5 Ways To Avoid Plagiarism

by | Sep 18, 2017 | Education Feature

“To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.”
― Steven Wright

When you are writing either a master’s paper or even a simple essay you have to know how to avoid plagiarism with the help of plagiarism checker or another useful tools. Representing someone else’s ideas or words as your own is not fair. Avoiding deliberate copying is clear. However, sometimes students commit it unintentionally. Here are 5 useful tips for you to make sure that you create an original work that doesn’t copy someone else’s ideas.

Rewrite Papers to Remove Plagiarism

One of the most popular ways on how to avoid plagiarism is to rewrite papers. You can use article rewriter or as it is also called article spinner. If you’re a student and you want to create a unique piece of text, rewriting tool is a service that will rewrite the text for you. You’ve got countless sources with data on the subject however you can’t merely copy and paste it. Or you’re an SEO specialist and you need new content for your page. In such cases, an article rewriter is a perfect option. You will quickly get the satisfactory results. Of course, an article spinner is a machine and you’ll have to double check the text and correct some mistakes before publishing your article.

Know Some Basics of Copywriting

Find out what plagiarism actually is. The Dictionary.com defines it as an “act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author’s work as one’s own, as by not crediting the original author.” This plagiarism means stealing someone’s text or work. If you use the idea that doesn’t belong to you by conveying it with another word it is plagiarism. You have to create your own text and provide references if you use the ideas developed earlier. It might seem pretty easy to cite the sources you’ve used. However, it requires thorough analysis. Always check your bibliography to ensure that you include all the necessary information in the correct order. There are some word processing programs that generate bibliography automatically, you can use, for instance, http://www.bibme.org/. You can also write a nice paraphrase by making your own interpretation on what you read, rather than re-wording what has been already said.

You can choose to use facts in your paper. Although facts are not subject to copyright, you can use original words to describe them. All you have to do is read a lot of information about particular fact and put it into your own words.

Be an Expert in the Area You Are Writing About

If you understand the subject, you will definitely write in your own words. Therefore, when deciding what subject to write on, choose the one you are confident you will write a lot about.  Look for information on the topic in the books or on the Internet. You can go for several different sources of information. If you decide to use only one, there are more chances that your text won’t be unique and you will copy it. The more sources you use the better the outcome will be.  Use your own ideas, as your thoughts should be the focus of your research paper. Use the ideas of others sparingly, only to support or reinforce your own argument. To avoid copying try to rely only on reputable sources. Read the material carefully. Don’t spend much time analyzing it, so you wouldn’t put someone else’s words into your work unintentionally.

Figure out What Should Be Cited

Sometimes in your research, you will come across a passage that makes a point so eloquently that you can’t imagine saying it any other way. If you want to use a quote or an idea that was formed before you have to use quotation marks. However, not everything in the research paper needs to be cited. For example, common sense observations, folklore, urban legends, and well-known historical events shouldn’t be taken into quotation marks. If you want to write down your own thoughts and ideas that have been used in the previous assignments, you should discuss it with your instructor and receive permission to reuse the material and include a self-citation. Of course, you don’t have to put into quotation marks your own scientific evidence you gathered after performing your own tests or polls.

Use a Plagiarism Checker

The growth of the Internet over the past decade has given us unprecedented access to information. With vast content available on the web, it has never been easier to copy and paste proprietary content from the web and pass it off as one’s own writing. In response to this practice, plagiarism checkers have the ability to locate plagiarism in written work. This program will help you to examine your works and define plagiarism, as this specialized software is available for everybody who is serious about their academic or research work. Plagiarism checker software works online. Such software can offer a lot of sources, like large databases that include periodicals and books that may not be available online. Plagiarism detection software also gives percentages of similarity. Each university has their own standards regarding similarity percentage that is acceptable to them. Students must remain at that percentage rate or lower for their papers to be satisfactory in regard to similarity. Moreover, checking your text in plagiarism checkers will show you your paraphrasing abilities and help you to figure out how to create more original texts. If your text is unique the software will prove that you have not plagiarized. The technology exists to ensure your safety as a student or researcher, so take advantage of it.

Plagiarism has become a serious issue, with many students, academics, and others being accused and punished. The advent of the Internet has allowed plagiarism to become easier. Simply follow these 5 tips and you will see that you are able to create interesting content filled with fresh and inspiring ideas.

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