Every writer is familiar with the term ‘plagiarism.’ Irrespective of whether you are creating academic work or writing a blog, it may become plagiarized. Most people assume plagiarism to be simply copying another’s work. However, there is much more to it. Creating plagiarism content and passing it off as your own can have serious repercussions.

Unfortunately, people aren’t fully aware of them and so they think that creating such content is fine. But it only reduces the credibility of your final work. In this post, we’ll understand exactly what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.

What Does Plagiarism Mean?

Plagiarism is defined as the act of closely imitating or directly using the ideas and language of another writer without acknowledging them. In a way, it is lying to your readers about you being the original author of a work when, in reality, it’s someone else.

Plagiarism means more than a single thing. It includes the following.

• To use another person’s work without acknowledgment.
• To pass off the language and words of another writer as your own.
• Show an already existing idea from a source as your own.

Other things that are considered plagiarism

Plagiarized content can take many forms. Here are some other things that also fall into this category.

• Not putting quotations where they are needed. In their absence, you indicate that you have said those lines.
• Closely or fully copying the sentence structure of another writer and only changing a few words.
• Providing wrong information about the quotation source to your readers.

Different Types of Plagiarism

Plagiarism can take various forms. Here are the different types of plagiarism prevalent in the online world.

1. Complete plagiarism

This is the most obvious and serious kind of plagiarism. Here you copy the entire idea or language of another person and present it as your own. This type of plagiarism can be equated with intellectual theft.

2. Source-based plagiarism

Source-based plagiarism can take any of the following forms.

1. Incorrect citation – This happens when you cite a wrong source or one that isn’t available at present.
2. Misdirecting citation – This kind of plagiarism happens when you do not cite the source of a source. It can also occur if you cite the first source only or only cite the child or parent citation and not both.
3. Fabrication of information – It is when you fabricate data.
4. Falsification of information – It refers to the act of intentionally omitting or modifying information to get the kind of results you want.

3. Direct plagiarism

It involves copying a part of another writer’s work and putting it in your own. Essentially, you plagiarize entirely but not the whole work, just a part of it.

4. Auto plagiarism

Auto plagiarism happens when you copy a part of your own work in another project. In this type of plagiarized content, you do not cite your previous work.

5. Paraphrasing 

Paraphrasing involves rewriting another author’s sentences after making some minor changes. The idea remains the same, only the sentence structure is different. It is a highly prevalent kind of plagiarism.

6. Incorrect authorship or fallacious attribution

This kind of plagiarism occurs in group-developed content. It can happen in two forms. The first one is when the original author doesn’t get credit or when a person who hasn’t developed the content gets the credit.

7. Mosaic plagiarism

It is a kind of intentional plagiarism which involves putting someone else’s text within your own research. This type of plagiarized content is hard to detect because of its very nature.

8. Accidental plagiarism

It is another common kind of plagiarism, which occurs without you recognizing it. This is unintentional plagiarism and happens due to mistakes or neglect.

9. Image plagiarism

Bloggers are often guilty of committing image plagiarism. They often don’t use their own photos or pick those for commercial use on the web. Images for public use include those with Creative Commons rights, public domain photos, and royalty-free images.

Tools to Check and Eliminate Plagiarism

Plagiarism exists in many forms and is an intolerable act. If you don’t think that you can create fully unique content, avail of assignment help online. The experts use sophisticated plagiarism detection tools that enable them to develop fully unique content.

Some of the tools that are used to analyze and detect copied content include:

• Copyscape
• Unicheck
• iThenticate
• Paper Rater
• Copyleaks
• Plagiarismcheck.org
• Quetext
• PlagScan

Steps to Avoid Plagiarism while Writing

Plagiarism can be accidental or intentional. Despite your best efforts, you may end up submitting plagiarized content. Use these tips to make your projects unique and original.

Research from several sources

While writing about any topic, ensure to research from multiple sources and websites. It will prevent you from duplicating ideas and paraphrasing content from a single source.

Spend adequate time learning about the topic and write your views backed by evidence.

Quote the words of other writers

It is not always possible to form your own views. Sometimes you need to put forward the views of other writers and back your argument. But while doing so, put their text in quotes. This will enable the readers to understand who said it first.

Present your unique perspective

While researching, develop a unique perspective or point. This will keep your content fresh and distinct from the rest.

However, while doing so, you can allude to a source or use someone else’s words. But remember to use quotations and credit the writer. Do not write what you have written before if you are writing on the same topic for a second time. It leads to self-plagiarism, which is also prohibited in both academia and the digital world.

Paraphrase well

While writing, you can paraphrase other person’s content. However, this does not mean simply scrambling the sentences of another author or using synonyms.

Good paraphrasing needs you to understand the source and use your own words to summarize the point. Also, insert quotes or unique phrases from the original source and cite them.

Check your work through free and paid content checker tools

This is one of the ideal ways to avoid presenting plagiarized content. There are many free and paid content checker tools available that run plagiarism checks on your work. Irrespective of the kind of content you make, you can find a plagiarism checker tool online.

When you run your content through these programs, you drastically lower the chances of intentional or non-intentional plagiarism.

Synthesize the data

You can avoid plagiarism by synthesizing the information rather than just presenting information from different sources. Synthesizing information will help you create something new. Ask yourself the following questions.

• What is the idea that the writer is attempting to present?
• How does the author’s point of view differ from your other sources?
• How does all of it relate to your argument?

NOTE- If you are writing something that’s common knowledge, there’s no need to cite any source.

Eliminate Plagiarism and Create Fully Original Pieces!

Now that you know the types of plagiarism and how to avoid it, creating unique content will feel easy. Ensure to research well, gather evidence, and write in your own words. Also, run your work through plagiarism checker tools. If you need more assistance with this task, contact us for an assignment help professional.