number of sources you should cite. Your use of sources should be based on strengthening your argument, not meeting a quota. A high number of citations isn’t inherently a good or bad thing. Some types of academic text (e.g., a literature review ) are more likely to cite a lot of sources than others.

When you do think you’ve cited too much, it’s worth considering whether you need all the information you’ve included. All information should directly contribute to your argument, not just be tangentially related.

One thing you should avoid is quoting too much. If large portions of your text consist of someone else’s words, it distracts from your own arguments. It’s usually better to paraphrase unless you’re specifically analyzing the language of the source (e.g., in literary analysis ).

Is it better to just avoid using sources so I don’t risk accidental plagiarism?

No, using sources is an essential part of academic writing . Academic research is an ongoing conversation between researchers. Drawing on other sources, and positioning your own ideas in relation to them, is not optional.

But it’s understandable to be concerned about plagiarism. If you’re worried about the possibility of accidental plagiarism, make sure to:

• Quote and paraphrase sources correctly
• Manage and cite your sources using a citation generator
• Use a plagiarism checker before submitting your work to detect any problems
• Use generative AI tools responsibly (outputs may be detected by an AI detector )

Is paraphrasing a kind of plagiarism?

No, paraphrasing is just a way of incorporating information from a source into your text by putting it into your own words. As long as you cite the source correctly, paraphrasing is the best way to incorporate information in most cases.

However, paraphrasing can be considered plagiarism if you:

• Don’t cite the source of the information, or cite it incorrectly
• Phrase the information in a way that’s too close to the original (e.g., just swapping out a couple of words instead of reformulating the sentence)

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Scribbr offers a variety of tools and services designed to help you with citations and plagiarism checking, including the best plagiarism checker available.

Plagiarism Checker

Citation Generator Citation Checker Citation Editing

And you can check out the in-depth articles below to learn more about the different kinds of plagiarism, its consequences, and how to avoid it:

• Types of plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• How to avoid plagiarism
• Consequences of plagiarism
• Academic integrity vs. academic dishonesty
• Common knowledge
• How plagiarism checkers work
• Examples of plagiarism
• Plagiarism resources for educators

The consequences of plagiarism vary depending on the type of plagiarism and the context in which it occurs. For example, submitting a whole paper by someone else will have the most severe consequences, while accidental citation errors are considered less serious.

If you’re a student, then you might fail the course, be suspended or expelled, or be obligated to attend a workshop on plagiarism. It depends on whether it’s your first offense or you’ve done it before.

As an academic or professional, plagiarizing seriously damages your reputation. You might also lose your research funding or your job, and you could even face legal consequences for copyright infringement.

Paraphrasing without crediting the original author is a form of plagiarism , because you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

However, paraphrasing is not plagiarism if you correctly cite the source . This means including an in-text citation and a full reference, formatted according to your required citation style .

As well as citing, make sure that any paraphrased text is completely rewritten in your own words.

Accidental plagiarism is one of the most common examples of plagiarism . Perhaps you forgot to cite a source, or paraphrased something a bit too closely. Maybe you can’t remember where you got an idea from, and aren’t totally sure if it’s original or not.

These all count as plagiarism, even though you didn’t do it on purpose. When in doubt, make sure you’re citing your sources . Also consider running your work through a plagiarism checker tool prior to submission, which work by using advanced database software to scan for matches between your text and existing texts.

Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker takes less than 10 minutes and can help you turn in your paper with confidence.

Plagiarism can be detected by your professor or readers if the tone, formatting, or style of your text is different in different parts of your paper, or if they’re familiar with the plagiarized source.

Many universities also use plagiarism detection software like Turnitin’s, which compares your text to a large database of other sources, flagging any similarities that come up.

It can be easier than you think to commit plagiarism by accident. Consider using a plagiarism checker prior to submitting your paper to ensure you haven’t missed any citations.

The accuracy depends on the plagiarism checker you use. Per our in-depth research , Scribbr is the most accurate plagiarism checker. Many free plagiarism checkers fail to detect all plagiarism or falsely flag text as plagiarism.

Plagiarism checkers work by using advanced database software to scan for matches between your text and existing texts. Their accuracy is determined by two factors: the algorithm (which recognizes the plagiarism) and the size of the database (with which your document is compared).

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7 ways to avoid academic plagiarism

March 1, 2023 | 9 min read

By Michael Seadle, PhD

Plagiarism can be unintentional; the co-founder of a center to educate authors on research integrity highlights potential pitfalls

Editors note:  Plagiarism, the re-use of published work without appropriate credit, is surprisingly common and not always intentional. For academics, however, accusations of plagiarism can be devastating, marring their reputation and career. Prof Dr Michael Seadle is co-founder and director of the  Humboldt-Elsevier Advanced Data and Text Centre (HEADT Centre) opens in new tab/window  and heads up its research integrity efforts. Globally recognized for his work to combat false information, he runs through some of the nuances and danger points authors should be aware of and offers seven helpful tips.

The first and best way to avoid plagiarism is not to plagiarize intentionally. This sounds simplistic, but there are people who persuade themselves that copying just a few useful phrases will help them meet their pressing deadlines. While that strategy may work in some corporate settings, in academic publishing, it is a fool’s game. Most serious academic publishers use software tools, such as  iThenticate opens in new tab/window , that can scan an enormous database of academic publishing and detect copying at a highly granular level. Not all universities use such tools, but many do, and the consequences of being caught include failed classes, lost degrees or lost jobs. The risk is simply not worth the savings in time.

Unintentional plagiarism is surprisingly common, but the fact that it is unintentional does not excuse it. The rest of this article looks at how you can avoid some common practices that risk this kind of inadvertent plagiarism in writing.  Image plagiarism  represents a different kind of problem that is too complex for this short article to address fully.

Confidence in Research

Plagiarism is one of many factors that can undermine confidence in research. Elsevier has partnered with leading science organizations and Economist Impact for a global collaboration to understand the impact of the pandemic on confidence in research — and identify areas for action to support researchers.

The fine line between paraphrasing and plagiarism

English is overwhelmingly the most common language for modern academic publishing, but English is by no means the native language of all scholars. In the more mathematical natural sciences, certain phrases are so standardized that they no longer really count as plagiarism. One example is the language used to describe the results of certain statistical tests; widely used statistical textbooks often recommend using particular phrases.

In more verbally oriented fields such as humanities, law or economics, the quality of the writing matters, and it is natural to want to improve it by drawing on examples from published sources. While this is a sensible idea in itself, it carries risks if the author reproduces a phrase that is too long or too individual. This problem not only affects non-native speakers; it also happens to authors who “borrow” explanations when writing about a subject far outside their field of expertise. The risk is that they copy so much text that they cross the line into plagiarism. The best solution is to always use quotation marks and proper footnotes, even when that results in a page layout that seems unattractive.

The issue is, of course, how much must be in quotation marks, and how much can just be paraphrased?

Decades ago, paraphrasing rules were fairly relaxed, but today they are much stricter. There is no clear, simple agreement on the number of words that can overlap with the original before a paraphrase becomes plagiarism. Some institutions have published limits, then later removed them from their websites, presumably because they realized they were unrealistically restrictive.

The reason for paraphrasing can be to clarify a statement or to say it more compactly or correctly. At the very least, a paraphrase ought to be able to contain key words referring to the substance of the context and, ideally, function words (words that in themselves carry no meaning and merely structure the sentence). However, for some publishers and universities, every overlapping word counts, so authors need to think carefully about their justification for paraphrasing.

Professors routinely paraphrase in the classroom, where it is generally impossible to use direct quotes without a photographic memory. Even though written texts are more formal, people imitate what they hear rather than looking for rules that are themselves ambiguous.

Paraphrasing is especially common in literature reviews for the simple reason that authors must talk about the specifics of what other writers have said, and they must be able to reuse some of their words to convey the same meaning. This makes literature reviews especially prone to plagiarism accusations. This should serve as a warning to students and scholars to footnote the literature review sections carefully, especially in cases where a direct quotation would not work because of the grammatical structure or length of the phrases, or unclear references.

Separating fact from plagiarism

What may seem like simple facts can also become targets of plagiarism accusations. The six-word statement “Berlin is the capital of Germany” represents a fact and gets over 84,000 hits on Google. Wikipedia and numerous documents confirm that the statement is purely factual; nonetheless, the multi-word overlap means it can be flagged by unsophisticated plagiarism checkers and plagiarism hunters. The real problem is the lack of a clear agreement on what kinds of facts need to be sourced. Standard facts like the boiling point of water (100°C) should need no reference, but facts outside the scope of the reading audience may need one (example: the  birth date of the artist Michelangelo opens in new tab/window  is 6 March 1475).

The importance of acknowledging intellectual ownership

The University of Oxford includes “ideas” in  its definition of plagiarism opens in new tab/window : “Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement.”

Idea plagiarism is a particularly problematic concept because it can cover almost everything and anything. In very specific cases, it can include things like the ideas behind a software program, (if they are legally protected by a patent or have been published and are subject to copyright law). It can also include technical concepts like the structure of a type of DNA, such as a double helix. Without that level of specificity, the claim that someone has plagiarized an idea becomes so vague as to be meaningless.

The  Oxford definition opens in new tab/window  goes on to say: “All published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this definition.” This could be seen to include anything on anyone’s computer or in online storage. This serves as a warning about how totalitarian plagiarism policing could become if allowed unfettered access to personal resources.

Recently, artificial intelligence writing tools such as  ChatGPT from OpenAI opens in new tab/window  have been much in the news. Even when an author tells such tools to use references, AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete or biased. Applying the technology should be done with human oversight and control and authors should carefully review and edit the result. The more important question is to what degree the use of an artificial intelligence tool counts as the human author’s own work? The Oxford definition implies that presenting something generated by an AI tool could be considered plagiarism since it is not the author’s own work in any conventional sense.

7 ways to avoid plagiarism

While a few bullet points cannot capture all the nuances, these seven steps serve as a summary.

Never intentionally plagiarize. It is not worth the risk because the likelihood of being caught is high at high-ranked journals, and it grows higher every year as more institutions acquire plagiarism identification software.

Always use quotation marks and references. It takes a bit of extra effort and time to find exact quotations and create a well-formed reference, but it is essential. There are many freely available programs that make the preparation and tracking of references easier.

Paraphrase only when necessary and include references . Use quoted passages whenever possible and ensure that any word overlap with the original is minimal and justifiable.

Cite references when using facts that may be outside of the knowledgebase of the intended audience.

Copy phrases with special caution if you are non-native speaker . Do not take whole sentences from published works, or even phrases of more than three words, unless those phrases are purely technical, as in a basic description of statistical results.

Always credit people for their ideas to avoid the risk of “idea plagiarism.”

Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies should only be used to improve readability and language of your work. Authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of their work.

