Plagiarism is a serious offense that can lead to punishment. Universities across the world follow strict policies for plagiarized work. Some universities suspend or expel the students submitting plagiarized work whereas others put students on academic probation.
Similarly in online writing, plagiarism can spoil the reputation of the author or result in the loss of credibility. Search engines like Google are vigilant about duplicate content and penalize writers for plagiarism. Readers also prefer to read original content and might not support writers who lack innovative ideas.
Thus before submitting an academic assignment or publishing an online article, it is important to check the draft for plagiarism. An easy way to detect plagiarism is by scanning the draft using a grammar checker. However, if you wish to avoid plagiarism right from the beginning, you need to first understand plagiarism and its different types.
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism can be defined as the act of representing someone else’s work, thoughts, ideas or expressions as your own original work. It is a common problem that violates academic integrity and breaches writing ethics. Plagiarism is not only a dishonest act but also hinders the growth of students and writers. It stops them from learning new things and using their own creativity. Regardless of how difficult it is for you to write, avoiding plagiarism will give you the credits you deserve for your efforts. To help you keep the originality of writing here is a guide that will tell you about the different types of plagiarism and ways to avoid them.
Different types of plagiarism
- Direct plagiarism
Direct plagiarism or copying and pasting is a common type of plagiarism. This type of plagiarism is intentional as the writers know what they are doing. The readers and editors can easily recognise direct plagiarism as it is completely copied and lacks any new words or ideas. Direct plagiarism also occurs when the writers cannot acknowledge someone else’s words in their work. To avoid this kind of plagiarism, you can quote the original source by using quotation marks for the copied text. Additionally, you can include an in-text citation to refer to the original author.
Copying and pasting also occur when you slightly alter the original text. This is known as verbatim plagiarism as the structure and most of the words are similar to the original text. Thus, do not modify a few words with synonyms while keeping the structure of the sentence the same. Use your own ideas and creativity to present the information in an innovative way.
It is crucial to preserve integrity and create unique content to preserve creativity. No matter the kind of plagiarism, ethical alternatives can be used to make sure your work is original. Consider utilizing tools like Plagiarismremover.net to assist in eliminating instances of plagiarism from your articles, essays, or research papers. This tool helps to keep the integrity of your work so that you can present your ideas and insights without running the risk of plagiarism.
- Global plagiarism
In direct plagiarism, the writer uses some sentences or paragraphs from other writers. However, global plagiarism occurs when you copy and paste the entire content and submit it as your own work. Common examples of global plagiarism include copying the entire blog of another author, buying an academic paper from another student or copying and pasting the complete paper found online. As global plagiarism involves deliberate and direct lying about the ownership of the work, it is considered an act of stealing or fraud. Global plagiarism can be avoided by writing your own academic assignments or online articles. Instead of stealing someone else’s work, you can use your time and resources to research your topic and create a fresh piece of content.
- Accidental plagiarism
Not all writers have an intention to copy the work of someone else. Some writers plagiarize their work unintentionally or accidentally. Common examples of accidental plagiarism include misquoting the words or phrases borrowed from another source, failing to cite the source or citing the wrong source. As accidental plagiarism can also lead to severe consequences, it is essential to avoid it. You can avoid accidental plagiarism by paying attention to your work.
Before submitting your work, check if all the external quotes are cited properly. Do not neglect any information and double-check for the source. Referring to articles only from reliable websites will further help you in collecting accurate information about the author and the publishing entity. To detect accidental plagiarism you can scan your draft using an online plagiarism or grammar checker. These tools can detect various types of plagiarism and will highlight the text and the source from where it is copied.
- Paraphrasing plagiarism
Paraphrasing plagiarism or incremental plagiarism occurs when you modify a text by adding your own words. Many writers rewrite someone else’s work by changing a few words or the grammar of the sentence. Here a similar idea is presented in different words. This type of plagiarism occurs when the writer reproduces the main argument or the major concepts of other authors without including citations and references. It can also occur when you translate a text from a different language without citation. Paraphrasing plagiarism can be avoided by adding proper citations and references where needed.
- Mosaic plagiarism
Mosaic plagiarism is also known as patchwork plagiarism as it combines the plagiarized work with the writer’s original work. As mosaic plagiarism occurs in patches it becomes difficult to identify for both the writers and the readers. Many writers do not realize that they are copying the ideas of other writers and making them their own. If you are writing using multiple open sources, remember to cite all the expressions, phrases or ideas as you write. Most plagiarism checkers can detect this type of plagiarism. Thus, failing to cite even a single common idea or a rephrase sentence in your document can make your work plagiarized.
- Self-plagiarism
Reusing your old work and submitting it as a new job is known as self-plagiarism. This type of plagiarism is common among students who submit the same paper for two different assignments. Self-plagiarism also happens when writers repurpose their old articles for different publications. To avoid self-plagiarism, take permission from the tutor or the publisher before submitting a work for which you have already received credit. Seeking permission will save you from being dishonest. Citing ideas or phrases from your old papers will also give clarity to the readers about the original source and will not be considered self-plagiarism.