How to Avoid Plagiarism

In any academic field, plagiarism is the greatest sin that one can commit. Be it any field of research, pure academic pursuit or publishing on the Internet, plagiarism is something that you should avoid like the plague as penalties for plagiarism can destroy your career! Since I have been a researcher in the past and have been writing for quite a while now, I would like to share some tips on how to avoid plagiarism, through this article.

It is important that every person who is sharing his thoughts publicly in written form or speech knows what plagiarism is. In academics, even accidental plagiarism is not tolerated if your work clashes with someone else. Many people learn the hard way when they carelessly use references without due acknowledgment of sources.

What is Plagiarism?

To put it in very simple words, in the academic or literary field, plagiarism is stealing of ideas. Any piece of information or writing if copied without due acknowledgment of your source is blatant plagiarism. It is disrespectful to the people before you who have presented their original ideas. There are many different types of plagiarism, based on how and to what degree, original stuff has been copied.

The non-academic field equivalent of plagiarism is copyright violation or patent infringement. It may so happen that your work may not be intentionally plagiarized, but any striking resemblance with any previous work can be still interpreted as plagiarism. Plagiarism consequences in high school can be a strict reprimand or even expulsion in some cases. Plagiarism consequences in college can severely damage your reputation in the academic field. In the following lines, I present some tips and precautions on how to avoid plagiarism while publishing your research or publishing in print or online media.

Tips to Avoid Plagiarism

How can you prevent plagiarism? Let us find out. The guidelines or tips to avoid plagiarism that follow are applicable to any type of writing, which is in the public domain. Be it a research paper, an article in print media or the Internet, it is essential that you avoid plagiarism at all costs and take heed of the following points.

Be Original
One of the simplest ways of avoiding plagiarism is to be original in your approach to a subject or topic. Every one of us has a unique style and perspective of things. To write original stuff, you must think originally first. The sources of your research and study are bound to influence your work, but try to go beyond what your sources have said. Try to interpret facts on your own and come up with your own hypotheses. This habit of original approach will help you in the long run. Learn to question things and look at them with an open mind. Try to form your own opinion of things and analyze anything that is said by a source before accepting it. This is the most important of ways to avoid plagiarism.

Cite Your Sources
Every man cannot start research in a field from naught or from scratch. We rely and profit from the vast body of knowledge created by people who came before us. That's why, whenever you use a direct quote or information from some source, it is important that you cite his or her references in the footnote. In an academic field of research, if you are using a result that has been proved by somebody before, you must cite their researcher paper or source material. If you are using the results of original work, make sure that you mention or give credit to the source through footnoted. To put it simply, cite, provide references or acknowledge whatever, that is not your original contribution! This is one way of preventing plagiarism.

Avoid Paraphrasing
One of the prime guidelines in context of Internet plagiarism, is to avoid paraphrasing. Paraphrasing is the prime type of plagiarism, rampant on the Internet. Some people copy entire paragraphs of some original article on the Internet by replacing the words with synonyms. Detecting plagiarism on the web is simpler now with powerful search engines. Avoid such paraphrasing and try to be original in your approach and analysis.

Use Information But Avoid Copying Interpretation
Nobody can cry 'Plagiarism' for using facts and information that lies in public domain. While original data that is a product of somebody's research, needs citing, information that is in public domain can be freely used. Using information is not a problem but copying somebody's original interpretation or research based on those facts should be avoided. Ultimately, one rule that you must follow is that original and creative contributions of people should always be acknowledged.

Try to inculcate some of the suggestions mentioned above into your research and writing technique. Most importantly, never take plagiarism lightly! To put it all in a nutshell, focus on original work and give due credit to sources, wherever necessary. It is one way of acknowledging the contribution of people before you who have helped you see further in you research in that academic field. For writers, originality and thorough research is the key to avoid plagiarism.