About the HEADT Centre

The  Humboldt-Elsevier Advanced Data and Text Centre (HEADT Centre) opens in new tab/window  is part of  Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin opens in new tab/window  (HU Berlin) in Germany. It was founded to educate researchers on plagiarism and research image and data fraud, along with other elements of research integrity.  It offers workshops, online modules and certification on these topics via its Information Integrity Academy.

Acknowledgements

Let me thank Dr Thorsten Beck and Ms Melanie Sterzer for their excellent suggestions.

Contributor

Michael seadle, phd.

• Locations and Hours
• UCLA Library
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Citing Sources

• How to Avoid Plagiarism
• Introduction
• Reading Citations

Best Practices for Avoiding Plagiarism

The entire section below came from a research guide from Iowa State University.  To avoid plagiarism, one must provide a reference to that source to indicate where the original information came from (see the "Source:" section below).

"There are many ways to avoid plagiarism, including developing good research habits, good time management, and taking responsibility for your own learning. Here are some specific tips:

• Don't procrastinate with your research and assignments. Good research takes time. Procrastinating makes it likely you'll run out of time or be unduly pressured to finish. This sort of pressure can often lead to sloppy research habits and bad decisions. Plan your research well in advance, and seek help when needed from your professor, from librarians and other campus support staff.
• Commit to doing your own work. If you don't understand an assignment, talk with your professor. Don't take the "easy way" out by asking your roommate or friends for copies of old assignments. A different aspect of this is group work. Group projects are very popular in some classes on campus, but not all. Make sure you clearly understand when your professor says it's okay to work with others on assignments and submit group work on assignments, versus when assignments and papers need to represent your own work.
•  Be 100% scrupulous in your note taking. As you prepare your paper or research, and as you begin drafting your paper. One good practice is to clearly label in your notes your own ideas (write "ME" in parentheses) and ideas and words from others (write "SMITH, 2005" or something to indicate author, source, source date). Keep good records of the sources you consult, and the ideas you take from them. If you're writing a paper, you'll need this information for your bibliographies or references cited list anyway, so you'll benefit from good organization from the beginning.
• Cite your sources scrupulously. Always cite other people's work, words, ideas and phrases that you use directly or indirectly in your paper. Regardless of whether you found the information in a book, article, or website, and whether it's text, a graphic, an illustration, chart or table, you need to cite it. When you use words or phrases from other sources, these need to be in quotes. Current style manuals are available at most reference desks and online. They may also give further advice on avoiding plagiarism.
• Understand good paraphrasing. Simply using synonyms or scrambling an author's words and phrases and then using these "rewrites" uncredited in your work is plagiarism, plain and simple. Good paraphrasing requires that you genuinely understand the original source, that you are genuinely using your own words to summarize a point or concept, and that you insert in quotes any unique words or phrases you use from the original source. Good paraphrasing also requires that you cite the original source. Anything less and you veer into the dangerous territory of plagiarism."

Source: Vega García, S.A. (2012). Understanding plagiarism: Information literacy guide. Iowa State University. Retrieved from  http://instr.iastate.libguides.com/content.php?pid=10314 . [Accessed January 3, 2017]

Plagiarism prevention.

• Plagiarism Prevention (onlinecolleges.net) This resource provides information about preventing plagiarism, understanding the various types of plagiarism, and learning how to cite properly to avoid plagiarism.

UCLA has a campuswide license to Turnitin.com. Faculty may turn in student papers electronically, where the text can be compared with a vast database of other student papers, online articles, general Web pages, and other sources. Turnitin.com then produces a report for the instructor indicating whether the paper was plagiarized and if so, how much.

For more information, go to Turnitin.com .

Plagiarism in the News

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How to avoid plagiarism

Published October 29, 2020. Updated April 21, 2022.

Avoiding Plagiarism Definition

To make a conscious effort to avoid committing plagiarism.  

Overview of Avoiding Plagiarism

There are many   different ways to commit plagiarism , and it’s possible to plagiarize accidentally. One of the downsides of the bountiful information readily available on the internet is that it makes it a lot easier to plagiarize. We face a lot of pressure in school and at work, and with so much information at our fingertips, stealing someone else’s work and presenting it as our own can be tempting.  

However, while the internet makes it easier to plagiarize, it also makes it a lot easier to get caught plagiarizing. Most schools, universities, and companies use plagiarism checkers to ensure submitted work is original.  

With that in mind, the best thing you can do to arm yourself against plagiarism is to educate yourself. You’ve come to the right place for that! In this article, you’ll learn the answers to the following questions:

What is plagiarism?

What are the different types of plagiarism, why is plagiarism wrong.

• What are the consequences of plagiarism?
• What happens if you plagiarize in high school?
• What happens if you plagiarize in college?
• What happens if you plagiarize in the professional world?
• How can I avoid plagiarism in research?
• How can I avoid plagiarism in writing?

Plagiarism is defined as using someone else’s work (words, images, videos, music, research, or even an idea) and passing it off as your own.

Did you know there is more than one type of plagiarism? Now you do! There are at least 10 different types of plagiarism you should know:

1. Direct or global plagiarism

Direct plagiarism is taking work that doesn’t belong to you, whether only a section (called verbatim plagiarism) or the work in its entirety (called global plagiarism), and passing it off as your own.

2. Self-plagiarism

Self-plagiarism is taking your past work and passing it off as original work. This could be an entire essay or pieces of old work mixed in with new.

3. Mosaic or patchwork plagiarism

Work composed of plagiarized material combined with original content is called mosaic (or patchwork) plagiarism.

4. Accidental plagiarism

Many instances of plagiarism are unintended. It’s easy to accidentally leave out quotation marks, wrongly cite a source, or paraphrase text too close to the original. These accidents are still considered plagiarism, called accidental plagiarism.

5. Collaboration or contributing author plagiarism

Collaboration plagiarism happens when several people work on a project, but only one receives credit.

6. Aggregated plagiarism

Aggregated plagiarism occurs when all sources are cited correctly, but the plagiarist uses little or no original ideas in addition to the sources.

7. Outline plagiarism

With outline plagiarism, the author uses the same essay outline on the same or a similar subject as in another work. In this case, the plagiarist is stealing someone’s ideas rather than words.

8. Bibliography plagiarism

Bibliography plagiarism occurs when you copy the bibliography or list of works cited of another work and claim it as your own. In this case, the plagiarist has stolen the research of another.

9. Secondary source plagiarism

Secondary source plagiarism occurs when you use a secondary source as a part of your research but only credit the sources used within the secondary source.

10. Paraphrasing plagiarism

Paraphrasing plagiarism happens when a paraphrase is cited incorrectly (or not cited at all).

Still confused? Visit this guide on the different types of plagiarism to learn more.

It’s not always totally obvious why plagiarism is wrong. You might wonder why plagiarists are subject to such severe consequences. After all, who really gets hurt by plagiarism?

Try to think of plagiarism as what it is at its core: theft and fraud. We all know it’s wrong to steal something from a store or lie to someone, so why would you steal someone else’s work and lie to your teacher or boss?

If you’d like some specific reasons as to why plagiarism is harmful, we’ve got you covered. Below are four ways plagiarism is harmful to you and your school or university:

1. Plagiarism hurts the very principles of academia.

Aside from its unethical nature, restating ideas that have already been written defeats the purpose of your education and academia at large. Not only are you cheating and misleading by taking the work of someone else and declaring it as your own, you are defeating the intent of academia, which is to discover and share new ideas.

2. Plagiarism builds distrust of your and other students’ work.

Once you’ve been caught plagiarizing once, your academic and professional reputation is seriously damaged for a long time to come. In addition, just as plagiarizing harms credibility of individuals, it also harms that of your school or organization. If one or more students or employees are found to have cheated or lied, the value of that institution’s education (or the overall integrity of an organization) is greatly reduced. The school or organization’s damaged credibility has a ripple effect on past, present, and future students or employees.

3. Plagiarism robs you of the education you’re working hard for.

Plagiarism is sometimes perceived as a product of laziness, but it is often a result of the lack of confidence. You might assume, as a student, that someone else has better ideas than you. Yet, if you steal their work, you’re never going to have a chance to try it, and you’re never going to have a chance to learn and develop as an author.

What’s more, by cheating, you are devaluing the time, energy, and resources (in the case of college tuition) you have put into your education by not completing your assignments yourself.

4. Plagiarism steals credit from others who deserve it.

Lastly, and perhaps most notably, plagiarism is theft of someone else’s labor. How would you feel if anyone took something that you had been working hard on for months, even years, and put their name on it, erasing your effort?

Consequences of plagiarism

With the advent of the internet and the computerization of documents, images, videos, music, and more, plagiarism is more prevalent than ever.

The flip side of the coin, however, is that it has now become much easier and more common for teachers, colleges, and corporations to check for plagiarism. That means that, while plagiarism is much easier for you to commit, it is also far easier to get caught.

But what exactly happens when you get caught plagiarizing? In severe cases, there can be grave repercussions. Keep reading to learn what can happen on the high school, college, and professional levels.

Plagiarism consequences in high school

Impact to class grade.

In less serious cases of plagiarism, high school students may have points deducted from a grade or receive a failing grade on the plagiarized assignment.

Detention, suspension, or expulsion from school

In more extreme cases, high school students may receive disciplinary action from their school, such as detention, suspension, or expulsion.

Plagiarism consequences in college

In less serious cases of plagiarism, college students can have points deducted or receive a failing grade on the plagiarized assignment.

Course failure

In more severe cases, your professor may give you a failing final grade for the course. Take this  statement from University of California Berkeley ’s website for example:

“An instructor has the right to assign a final grade of F for the course if you plagiarized a paper for a portion of the course, even if you have successfully and, presumably, honestly passed the remaining portion of the course.”

• Disciplinary action

Another potential consequence of plagiarizing in college is receiving disciplinary action or counseling from your university. Here is a statement from Boston University ’s website:

“Disciplinary probation may involve counseling with faculty or staff; restrictions of student privileges; prohibition in participation on School or University activities or events; prohibitions against holding office in or participation in student or School organizations and activities.”

Suspension or expulsion from your university

Finally, in the most severe cases or cases of repeated plagiarism, you may face suspension or expulsion from your university.

Professional consequences

When you graduate from high school or college, the potential repercussions of plagiarism don’t disappear. In the professional world, there is an even greater chance of serious consequences due to plagiarism.

• Legal action, fines, or penalties

Copyright infringement is the primary way plagiarism can result in legal action, fines, or penalties. Should a plagiarist steal someone else’s work, the owner of the stolen materials may sue the plagiarist.

• Termination of employment

Most occupations present employees with the temptation of plagiarism. Special care must be taken by journalists, authors, copywriters, artists and all those who create original work for a living not to breach copyright laws.

It’s not just writers and artists, however, who are at risk of plagiarism. Individuals in just about every field (politics, advocacy, acting, singing, and more) can be accused of plagiarism and face legal consequences or even lose their job.

