Plagiarism is an act of stealing and passing off words or idea by another person as your own without crediting the source. It is literary theft that occurs because the culprit is trying to pass an original idea by someone in an existing source as a new concept.
Sometimes plagiarism can be unintentional if someone confuses the university writing guidelines, forgets to quote or cite a source. Others forget to delete original content they pasted on a page to refer and paraphrase. The worst form is that which plagiarists commit deliberately thus making everyone including best custom essay writing services those who commit the act unintentional to suffer consequences of dishonesty.
Here are some of the reasons why people plagiarize.
- A desire to receive a good grade and fear of failing
- Lateness after poor time management or procrastination
- Disinterest in the paper
- A belief that nobody will realize
Tips to avoid plagiarism
Everyone except those who want to plagiarize deliberately will do everything to prevent plagiarism. It is simple to find information for reference when writing most academic papers but difficult to add it into the document without falling into the trap of plagiarism. Here are the ways how to avoid plagiarism in writing paper.
- Paraphrase
Make it a habit of writing the perfect information for your paper in your words. Avoid copying more than two words that follow each other in the text you find during research in verbatim. Use quotation marks when you write more than two words but do not overdo it.
- Quoting
Quotes should have words in an exact order they appear in the source. The author will frown upon any misquoting. Most institutions are suspicious of block quotes or quotes reaching 40 words or more. An able scholar can paraphrase most of the materials. It is a process that takes time, but the efforts help to avoid plagiarism. Quote correctly to prevent any suspicion.
- Citing
Citing is one of the best ways to avoid plagiarism. Follow the formatting guidelines of your school or the organization that issues the research request when making citations such as APA or MLA. It entails adding the manner of the author(s), publication name, date of publication and other information to identify the source. Failing to cite can be a reason for plagiarism, but since it is simple, there is no reason for skipping. You should also cite your material published in the past as academic standards prohibit self-plagiarism.
Citing a quote can be different from citing paraphrases. The practice involves adding a page number or paragraph numbers for web content.
- Referencing
Referencing like a citation is another way to beat the plagiarism trap. You do it by including a page of works cited or reference page at the end of a paper. This page should be in the same format as the other pages. The information in the reference page should be specific to include the author(s) name, date of the publication, the title, and source. Follow directions and ensure that you get all references right.
It is essential to confirm the originality of a paper by checking it with a plagiarism checker. Do not take chances because it could damage your academic reputation or career.