For instance, when it came out that he plagiarized while pursuing his Master’s degree at the United States Army War College, Senator John Walsh was forced to withdraw from an election in 2014. Ultimately, the United States Army War College rescinded his Master’s degree.

Damage to reputation and career

Last, but far from least, harm to reputation and potential job opportunities is a significant consequence of plagiarism that can haunt you for years. Not only can plagiarism give you a reputation for laziness, dishonesty, and weak work ethic, employers can learn about past plagiarism offenses, which can severely damage your chances of employment.

4 tips for avoiding plagiarism in writing

With all the text at our fingertips these days, writing, whether academically or professionally, poses one of the most serious risks of plagiarism. Here are four tips to keep in mind to avoid plagiarism in writing:

1.   Don’t procrastinate.

Avoiding procrastination is a good tip for success in general, but did you know that not procrastinating could help you avoid plagiarism, too? One of the biggest reasons people are tempted to cheat or plagiarize is stress, and nothing causes stress like a time crunch. Avoid the time crunch by avoiding procrastination. (Easier said than done, we know.)

2.   Learn how to cite properly.

A common culprit behind accidental plagiarism is incorrect or missing citations. You may have had no intention of plagiarizing, but because you cited the wrong source, left out quotation marks, or forgot to cite at all, you are technically guilty of plagiarism.

Use a bibliography and citation generator (like the one that comes with Chegg Writing) to save yourself time and energy and ensure all your citations are correct.

3.   Make a commitment to yourself to create totally original work.

One of the most powerful defenses against accidental plagiarism is making a commitment to yourself to always create all-original work. Remember the negative effects of plagiarism on yourself, your school, and others. When you are faced with the temptation to plagiarize, remember the commitment you made to yourself.

4.   Use a plagiarism checker.

As a final precaution, use a plagiarism checker to make sure there is no accidental plagiarism present in your work. It happens to the best of us!

4 tips for avoiding plagiarism in research

Research is another area that presents a strong risk of plagiarism. Whether it’s text, images, videos, or music, others’ intellectual property is always at risk of being stolen. Here are four tips to be aware of to avoid plagiarism during research:

1.   Only use sources you trust.

Plagiarism is often only imagined as someone taking someone else’s work and presenting it as their own, but what if someone else then used the plagiarist’s stolen work? Then, that person has unknowingly worsened the issue. Be mindful that the sources you use in your research are not stolen.

2.   Learn how to paraphrase properly.

Paraphrasing is a great tool for condensing text for greater understanding. It makes sense to use it while researching, but it can present a risky opportunity for plagiarism. Be sure to label paraphrased text as paraphrased so that, if you want to use it in your own work, you can properly credit the owner.

3.   Take thorough notes while researching.

On the same note as above, always be sure to take thorough notes while researching, taking note of where you got every idea you record so that you can properly cite them in your bibliography.

4.   Use a plagiarism checker on your notes.

If you want to be extra safe, you can use a plagiarism checker to ensure none of your sources are plagiarized.

Key takeaways

• Plagiarism is defined as the taking of another’s work and claiming it as your own.
• Direct or global plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Mosaic or patchwork plagiarism
• Accidental plagiarism
• Collaboration or contributing author plagiarism
• Aggregated plagiarism
• Outline plagiarism
• Bibliography plagiarism
• Secondary source plagiarism
• Paraphrasing plagiarism
• Simply put, plagiarism is wrong because it is theft and fraud of someone else’s intellectual property. Plagiarism is not only unfair to the owner of the stolen work, it damages your and your university’s reputations.
• Assignment or course failure
• Suspension or expulsion from your school or university
• Damage to reputation and future career prospects
• Don’t procrastinate.
• Learn how to cite properly.
• Make a commitment to creating all original work.
• Use a plagiarism checker.
• Only use sources you trust.
• Learn how to paraphrase properly.
• Take thorough notes while researching.

More on plagiarism:  What is Plagiarism?  | Types of Plagiarism | Avoiding Plagiarism   | Consequences of Plagiarism | How to Paraphrase | Paraphrasing Tools | Plagiarism Checker

Published October 29, 2020

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• Academic Integrity

How to Avoid Plagiarism

Northwestern's " Principles Regarding Academic Integrity " defines plagiarism as "submitting material that in part or whole is not entirely one's own work without attributing those same portions to their correct source." Plagiarism can occur in many forms besides writing: art, music, computer code, mathematics, and scientific work can also be plagiarized. This document pays special attention to plagiarism in writing, but it is important to understand that unauthorized collaboration in a math or science assignment is also plagiarism.

In all academic work, and especially when writing papers, we are building upon the insights and words of others. A conscientious writer always distinguishes clearly between what has been learned from others and what he or she is personally contributing to the reader's understanding. To avoid plagiarism, it is important to understand how to attribute words and ideas you use to their proper source. 

Guidelines for Proper Attribution

Everyone in the university needs to pay attention to the issue of proper attribution. All of us--faculty and students together--draw from a vast pool of texts, ideas, and findings that humans have accumulated over thousands of years; we could not think to any productive end without it. Even the sudden insights that appear at first glance to arrive out of nowhere come enmeshed in other people's thinking. What we call originality is actually the innovative combining, amending, or extending of material from that pool.

Hence each of us must learn how to declare intellectual debts. Proper attribution acknowledges those debts responsibly, usefully, and respectfully. An attribution is responsible when it comes at a location and in a fashion that leaves readers in no doubt about whom you are thanking for what. It is useful when it enables readers to find your source readily for themselves. You help them along the way, just as that same source helped you along yours. To make sure that our attributions are useful, we double-check them whenever we can. Quite literally, it is a habit that pays. Colleagues in every field appreciate the extra care. Nothing stalls a career faster than sloppy, unreliable work.

Finally, an attribution is respectful when it expresses our appreciation for something done well enough to warrant our borrowing it. We should take pride in the intellectual company we keep. It speaks well of us that we have chosen to use the work of intelligent, interesting people, and we can take genuine pleasure in joining our name with theirs.

A Note about Attributions or Citations

The two most commonly used attribution systems—Modern Language Assocation (MLA) and American Psychological Association (APA)-- consist of two parts: (a) a reference or works cited list at the end of the document, giving precise information about how to find a source and (b) parenthetical citations immediately following the material you are citing. Professors and disciplines may vary as to the preferred style for documenting ideas, opinions and facts, but all methods insist upon absolute clarity as to the source and require that all direct quotations be followed by a citation. The best solution is to ask which method your instructors prefer. The reference desk of NU's library has manuals available, but form is not as important as substance.

It is sometimes difficult to judge what needs to be documented. Generally, knowledge which is common to all of us or ideas which have been in the public domain and are found in a number of sources do not need to be cited. Likewise, facts that are accepted by most authorities also do not require a citation. Grey areas, however, exist and sometimes it is difficult to be sure how to proceed. Many people wrongly assume that if they find material on the web, that material is in the public domain and does not need to be cited. However, the same guidelines apply to all sources you use in your work: electronic or print, signed or unsigned. If you are in doubt, err on the side of over-documentation.

The following passages come from a number of sources, including undergraduate essays. They are all appropriately documented using Modern Language Association (MLA) style and each represents a different kind of problem that you will be facing in your own written work.

A. Examples of Proper Citation

1. quoted material and unusual opinion or knowledge.

Source : Vivelo, Jackie. “The Mystery of Nancy Drew . ” Ms. 3.3 (1992): 76-77. Print.

The teenage detective who was once a symbol of spunky female independence has slowly been replaced by an image of prolonged childhood, currently evolving toward a Barbie doll detective. . . . Every few pages bring reminders of Nancy's looks, her clothing, her effect on other people. . . . The first entry in this series carries a description of Nancy: "The tight jeans looked great on her long, slim legs and the green sweater complemented her strawberry-blonde hair."

Use and Adaptation of the Material : Nancy Drew has become a "Barbie doll" version of her old self. She has become superficial and overly concerned with her looks. She is described in the new series as wearing "tight jeans [that] looked great on her long, slim legs” (qtd. in Vivelo 77). She has traded her wits and independent spirit for a great body and killer looks (Vivelo 76-77).

Explanation : The writer has paraphrased most of the material. She discovered that the paraphrased ideas are unusual (not found in other sources). Therefore, she placed a citation at the end of the entire passage. In addition, the writer borrowed a quotation from the Nancy Drew series that she found in the article. The writer has placed quotation marks around that borrowed material and  placed a “quoted in” citation immediately after the quotation.

2. Interpretation

Source: Lehmberg, Stanford. The Peoples of the British Isles: A New History . Vol. I. New York: Wadsworth, 1992. Print. Page 9: One recent theory, advanced by the physicist Gerald Hawkins, holds that Stonehenge was actually an observatory, used to predict the movement of stars as well as eclipses of the sun and moon. Such a structure would have been of great value to an agricultural people, since it would enable them to mark the changing seasons accurately, and it would have conferred seemingly supernatural powers on the religious leaders who knew how to interpret its alignments.

Use and Adaptation of the Material: If Stonehenge were  an astronomical observatory which could predict the coming of spring, summer, and fall, this knowledge would have given tremendous power to the priestly leaders of an agricultural community (Lehmberg 9).

Explanation: The writer has appropriately cited this material since the writer is in debt to someone else for the analysis, even though the writer has not used any direct quotations.

3. Paraphrased Material

Source:    Osborne, Richard, ed. How to Grow Annuals.  2 nd ed. Menlo Park: Lane, 1974. Print. Page 24: As a recent authority has pointed out, for a dependable long-blooming swatch of soft blue in your garden, ageratum is a fine choice. From early summer until frost, ageratum is continuously covered with clustered heads of fine, silky, fringed flowers in dusty shades of lavender-blue, lavender-pink, or white. The popular dwarf varieties grow in mounds six to twelve inches high and twelve inches across; they make fine container plants. Larger types grow up to three feet tall. Ageratum makes an excellent edging.

Use and Adaptation of the Material : You can depend on ageratum if you want some soft blue in your garden. It blooms through the summer and the flowers, soft, small, and fringed, come in various shades of lavender. The small varieties which grow in mounds are very popular, especially when planted in containers. There are also larger varieties. Ageratum is good as a border plant (Osborne 24).

Explanation: The writer has done a good job of paraphrasing what could be considered common knowledge (available in a number of sources), but because the structure and progression of detail is someone else's, the writer has acknowledged the source. This the writer can do at the end of the paragraph since he or she has not used the author's words.

4. Using Other Authors' Examples

Source: Begley, Sharon. "The Puzzle of Genius." Newsweek 28 June 1993: 46+. Print. The creative geniuses of art and science work obsessively. . . .  Bach wrote a cantata every week, even when he was sick or exhausted.

Source: Hotz, Robert. “The Heady Theories on Contours of Einstein's Genius.” Wall Street Journal 2009 May 22, late ed: A9. Print. Although he published 300 scientific papers, Einstein couldn't easily describe the way his mind worked.

Use and Adaptation of the Material If there is a single unifying characteristic about geniuses, it is that they produce. Bach wrote a cantata every week (Begley 50). Einstein drafted over 300 papers (Hotz A9).

Explanation: Instead of finding original examples, the writer has used other authors’ example to back up what the writer had to say; therefore, the writer cited the sources where he found the examples.

5. Using Other Authors' Charts and Graphs

Source: Technorati. State of the Blogosphere 2008.  Technorati, 13 October 2009. Web. 20 November 2009

Use and Adaptation of the Material:

As blogging has evolved, so has its credibility as a communication medium. In its survey for its 2008 State of the Blogosphere Report , Technorati asked a statistically valid representative sample of bloggers world wide about the credibility of the blogging world. The results suggest blogging is becoming more credible as a source of information (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Perceptions of Blogs and Traditional Media. Source: Technorati 2008.

Explanation: Instead of creating an original chart or graph, the writer has used one from an outside source to support what the writer has to say; therefore the graph has been cited both in the textual introduction and also in the caption. If the writer had created an original chart, some of the facts might need citations (see example VIII).

6. Using Class Notes

Source: McKay, Mary. : “Messages in Modern Music.” Northwestern University.  Evanston, IL.  10 Mar. 2010.  Lecture. A. Born in USA--Springsteen's 7th, most popular album a. Recorded with songs on Nebraska album--therefore also about hardship 1. Nebraska about losers and killers b. About America today--Vietnam, nostalgia, unemployment, deterioration of family c. Opening song--many people missed the Vietnam message about how badly vets were treated. class notes--Messages in Modern Music A05 Professor Mary McKay--March 10, 2010

Use and Adaptation of the Material: As Professor McKay has pointed out, many of the songs in Born in the USA (Springsteen's seventh and most popular album), including the title song, were recorded with the songs on Nebraska . Consequently, Born in the USA is also about people who come to realize that life turns out harder and more hurtful than what they might have expected. However, while Nebraska deals with losers and killers, Born in the USA deals more locally with the crumbling of American society--its treatment of returning Vietnam veterans, its need to dwell on past glories, its unemployment and treatment of the unemployed, and the loss of family roots. This is apparent from the opening song of the album "Born in the USA" in which Springsteen sings from the perspective of a Vietnam Veteran.

Explanation: By mentioning Professor McKay’s name in the text itself, the writer has acknowledged that these ideas (which are not commonly held or the writer has not investigated to find out if they are commonly held) come from a lecture. In this instance, because there is no page number to cite, no parenthetical citation is necessary. A reader can go to the entry for McKay in the Works Cited list to find all the necessary specific information about the source.

7. Debatable Facts

Source: Craig, Gordon A. Europe Since 1815. New York: Dryden, 1974. Print. Page 370: In the campaigns of 1915, Russian casualties have been conservatively estimated at more than 2 million.

Source: Stavrianos, Leften.S. The World Since 1500. New York: Prentice Hall, 1966. Print. Page 438: By the end of the summer [of 1915] in addition to military casualties totaling 2,500,000 men, Russia had lost 15 percent of her territories. . . .

Response to the Material Estimates of the number of deaths in Russia during 1915 range from over two million (Craig 370)  to two and a half million (Stavrianos 438).

Explanation: The writer found different facts in different sources; therefore the "facts" needed to be documented.

8. Unusual Facts

Source: Enroth-Cugell, Christina, Lyle F. Mockros, and Robert A. Linsenmeier. “Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern, 1969-1999.” PDF File. Northwestern University Biomedical Engineering. Northwestern University, 4 Sept. 2001. Web. 3 August 2010. The majority of the biomedical engineering faculty from various departments in Tech believed that if the program at Northwestern was to maintain the worldwide reputation for excellence it had achieved and make further progress during the ensuing years, then the curriculum had to continue to include quantitative biology courses on the Evanston Campus. One compelling reason for advocating the reintroduction of such biology courses on the Evanston campus was that by the early 1970's approximately 40% of first year undergraduates in the engineering school were enrolling in the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Engineering Program.

Use and Adaptation of the Material: For decades, biomedical engineering has been one the most popular engineering majors at Northwestern. In fact, in the 1970’s roughly 40% of incoming engineering undergraduates entered the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Engineering Program (Enroth-Cugell, Mockros and Linsenmeier, 3)

Explanation: The writer found this fact in only one source and wants his reader to know where to find it.

B. Examples of Plagiarism

Failure to acknowledge the sources from which we borrow ideas, examples, words and the progression of thought constitutes plagiarism. Here are some examples.

1. Direct Plagiarism

Source Material From: Ekman, Paul, Wallace V. Friesen, and Phoebe Ellsworth.  Emotion in the Human Face: Guidelines for Research and an Integration of Findings . New York: Pergamon, 1972. Print.

Page 1: The human face in repose and in movement, at the moment of death as in life, in silence and in speech, when alone and with others, when seen or sensed from within, in actuality or as represented in art or recorded by the camera is a commanding, complicated, and at times confusing source of information. The face is commanding because of its very visibility and omnipresence. While sounds and speech are intermittent, the face even in repose can be informative. And, except by veils or masks, the face cannot be hidden from view. There is no facial maneuver equivalent to putting one's hands in one's pockets. Further, the face is the location for sensory inputs, life-necessary intake, and communicative output. The face is the site for the sense receptors of taste, smell, sight, and hearing, the intake organs for food, water, and air, and the output location for speech. The face is also commanding because of its role in early development; it is prior to language in the communication between parent and child.

Misuse of source (italicized passages indicate direct plagiarism): Many experts agree that the human face , whether in repose or in movement, is a commanding, complicated, and sometimes confusing source of information. The face is commanding because it's visible and omnipresent. Although sounds and speech may be intermittent, the face even in repose may give information. And, except by veils or masks, the face cannot be hidden. Also, the face is the location for sensory inputs, life-supporting intake, and communication.

Comment The plagiarized passage is an almost verbatim copy of the original source. The writer has compressed the author's opinions into fewer sentences by omitting several phrases and sentences. But this compression does not disguise the writer's reliance on this text for the concepts he passes off as his own. The writer tries to disguise his indebtedness by beginning with the phrase "Many experts agree that. . . . " This reference to "many experts" makes it appear that the writer was somehow acknowledging the work of scholars "too numerous to mention." The plagiarized passage makes several subtle changes in language (e.g., it changes "visibility and omnipresence" to "it's visible and omnipresent"). The writer has made the language seem more informal in keeping with his own writing style. He ignores any embellishments or additional information given in the source-passage. He contents himself with borrowing the sentence about how only masks and veils can hide the face, without using the follow-up elaboration about there not being a "facial equivalent to putting one's hands in one's pockets." He also reduces the source's list of the face's diverse activities at the end of the paragraph.

Had the writer enclosed the borrowed material in quotation marks and credited the authors of the Emotions book with a parenthetical citation, this would have been a legitimate use of a source.

2. The Mosaic

Source Material From: Fishman, Joshua. Language in Sociocultural Change. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1972. Print.

Page 67: In a relatively open and fluid society there will be few characteristics of lower-class speech that are not also present (albeit to a lesser extent) in the speech of the working and lower middle classes. Whether we look to phonological features such as those examined by Labov or to morphological units such as those reported by Fischer (1958) (Fischer studied the variation between -in' and -ing for the present participle ending, i.e. runnin' vs. running and found that the former realization was more common when children were talking to each other than when they were talking to him, more common among boys than girls, and more common among "typical boys" than among "model boys"), we find not a clear-cut cleavage between the social classes but a difference in rate of realization of particular variants of particular variables for particular contexts. Even the widely publicized distinction between the "restricted code" of lower-class speakers and the "elaborate code" of middle-class speakers (Bernstein 1964, 1966) is of this type, since Bernstein includes the cocktail party and the religious service among the social situations in which restricted codes are realized. Thus, even in the somewhat more stratified British setting, the middle class is found to share some of the features of what is considered to be "typically" lower-class speech. Obviously then, "typicality," if it has any meaning at all in relatively open societies, must refer largely to repertoire range rather than to unique features of the repertoire.

Misuse of source (italicized passages indicate direct plagiarism): In a relatively fluid society many characteristics of lower-class speech will also be found among the working and lower middle classes. Labov and Fischer's studies show that there is not a clear-cut cleavage between social classes but only a difference in the frequency of certain speech modes. All classes share certain speech patterns. The difference among classes would only be apparent by the frequency with which speech expressions or patterns appeared. By this standard, then, Bernstein's distinction between the "restricted code" of the lower-class speakers and the "elaborated code" of middle-class speakers is useful only up to a point, since Bernstein mentions cocktail parties and religious services as examples of "restricted speech" groupings. "Typicality" refers more to speech "range" than to particular speech features.

Comment While this passage contains relatively few direct borrowings from the original source, all its ideas and opinions are lifted from it. The writer hides her dependency on the source by translating its academic terms into more credible language for a novice in sociology. For example, the plagiarist steers clear of sophisticated terms like "phonological features," "morphological units," and "repertoire range." However, her substitutions are in themselves clues to her plagiarism, since they over-generalize the source's meaning. The writer seems to acknowledge secondary sources when she refers to Labov's and Fischer's studies, but she obviously has no first-hand knowledge of their research. If she had consulted these studies, she should have cited them directly and included them in the Works Cited list, rather than pretending that both she and her audience would be completely familiar with them. She intertwines her own opinions with the source and forms a confused, plagiarized mass.

The writer should have acknowledged her indebtedness to her source by eliminating borrowed phrases and crediting her paragraph as a paraphrase of the original material. She could also have put quotation marks around the borrowed phrases and cited them appropriately: “As Fishman explains, phonological studies by Labov and Fischer show that “there is not a clear-cut cleavage between social classes but only a difference” in the frequency of certain speech modes (Fishman 67).

3. Paraphrase

Source : The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. Cliffs Notes, n.d. Web. 4 August 2010.

THE DISCIPLINE OF THE CODE HERO If the old traditional values are no good anymore, if they will not serve man, what values then will serve man? Hemingway rejects things of abstract qualities courage, loyalty, honesty, bravery. These are all just words. What Hemingway would prefer to have are concrete things. For Hemingway a man can be courageous in battle on Tuesday morning at 10 o'clock. But this does not mean that he will be courageous on Wednesday morning at 9 o'clock. A single act of courage does not mean that a man is by nature courageous. Or a man who has been courageous in war might not be courageous in some civil affair or in some other human endeavor. What Hemingway is searching for are absolute values, which will be the same, which will be constant at every moment of every day and every day of every week. Ultimately, therefore, for Hemingway the only value that will serve man is an innate faculty of self-discipline. This is a value that grows out of man's essential being, in his inner nature. If a man has discipline to face one thing on one day he will still possess that same degree of discipline on another day and in another situation. Thus Francis Macomber in the short story "The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber," has faced a charging animal, and once he has had the resolution to stand and confront this charging beast, he has developed within himself a discipline that will serve him in all situations. This control can function in almost any way in a Hemingway work.

Misuse of source: Hemingway tries to discover the values in life that will best serve man. Since Hemingway has rejected traditional values, he himself establishes a kind of "code" for his heroes. This code is better seen than spoken of. The Hemingway hero doesn't speak of abstract qualities like courage and honesty. He lives them. But this living of values entails continual performance the Hemingway hero is always having his values put to the test.

How can the hero be up to this continual test? Hemingway stresses the faculty of self-discipline as the backbone of all other virtues. Self-discipline places man's good qualities on a continuum. The dramatic change in Francis Macomber in "The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber" stems more from his new-found self-control than from any accidental combination of traits.

Comment This illustrates plagiarism since the writer used the notion of the "Hemingway code hero" presented in Cliffs Notes as the sole basis for his own essay. He has absorbed his source's concepts, re-phrased them, and, perhaps, made them simpler. But there is a one-to-one relationship between the development of ideas in the Cliffs Notes and the plagiarist’s rendition.

The first two sentences of the plagiarist's are directly borrowed from his source; the remaining sentences are more artfully disguised. The worst feature of this idea-copying is that it seems to be the end product of a close reading of Hemingway's "Short, Happy Life," the writer makes it appear that his comments are based on this short story.

The writing here would be acceptable if he had written the same paraphrase with the proper acknowledgement of his source.

4. Insufficient Acknowledgement

Source: Laven, Peter. Renaissance Italy: 1464-1534. New York: Capricorn, 1964. Print.

The tenacious particularism of the Italian state gave rise to a wide variety of constitutional solutions and class structures throughout Italy. Even conquered territories and those swallowed up by bigger neighboring powers often managed to retain much of their internal organization as it had been. If power changed hands, the instruments and forms of power usually remained the same. Since the economic needs of such territories did not suddenly alter with a change of government or master, those classes which had been important before the change tended to continue to be important afterwards as well. Only when the nature of the change was economic and social might there have been a reversal in the relationships of classes; but even in this there was no sudden revolution in the structure of classes.

Misuse of source: In his comprehensive study, Renaissance Italy , Peter Laven discusses the peculiar organization of Renaissance city-states: “The tenacious particularism of the Italian states gave rise to a wide variety of constitutional solutions and class structures throughout Italy. Even conquered territories and those swallowed up by bigger neighboring powers often managed to retain much of their internal organization as it had been”(130). This means that if power changed hands, the instruments and forms of power usually remained the same. Since the economic needs of such territories did not suddenly alter with a change of government or master, those classes which had been important before the change tended to continue to be important afterwards as well. Only when the nature of the change was economic and social might there have been a reversal in the relationships of classes; but even in this there was no sudden revolution in the structure of classes.

Comment This half-crediting of a source is a common form of plagiarism. It stems either from a desire to credit one's source and copy it too, or from ignorance as to where to footnote. The general rule is to footnote after rather than before your resource material. In this case, the plagiarist credits historian Peter Laven with two quoted sentences and then continues using the author without giving acknowledgement. The writer disguises the direct plagiarism as a paraphrase by using the falsely-explanatory phrase "This means that ..." in the third sentence. This example of plagiarism is especially reprehensible because the writer seemingly acknowledges his source--but not enough.

This guide was prepared with contributions from many people, including members of the Undergraduate Council. Mark Sheldon, Assistant Dean for Academic Integrity in WCAS, assisted with the organization of the document and worked with Barbara Shwom of the WCAS Writing Program to update the material. The section on attribution was written by Jean Smith of the WCAS Writing Program, with help from Bob Wiebe of the History Department. Contributors include Katrina Cucueco (Speech '96), Ryan Garino (CAS '98), Scott Goldstein (Tech '96), and Jean Smith and Ellen Wright of the Writing Program. The examples of plagiarism and comments are based upon Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgement (published by Dartmouth College).

For more on plagiarism, see Charles Lipson, Doing Honest Work in College. How to Prepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and achieve Real Academic Success (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2004).

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Avoiding plagiarism.

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The entire section below came from a research guide from Iowa State University.  To avoid plagiarism, one must provide a reference to that source to indicate where the original information came from (see the "Source:" section below).

"There are many ways to avoid plagiarism, including developing good research habits, good time management, and taking responsibility for your own learning. Here are some specific tips:

• Don't procrastinate with your research and assignments. Good research takes time. Procrastinating makes it likely you'll run out of time or be unduly pressured to finish. This sort of pressure can often lead to sloppy research habits and bad decisions. Plan your research well in advance, and seek help when needed from your professor, from librarians and other campus support staff.
• Commit to doing your own work. If you don't understand an assignment, talk with your professor. Don't take the "easy way" out by asking your roommate or friends for copies of old assignments. A different aspect of this is group work. Group projects are very popular in some classes on campus, but not all. Make sure you clearly understand when your professor says it's okay to work with others on assignments and submit group work on assignments, versus when assignments and papers need to represent your  own  work.
•  Be 100% scrupulous   in your note taking. As you prepare your paper or research, and as you begin drafting your paper. One good practice is to clearly label in your notes your own ideas (write "ME" in parentheses) and ideas and words from others (write "SMITH, 2005" or something to indicate author, source, source date). Keep good records of the sources you consult, and the ideas you take from them. If you're writing a paper, you'll need this information for your bibliographies or references cited list anyway, so you'll benefit from good organization from the beginning.
• Cite your sources scrupulously. Always cite other people's work, words, ideas and phrases that you use directly or indirectly in your paper. Regardless of whether you found the information in a book, article, or website, and whether it's text, a graphic, an illustration, chart or table, you need to cite it. When you use words or phrases from other sources, these need to be in quotes. Current style manuals are available at most reference desks and online. They may also give further advice on avoiding plagiarism.
• Understand good paraphrasing. Simply using synonyms or scrambling an author's words and phrases and then using these "rewrites" uncredited in your work is plagiarism, plain and simple. Good paraphrasing requires that you genuinely understand the original source, that you are genuinely using your own words to summarize a point or concept, and that you insert in quotes any unique words or phrases you use from the original source.  Good paraphrasing also requires that you cite the original source.  Anything less and you veer into the dangerous territory of plagiarism."

Source: Vega García, S.A. (2012). Understanding plagiarism: Information literacy guide. Iowa State University. Retrieved from  http://instr.iastate.libguides.com/content.php?pid=10314 . [Accessed January 3, 2017]

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Harvard Guide to Using Sources 

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It's not enough to know why plagiarism is taken so seriously in the academic world or to know how to recognize it. You also need to know how to avoid it.

The simplest cases of plagiarism to avoid are the intentional ones: If you copy a paper from a classmate, buy a paper from the Internet, copy material from a book, article, podcast, video, or website without citing the author, you are plagiarizing. Here's the best advice you'll ever receive about avoiding intentional plagiarism: If you're tempted to borrow someone else's ideas or plagiarize in any way because you're pressed for time, nervous about how you're doing in a class, or confused about the assignment, don't do it . The problems you think you're solving by plagiarizing are really minor compared to the problems you will create for yourself by plagiarizing. In every case, the consequences of plagiarism are much more serious than the consequences of turning in a paper late or turning in a paper you're not satisfied to have written.

The consequences of accidental plagiarism are equally daunting and should be avoided at all costs. As a member of an intellectual community you are expected to respect the ideas of others in the same way that you would respect any other property that didn't belong to you, and this is true whether you plagiarize on purpose or by accident. The best way to make sure you don't plagiarize due to confusion or carelessness is to 1) understand what you're doing when you write a paper and 2) follow a method that is systematic and careful as you do your research . In other words, if you have a clear sense of what question you're trying to answer and what knowledge you're building on, and if you keep careful, clear notes along the way, it's much easier to use sources effectively and responsibly and, most of all, to write a successful paper.

If you have questions about plagiarism at any point in your research or writing process, ask. It's always better to ask questions than it is to wait for an instructor to respond to work that you have turned in for a grade. Once you have turned in your final work, you will be held responsible for misuse of sources.

Keep Track of Your Sources; Save PDFs or Print Electronic Source

While it's easy enough to keep a stack of books or journal articles on your desk where you can easily refer back to them, it's just as important to keep track of electronic sources. When you save a PDF of a journal article, make sure you put it into a folder on your computer where you'll be able to find it. When you consult a website, log the URL in a separate document from the paper you're writing so that you'll be able to return to the website and cite it correctly. You should also print or save to PDF the relevant pages from any websites you use, making sure you note the complete URL and the date on which you printed the material. Because electronic sources aren't stable and websites can disappear without notice, beware of directing your readers to sources that might have disappeared. Check when the website you're using was last updated and update the URLs as you work and once again right before you submit your essay. If an electronic source disappears before you submit your work, you will need to decide whether or not to keep the source in your paper. If you have saved the source and can turn it in with your paper, you should do so. If you have not saved the source, you should consult your instructor about whether or not to use that source in your paper.

Keep Sources in Correct Context

Whenever you consult a source, you should make sure you understand the context, both of the ideas within a source and of the source itself. You should also be careful to consider the context in which a source was written. For example, a book of essays published by an organization with a political bias might not present an issue with adequate complexity for your project. You can learn more about how to understand a source’s context in the Evaluating Sources section of this guide.

The question of context can be more complicated when you're working with Internet sources than with print sources because you may see one article or post as separate from an entire website and use or interpret that page without fully understanding or representing its context. For example, a definition of "communism" taken from a website with a particular political agenda might provide one interpretation of the meaning of the word—but if you neglect to mention the context for that definition, you might use it as though it's unbiased when it isn't. If your web search takes you to a URL that’s part of a larger website, make sure to investigate and take notes on the context of the information you're citing.

Research can often turn out to be more time-consuming than you anticipate. Budget enough time to search for sources, to take notes, and to think about how to use the sources in your essay. Moments of carelessness are more common when you leave your essay until the last minute— and when you are tired or stressed. Honest mistakes can lead to charges of plagiarism just as dishonesty can; be careful when taking notes and when incorporating ideas and language from sources so you always know what language and ideas are yours and what belongs to a source.

Don't Cut and Paste: File and Label Your Sources

Keep your own writing and your sources separate.

Work with either the printed copy of your source(s) or (in the case of online sources) the copy you downloaded—not the online version—as you draft your essay. This precaution not only decreases the risk of plagiarism but also enables you to annotate your sources. Those annotations are an essential step both in understanding the sources and in distinguishing your own ideas from those of the sources.

Keep Your Notes and Your Draft Separate

Paraphrase carefully in your notes; acknowledge your sources explicitly when paraphrasing.

When you want to paraphrase material, it's a good idea first to paste the actual quotation into your notes (not directly into your draft) and then to paraphrase it (still in your notes). Putting the information in your own words will help you make sure that you've thought about what the source is saying and that you have a good reason for using it in your paper. Remember to use some form of notation in your notes to indicate what you've paraphrased and mention the author's name within the material you paraphrase. You should also include all citation information in your notes.

Avoid Reading a Classmate's Paper for Inspiration

If you're in a course that requires peer review or workshops of student drafts, you are going to read your classmates' work and discuss it. This is a productive way of exchanging ideas and getting feedback on your work. If you find, in the course of this work, that you wish to use someone else's idea at some point in your paper (you should never use someone else's idea as your thesis, but there may be times when a classmate's idea would work as a counterargument or other point in your paper), you must credit that person the same way you would credit any other source.

If you find yourself reading someone else's paper because you're stuck on an assignment and don't know how to proceed, you may end up creating a problem for yourself because you might unconsciously copy that person's ideas. When you're stuck, make an appointment with your instructor or go to the Writing Center for advice on how to develop your own ideas.

Don't Save Your Citations for Later

Never paraphrase or quote from a source without immediately adding a citation. You should add citations in your notes, in your response papers, in your drafts, and in your revisions. Without them, it's too easy to lose track of where you got a quotation or an idea and to end up inadvertently taking credit for material that's not your own.

Quote Your Sources Properly

Always use quotation marks for directly quoted material, even for short phrases and key terms.

Keep a Source Trail

As you write and revise your essay, make sure that you keep track of your sources in your notes and in each successive draft of your essay. You should begin this process early, even before you start writing your draft. Even after you've handed in your essay, keep all of your research notes and drafts. You ought to be able to reconstruct the path you took from your sources to your notes and from your notes to your drafts and revision. These careful records and clear boundaries between your writing and your sources will help you avoid plagiarism. And if you are called upon to explain your process to your instructor, you'll be able to retrace the path you took when thinking, researching, and writing, from the essay you submitted back through your drafts and to your sources.

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How to really avoid plagiarism in essay writing

(Last updated: 13 May 2021)

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Today we are talking about avoiding plagiarism. Oh, plagiarism – the nemesis of so many a student, and so many a university institution. Students dislike it because it’s an easy trap to fall into; universities loathe it because too many students aren’t aware of what it really is and how to avoid it.

We get asked a lot of questions about plagiarism; what it means, what is acceptable, and what is not acceptable. Fortunately, we know an awful lot about plagiarism, and we’re here to clear up many of the misconceptions out there.

In this article, we’ll outline some of the main aspects of plagiarism and what you should (and should not) do when writing an academic paper.

What constitutes plagiarism?

What exactly is plagiarism? To help us understand the answer to this question, let's look at the Cambridge Dictionary definition :

"Plagiarise (verb): to use another person's ideas or work and pretend that it is your own."

The key in this definition is "pretend". In all of your essay and dissertation writing at university level and above, you cannot attempt to pass off any words, phrases or specific authors' ideas off as your own.

But what kind of behaviour is and isn't allowed under general university regulations?

Let’s start with the obvious; you cannot just buy an essay and submit it wholly in its original form to your instructor. This is using someone else’s work and is outright cheating. You also shouldn’t have a friend write it for you, or copy parts of your friend’s assignment. Not only can this get you in trouble, but probably your friend as well. Plus, who is to say that your friend is a better writer than you anyways?

Let’s keep going. Did you also know that you can’t resubmit an assignment for one class that you previously submitted to another? That’s known as self-plagiarism and it’s also a big no-no.

Universities around the world take academic integrity very seriously. In fact there’s usually a code of conduct as a part of each university framework which each student should read. Plagiarism is one part of academic integrity, and it’s something that you, as a student, should take seriously too. It’s important to remember that the rules you had in secondary school may not apply and the rules you have in your home country may not apply. The rules aren’t that difficult once you know them, but you have to actually know them in the first place.

So, you might be asking, why should you care? Well, first of all, if you are caught plagiarising, bad things can happen.

We’ll discuss the bad stuff first, before we work on how you can avoid it. At many universities, if you are suspected of an academic offence, which includes plagiarism, you first have to meet with your instructor. If you are found to have plagiarised, you could get a mark of zero or get referred to the Dean/Departmental Head for sanctions. For more serious issues there may be a tribunal and you could ultimately be dismissed from the school. Wouldn’t you rather be spending your time elsewhere, not dealing with an academic offence?

Instructors, professors and administrators are commonly told, “But I didn’t know I was committing an academic offence!”. Universities generally hold the position that it is your responsibility to know, so this is not a good excuse. We refer you back to the statement above where it says to read the code of conduct for your university. As a student, you are expected to know the rules, so pleading ignorance just isn’t acceptable.

All of this negative information is not meant to scare you, but is really meant to clarify what simply is not okay. It is important to also know what you can do. Here are some common points and questions and our best answers.

Referencing and citing

A piece of academic writing needs to be your own thoughts, but when you get to university level, your professors are going to expect more from you than just your own opinions. They are going to expect you to read, and then to incorporate that reading into your own writing to help you to formulate and support your arguments. This means you are going to have to reference other people’s work.

Why should I reference?

One of the main reasons why you should reference is that it actually shows your instructor that you have done the reading. Those who read should get credit for it. You want to show your instructor that you have actually read a wide range of sources and that you have been able to integrate those points effectively into your own argument. This is in addition to the fact that you should reference because sometimes the opinions you are giving aren’t your own. And if you are using someone else’s opinions, you should give them credit.

So, then when should I reference?

Many undergraduate students think that they should reference pretty much every sentence, but this is not the case. You should only include sources that you have actually read and that are relevant to your assignment topic. But that’s a whole other story on how to write an academic paper. In order to avoid plagiarism, you should reference if you use someone else’s idea in your assignment. You do not need to reference if what you are saying is common knowledge.

How do I know what’s an opinion and what’s common knowledge?

Common knowledge is a fact, so for example if you said, the capital of Canada is Ottawa, or that the Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, or that World War I began in 1914 or that smoking is harmful…you wouldn’t need to provide a reference. It’s easily verified or taken for granted. You need to start referencing when you move away from these generic ideas to ones that identify the authors’ position in some way. So if it’s someone else’s idea, you need a reference.

How do I reference?

The first thing you should do is determine what referencing style your department uses. Many instructors will tell you in your course syllabus, but if you are unsure, ask your TA or your professor. Different referencing styles mean different formatting rules, so make sure to read up on the one that is applicable to you. If you are unsure, there are some really good guides available on the internet and each referencing style has its own website with specific guidelines. Some are easier to make sense of than others.

In addition, there are different ways to incorporate other people’s ideas into your own work. Typically, you’re either using direct quotes or you are paraphrasing. If you are using direct quotes, you need quotation marks. You also need to know where the quote has come from – like the page number. Keeping good notes is important. For example, let’s say you are reading a textbook and you come across a passage that you think is really important. You then copy down this passage into your notebook. Three weeks later, you are reading through your notes trying to write your assignment. You come across the passage and now you incorporate that into your assignment…but you don’t reference it. That’s plagiarism. Careful note taking would have ensured that you maintained your academic integrity.

In addition, think about the formatting of longer quotes. Some referencing styles want longer quotes to be separate from the other text and indented further from the margin. Check which rules apply to the referencing style you are using in order to ensure success.

Paraphrasing means to read someone else’s work and then to highlight the main points in your own words. If you paraphrase, you still need to provide a reference. If you are highlighting a specific passage you will need the author, year of publication and the page number. If you are just generally discussing the work, usually just the author and the year will do. Again, check the guidelines of your referencing style to make sure you get it right. With paraphrasing, it is not OK to just change a few words and then say it is your own. You still need a reference. Always.

What should appear in my reference list or footnotes?

In your reference list or your footnotes, you should record the works cited in your paper. The general rule is, if the author appears in your paper, you should reference them in your bibliography, reference list or footnotes. If the author does not appear in your paper, but you have just done some additional reading, the reference does not need to appear. This is assuming that you have correctly cited the ideas in your paper to the appropriate authors.

Seeking help

English is not my first language and i am concerned that my essay will not be edited properly or have the correct grammar. can i get help.

Yes! It is certainly acceptable to seek help with grammatical or structural concerns. There are a few things you should recognise, however, in relation to plagiarism. First, if you take your work to an editor and they make substantial changes to it, this can often be seen as plagiarism. This is because the original work has now been altered to a point where it is not your original thoughts, and so this can get you in trouble.

As for grammar, the rules seem a bit more unclear. Some universities will allow you to employ someone to check your grammar; others want you to state in your paper that you have employed the services of a proof-reader. Some universities reserve proofreading for graduate-level work and prohibit undergraduates from using this service – others are more flexible. So, here, we again suggest checking the regulations of your school before asking for someone to make changes to your paper.

You also should not write your paper in your first language and run it through translation software (e.g. Google Translate). This is generally considered plagiarism. This is because the words that you are obtaining from the translation software program are not technically your words. In addition to the fact that you should not do this, it also is not a very good strategy from practical purposes. Translation software is not yet at the stage where the sentences come across very coherent; the grammar is often still questionable. Also, when writing a paragraph, the way something is composed in a second language is not the same as the way it would be in English. So while plagiarism may be the concern with this strategy, it is generally one that should be avoided.

If I am completely lost with an assignment, can I ask for help?

Yes. Asking for help is great. There is no reason that you should try and struggle through an assignment all on your own, especially if you are really unclear about the topic. Yet there are certain people you should probably focus on more than others. First, ask your professor or the teaching assistant for help. They are going to be the ones marking your work, so they are a great first point of contact. On the contrary, you should probably not ask your friends for help, especially if they are in your class. This is because if you work with another person in your class on an assignment, this can become collusion. While you don’t need to know the finer details of this, it can get both you and your friend in a bit of trouble.

A solution to this would be to seek outside assistance. This can come in various forms. Firstly, you could find a private tutor – someone who can help you to organise your ideas and thoughts and explain what a good paper/paragraph can actually look like.

Secondly, using a professionally written model essay as inspiration for your own writing can be extremely helpful. Remember, you can't submit a model essay and try to pass it off as your own. But you can learn from it, paying attention to the language used, the way sentences and the argument are crafted, and how the essay flows (and more).

Be careful, though – the web is a minefield of poorly written essays and you may be asked to pay money for work that is very substandard. Not only will this be expensive and not provide much help, a bad essay could actually make your essay writing skills worse . Instead, use a reputable, trusted, British company, like us folk here at Oxbridge Essays .

We are meticulous in choosing the academic writers we hire. We ensure they have only studied at top universities and institutions, including Oxford and Cambridge, and that they are experts in their field(s). This means the work we produce is of the highest quality and academic standard. Choosing a trusted company like us will not only help you greatly with your studies, but will save you precious time searching for the right resources. What's more, all of the essays we write are 100% original, so you can be certain we haven't just recycled an essay from a stockpile; we tailor our service to every individual student's needs.

Universities generally have few rules about tutors, because while they want students to work independently, they also recognise that many students need a bit of extra help. This is where tutoring and support can be really valuable . It can cost a bit of extra money to get this support. But it may be worth it in the long run if you get a distinction score in the class, which eventually leads to more job opportunities.

In summary…

Plagiarism may seem like a complicated issue, but it is really very closely aligned with honesty. The university you are enrolled in wants you to act with a certain element of integrity and wants to make sure that you are responsible for the work that you have created. Make sure you know the rules of the university at the beginning, not after the fact. Get help when you need it and give credit where it is due.

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Essay Rewriter Tool for Students

The Essay Rewriter tool is easy to use. Follow these steps to obtain a perfectly paraphrased text.

• Copy the original that you need to rewrite.
• Paste it into the tool, checking if the text length doesn’t exceed the limit.
• Select the required paraphrasing rate.
• Press the “Rewrite” button.
• Copy the result for further use.

Wondering how to avoid plagiarism in a paper or article? You are welcome to use the essay rewriter tool above. It was designed for academic purposes. Easily paraphrase texts in no time!

• ✅ The Benefits of the Tool
• ✍️ Avoiding Plagiarism with a Rewriter

🆚 Quoting vs. Rewriting vs. Plagiarism

🔗 references, ✅ essay rewriter: 5 key benefits.

• It helps to avoid plagiarism. Not all plagiarism happens intendedly. Essay Rewriter eliminates the human factor in paraphrasing. It provides you with a text that contains a preset quantity of original words.
• It is specially designed for students. The rephrasing is neither too academic nor conversational. The style of the resulting text perfectly fits all educational requirements.
• It is simple to use. It would be strange to waste your time exploring a tool that should save it. Essay Rewriter is intuitively clear. You can open the web page and use it straight away.
• It has an adjustable percentage of paraphrased words. Sometimes you need to preserve some part of the original. Try various rates to choose the best result.
• It is equally functional on computers and mobile devices. You can use the tool at home or college from your smartphone. All the features will be available in the mobile version.

✍️ Rewriter Tool: An Easy Way to Avoid Plagiarism

Want to know when rewriting means plagiarizing?

It is easy.

When you use someone else’s intellectual property, pretending it’s your own, you plagiarize. When you reword a text that another person wrote without referencing the original, it is plagiarism.

Unfortunately, even if you unwillingly copy someone’s text, it is also punishable . The consequences range from lowered marks and reprimanding to expulsion from the educational institution or research community. Nobody likes plagiarizers. People perceive them as thieves.

Still, every researcher resorts to paraphrasing. What is the recipe for the balance between rewriting and plagiarism? The short answer is, always mention the original . There are more nuances, like retelling the text with your own words rather than using synonyms here and there. But whichever method or app you use, give credit to the author.

When you wish to use someone else’s words as a part of your writing, you insert a quote . In this case, you are supposed to enclose the phrase or sentence in quotation marks to signal that you are quoting. After that, include a citation with page number and author’s name.

When should you quote?

There is a general rule that if more than four words in a row match the source, you should enclose them in quotation marks.

But if the sentence or paragraph you wish to use is too long, it is better to paraphrase it. In such a case, quotation marks are unnecessary. Still, paraphrases also require citations at the end of the rewritten text and in the list of references. Make sure to modify the words and their order to avoid plagiarism.

You can consult the examples of quoting, rewriting, and plagiarism examples below. Compare them to find out the difference and never have problems using someone else’s text in your research article or essay.

Quoting: Example

The quote from a book by Oliver Sacks below contains quotation marks and a reference to the original according to APA citation style.

“The scientific study of the relationship between brain and mind began in 1861, when Broca, in France, found that specific difficulties in the expressive use of speech, aphasia, consistently followed damage to a particular portion of the left hemisphere of the brain. This opened the way to cerebral neurology, which made it possible, over the decades, to ‘map’ the human brain, ascribing specific powers — linguistic, intellectual, perceptual, etc. — to equally specific ‘centers’ in the brain. Toward the end of the century it became evident to more acute observers that this sort of mapping was too simple, that all mental performances had an intricate internal structure, and must have an equally complex physiological basis.” (Sacks, 1998, p. 5)

Rewriting: Example

The rewriting sample below contains all the essential features. All the grammatical structures of the sentences have been modified. Most words have been replaced with synonyms, and most importantly, it contains a reference to the original . You can use this example as a good one.

In “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales,” Sacks (1998) describes the beginning of the research on brain and mind. In particular, Broca was the first to discover the relationship between aphasia and the damaged section of the left hemisphere. This finding started a breakthrough in cerebral neurology. In some decades, people described the brain’s structure with respect to its functions and the centers responsible for them. Later, researchers found that this approach overly simplified mental processes. On the contrary, the human brain has a complicated psychological structure, and its functioning is much more intricate.

Plagiarism: Example

This plagiarism sample does not change the sentence structure and frequently uses the same word order. Deleting the subordinate parts of sentences and changing some words with synonyms does not suffice for a good rewriting. Plagiarism checkers will recognize this passage as the original . But if your poor rewriting is revealed, you will be punished. Its main drawback is the absence of credit to the original.

The study of the brain and mind began in 1861 when Broca found that specific difficulties in the expressive use of speech usually followed damage to the left hemisphere of the brain. This gave impetus to the development of cerebral neurology, which made it possible to ‘map’ the human brain. Scientists ascribed specific powers — intellectual, linguistic, perceptual, etc. — to some particular areas in the brain. At the end of the century, it became evident that such mapping was too simple. Therefore, all mental activities had a complicated internal structure, and they must have an equally intricate physiological basis.

Hope the tips and examples above are useful for you. By the way, summarizing the sources you use is another way to avoid plagiarism – in case you mention the author, of course. If you need to summarize anything, use our free tool !

❓ Essay Rewriter Tool: FAQ

Rewrite means paraphrasing the original writing to obtain a new text. The level of plagiarism defines the quality of rewriting, i.e., the lower, the better. Currently, there are hundreds of free online rewriting tools, including Essay Rewriter, that can transform any text into an original with zero plagiarism.

• Read the source, making notes of the essentials.
• Start each sentence from a different point, as compared to the original.
• Rewrite only the most significant parts, leaving out the less critical ones.
• Skip all the previous issues and automatize the process with Essay Rewriter.

Essay Rewriter is the best online tool to rewrite an article. It allows choosing the paraphrasing level, depending on your needs. The entire process requires a couple of clicks. Its primary benefit is that it is absolutely free and simple to use.

Article rewriting is legal as long as you include a proper reference to the source and paraphrase it sufficiently to look original. Otherwise, the copyright holder may reveal your infringement. It can entail legal, financial, or reputational consequences. But the use of shared knowledge does not require any credit to the original. For example, the names of capitals, presidents, or nationalities are common knowledge.

Updated: Jun 28th, 2024

• 6 Ways to Rewrite Someone Else's Short Story - wikiHow
• How to Avoid Plagiarism: 5 Easy Methods | Grammarly
• Plagiarism | University of Oxford
• Quoting and Paraphrasing - UW-Madison Writing Center
• Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words - Purdue OWL
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Need to rephrase your text without wasting much time on the task? IvyPanda's free essay rewriter tool will make paraphrasing much quicker and easier. Just paste your text, choose the paraphrasing rate, and get a unique result within a few seconds!

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Additional Resources

GENERAL RESOURCE:

• Modern Language Association Answers frequently asked questions, including ones about how to cite recent information formats such as tweets and e-books. Additional resources are at https://style.mla.org/

FORMATTING / STYLE:

• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): General Formatting Guidelines for headers, first pages, and other format details within MLA style.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS:

• Purdue OWL: In-text Citations Explains the basics of citing within your text. Includes examples for multiple authors and different types of sources.
• Purdue OWL: Formatting Quotations Guidelines for formatting short and long quotations within your text.

WORKS CITED:

• Purdue OWL: Works Cited Page Basic Format Explains basic formatting rules for your works cited page. Then, once you are ready to create a works cited entry for a source, use the menu on the left of the screen to select the right type of source (Books, Periodicals, Electronic Sources, Other Common Sources). This menu also includes helpful information about creating tables, PowerPoint presentations, and more.

MLA Style Manuals

There are two different manuals for MLA Style Citations: the Handbook and the Style Manual. The Handbook was revised in 2021; copies of both the new 2021 9th edition and the older 2016 8th edition are listed below.

Plagiarism Explanation in <3 Minutes

Key Elements of a Citation

There are certain pieces of information that you should note as you are doing your research.  In various types of citations, these elements will be important to recognize and take note of:

•   Author's full name (and whether or not there are multiple authors).
•  Full precise title of book, journal article, dissertation, etc.
• If resource is book, dissertation, or AV item, place of publication . name of publisher , and date of publication .
•  If resource is an article from a journal or newspaper, you need to note not only the author and title of the article but also the precise title of the journal/newspaper in which the article was published,  the volume and/or issue number, the date of the publication , and the pagination of the article.
• If the resource is digital, note if it has been assigned a " D.O.I. " = Digital Object Identification (number).
• If you found the article as the result of a search on an online database, note the name of the database NOT the name of the vendor (EBSCO, ProQuest, Gale, Web of Science, etc. are vendors, NOT databases names).

Direct Quotes, Summaries & Paraphrases

• Direct Quotations
• Common Knowledge

YOU SHOULD CITE WHEN:

• Referring to a source and stating someone else's opinions, thoughts, ideas, or research
• Using an image or media file that you did not create

WHEN REFERRING TO A SOURCE, YOU HAVE THREE OPTIONS FOR USING IT:

• Directly Quoting  
• Summarizing  
• Paraphrase 

"Which option you should choose depends on how much of a source you are using, how you are using it, and what kind of paper you are writing, since different fields use sources in different ways." Grounds for Argument. When to Quote, Paraphrase, or Summarize a Source . Used under CC BY NC SA

Image:   Random quote  by  Gabriel Jones . Used under  CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

YOU DO NOT NEED TO CITE:

• Your thoughts and your interpretations
• Common knowledge​

WHAT IS A DIRECT QUOTATION:  

" Must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author."   Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2012).  Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

• If summarizing or paraphrasing cannot capture the essence or meaning of the text 
• To retain a specific or unique phrasing used by the source's author
• If you are analyzing the text itself (often in English or language classes)

BE ADVISED:

Most of the time when you cite a source, you want to summarize or paraphrase. Direct quotations should be used sparingly when the situation meets the criteria above.  When you do use direct quotations:

• Do not take the quote out of context. The author's meaning should not change.
• Be sure to integrate multiple sources within your text. You don't want to have a paper or a passage that seems to have come only from one source, with little original text from you.
• Use transitions to make sure your quote adds to your paper without interrupting its flow.

HOW TO CITE A DIRECT QUOTATION:  

• Place quotation marks around the entire word-for-word passage, whether it's a phrase or a sentence.
• Attribute with an in-text citation ; most citation styles request that you provide a page or paragraph number when directly citing.  
• If your quotation is longer, check with your citation style guide to see if additional formatting is necessary (block quotations, for example).  
• When and How Much to Quote From the Harvard Guide to Using Sources

WHAT IS A SUMMARY:  

" Involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s).... Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material."   Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2012).  Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

"Similar to paraphrasing, summarizing involves using your own words and writing style to express another author's ideas. Unlike the paraphrase, which presents important details, the summary presents only the most important ideas of the passage."  University of Houston-Victoria Student Success Center (n.d.).  Decide when to Quote, Paraphrase & Summarize.

• To provide necessary background information for your audience
• When broad, concise information will suffice 

HOW TO CITE A SUMMARY:   

• Attribute with an  in-text citation ; some citation styles request that you provide a  page or paragragh number  whenever available.
• You should not be using any word-for-word quotations or language unique to the source, so you do NOT need quotation marks around your summary.
• When and How to Summarize From the Harvard Guide to Using Sources

WHAT IS A PARAPHRASE:  

"A  paraphrase is a detailed restatement in your own words of a written or sometimes spoken source material. Apart from the changes in organization, wording, and sentence structure, the paraphrase should be nearly identical in meaning to the original passage. It should also be near the same length as the original passage and present the details of the original." University of Houston-Victoria Student Success Center (n.d.). Decide when to Quote, Paraphrase & Summarize.

Paraphrasing is "your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form."  Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2012).   Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

• "When the wording is less important than the meaning of the source"  University of Houston-Victoria Student Success Center (n.d.).  Decide when to Quote, Paraphrase & Summarize.
• If a summary would not provide enough specific details

HOW TO CITE A PARAPHRASE:   

• When paraphrasing, you must change both the sentence structure and language of the original text.  Therefore, since you will be changing the text, you do NOT need quotation marks around your paraphrase.
• Purdue OWL: Paraphrasing Includes 6 steps to effective paraphrasing and examples.
• When and How to Paraphrase From the Harvard Guide to Using Sources

COMMON KNOWLEDGE:

It doesn't necessarily mean that most people would know it offhand. And sometimes it's a judgment call because what seems like common knowledge to one person isn't to another. H ere are good rules of thumb:

• If you can find the same information in multiple places, stated in relatively the same way, it's common knowledge  ( Generally, it is said that you should find the information three to five sources)
• If most people are aware of this fact, or if it's general reference, it's common knowledge

CAUTION:  Opinions and unique terminology/phrasing do not qualify as common knowledge.

Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism

READ THE SOURCE IN ITS ENTIRETY

• It's easy to take something out of context if you only read a portion of it! If you read the entire source, you should have a better feel of the author's meaning.

TAKE DETAILED NOTES AS YOU READ

• Anytime you note something word-for-word, immediately place it in quotation marks. Also note what page or section you found it on.
• On each page, make sure you note the original source and the date you accessed the source. This will make citation much easier, especially if you are working with multiple sources or doing research over a long stretch of time.
• Try not to mix your own thoughts and commentary with excerpts from your source. Keep them on separate pages, draw two columns on your page, or switch your pen color.
• If you find it difficult to take notes with electronic sources - or if you find yourself drawn to the copy-paste method - print out your sources and deal with them in print form.

RETURN TO YOUR NOTES LATER

• In order to do this, you must not procrastinate on your projects. If you don't have sufficient time, you won't do your best work, and it may lead you to make poor decisions when including your sources. Remember, if you get caught plagiarizing, the situation or your intentions won't be an excuse. Build in time to synthesize and properly work in your sources.
• Make sure the source is fresh in your mind, but not right in front of you. If you see the original text, you are more likely to want to use their terms and sentence structure.
• Check your writing against the original. Remember, you should have changed the sentence structure and the language but the meaning of the source should still be the same. Any language that is unique to the source should be placed in quotation marks or removed. You may find it necessary to do several edits.

CONSULT WITH THE EXPERTS

• If you need a second opinion, ask!  Ask a librarian, a classmate, the Writing Center, or your professor. 
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• Next: SIFT: Information Evaluation >>
• Last Updated: Sep 6, 2024 9:47 AM
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Global Plagiarism

What Is Global Plagiarism? Causes, Examples and How to Avoid it

Published on: Aug 31, 2024

Last updated on: Sep 2, 2024

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Ever wonder how global plagiarism messes with the integrity of work in our connected world?

With so much content online, it's easy to accidentally copy and paste without thinking. This increase in global plagiarism is causing major issues for both students and professionals. It’s undermining the value of original work.

Imagine your hard work being stolen and passed off as someone else’s. That’s the frustration global plagiarism can bring, making it hard to tell what's original and what's not.

Don’t worry! This blog will explain what global plagiarism is, give examples, and offer tips to avoid it. Let’s keep our work authentic and impactful!

So, without further ado, let’s dive right in!

What is Global Plagiarism?

Global plagiarism is defined as using content from various sources around the world without obtaining proper authorization or providing appropriate citations. It is a form of plagiarism that includes copying and presenting someone else's work—whether text , images , or multimedia —as one's own. 

It involves content from different countries and cultures , which can lead to violations of multiple intellectual property laws. This global scope makes it a complex issue, affecting various legal and cultural contexts.

How It Differs from Other Types of Plagiarism

Here’s a brief comparison of global plagiarism with other types of plagiarism:

Causes of Global Plagiarism

Understanding the causes of global plagiarism is important for tackling the problem. Several factors lead to its widespread occurrence across different cultures and legal systems:

• Technological Advancements and Easy Access to Information: The internet provides easy access to vast amounts of content from around the world. This ease of access increases the likelihood of copying information without proper attribution.
• Lack of Awareness or Understanding of Plagiarism: Many people do not fully understand what constitutes plagiarism or how to cite sources correctly, especially when dealing with content from different cultures and legal systems.
• Cultural Differences in the Perception of Plagiarism: Different cultures have various attitudes toward intellectual property and citation. These differences can cause confusion about what is considered plagiarism and how to avoid it.
• Pressure to Perform and Produce Content: The need to generate large amounts of content quickly can push individuals to copy existing work instead of creating original material. This pressure often leads to unintentional or deliberate plagiarism.

Global Plagiarism Examples

Global plagiarism shows up in various ways across different fields. Global plagiarism examples include:

• Academia: In schools and universities, global plagiarism happens when students or researchers copy entire sections from international journals or research papers without giving credit. This includes using text, data, or figures from other countries' sources and claiming them as their own work. This practice can damage the credibility of academic research and lead to serious consequences.
• Publishing: In the publishing world, global plagiarism occurs when authors copy content from foreign sources, like books or articles, and present it as their own. This can involve using entire sections or ideas in their own works, misleading readers and violating copyright laws.
• Online Content: On the internet, global plagiarism often involves copying text, images, or media from websites without permission or proper credit.This includes using content from global sources in blog posts or social media. It can confuse audiences and harm the original creators' rights and reputations.
• High-End Luxury Products: In the luxury goods market, global plagiarism is evident in the production of fake high-end products. This includes making replicas of designer items, such as handbags or watches. Counterfeiters produce high-quality copies that closely resemble the originals and often make lower-quality versions as well. These fake products are sold around the world, deceiving buyers and violating intellectual property rights.
• Social Media Reposting Without Attribution: Sharing someone else’s creative content on social media without crediting the original creator is a form of global plagiarism. This includes posting videos, infographics, or other media without permission. It spreads the content widely while ignoring the rights of the person who originally created it.

Teaching Students About Global Plagiarism

To effectively address global plagiarism, it's essential to educate students and provide them with the knowledge they need. Here are some key approaches to teaching students about this issue:

Education and Awareness Programs

Implement programs to teach students how to cite sources correctly and emphasize the importance of creating original work. These programs should cover what plagiarism is, how to avoid it, and why originality matters.

Role of Educational Institutions

Schools and universities should provide clear guidelines and resources to help students understand and avoid plagiarism. This includes offering workshops, online resources, and support services to educate students about proper citation practices and the consequences of plagiarism.

Technological Solutions

Teach students about technologies that protect digital content from being used without permission. This includes understanding how digital rights management (DRM) works to safeguard intellectual property.

Legal Frameworks and Policies:

• International Agreements and Regulations: Help students become familiar with global standards and regulations related to intellectual property and plagiarism. Understanding these international rules can help students navigate different legal and cultural contexts.
• Institutional Policies and Enforcement: Make sure students are aware of their institution’s policies on plagiarism. This includes clear explanations of what constitutes plagiarism, the penalties for violations, and how these rules are enforced.

Best Practices for Avoiding Global Plagiarism

To avoid global plagiarism and maintain academic and professional integrity, consider these best practices:

• Proper Citation and Referencing: Always give credit to the original sources by using the correct citation style. This includes noting all sources of information, ideas, and direct quotes.Learn and apply citation styles such as APA, MLA, or Chicago, or use a citation machine to correctly credit sources in your work.
• Paraphrasing Techniques: Develop the ability to restate information in your own words while giving proper credit to the original source. Effective paraphrasing involves understanding the source material and conveying its meaning in a new way. Using a paraphrasing tool can help you generate different ways of presenting the same information while ensuring proper attribution.
• Use of Plagiarism Detection Tools: Regularly check your work with a plagiarism checker   to confirm that your content is original. These tools help identify any unintentional similarities with existing sources by highlighting the duplicate content.
• Summarizing Skills: Learn how to distill information from a source into a concise summary that captures the main points. A summarizer can assist in condensing the material while still acknowledging the original source. This helps you present the core ideas clearly and briefly without directly copying the text.
• Developing Original Content and Critical Thinking: Focus on creating unique content and engaging critically with your sources. Instead of relying heavily on existing material, strive to develop new ideas and perspectives that reflect your own understanding.

Bottom line 

Wrapping it up, global plagiarism typically results from copying content without permission and affects people worldwide. The ease of online access makes it tempting to use others' work without proper attribution.

As a student, you might face consequences for accidentally copying content, while researchers or authors may find their work used elsewhere without proper credit.

If you're struggling to create original work on your own, a reliable AI essay writer could help produce a plagiarism-free essay. Consider giving it a try to ensure your work stands out for its authenticity and integrity!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is plagiarism vs global plagiarism.

Plagiarism is using someone else's work without acknowledgment. Global plagiarism is copying content from sources worldwide without proper citation.

What is the Difference Between Global and Incremental Plagiarism?

Global plagiarism involves copying large portions from various sources globally. Incremental plagiarism involves small, unacknowledged parts of someone else's work throughout a text.

What is Global Plagiarism in Public Speaking?

In public speaking, global plagiarism is using large parts of someone else's speech or presentation from international sources without proper credit.

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