To avoid plagiarism, give credit for every word and idea that you take from someone else: put direct quotes in quotation marks, cite each source in the style your school asks for, and keep track of your sources from the start.
When you write a text, there are many things to struggle with: ideas, motivation, creativity, and endurance. When you write an assignment or a thesis, though, one more thing demands a lot of attention: plagiarism.
In an academic or scientific paper, you have to use other people's work, and it is just as important to cite it properly. Every school and every field of study has its own rules for citations, and they may even differ from teacher to teacher or from professor to professor. This article does not explain how to cite (for that, read citations: how to do them properly). Instead, it sheds some light on what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.
What is plagiarism?
Many people think of plagiarism as copying or borrowing someone else's words or ideas, but those words play down how serious it is. Intentional or not, plagiarism is a form of fraud. Copying someone's original ideas and words without naming the source and citing it correctly is regarded as stealing. Even leaving out quotation marks, on purpose or by accident, can be, and usually is, regarded as plagiarism.
According to Plagiarism.org, all of the following count as plagiarism:
- Turning in someone else's work as your own
- Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
- Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
- Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
- Changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit
- Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not
Plagiarism comes in many forms. It ranges from handing in someone else's entire work as your own to citing sources that do not exist, or to stitching together the work of different people so that, despite correct citations, none of the work is your own.
Intentional and unintentional plagiarism
You should also distinguish between intentional and unintentional plagiarism. In the end, the consequences can be the same, whether you plagiarized on purpose or without knowing it.
The difference is more of a personal one. You can prevent unintentional plagiarism through learning and research, and by learning from your mistakes. Many university departments provide guides to proper citation, and you can always ask the professor or teacher in charge which citation style they prefer.
Intentional plagiarism, however, is a deliberate choice, and no guide can prevent it.
How to prevent plagiarism
Preparation
The first step to avoiding plagiarism comes before you even start writing. When you collect your sources, do not just copy or note down the key passages: also note the author, the date of publication, the page number, and so on. Keeping everything in one place also saves you a lot of time searching later. What a bibliography is and why you need one explains how to list your sources.
Find out the preferred citation style before you begin, by downloading the guide or by asking your professor or teacher. This saves time, and it also reminds you not to forget about citing in the first place.
Writing
The number one rule of thumb is: when in doubt, cite. Do not shy away from direct quotes, and always put them in quotation marks. Set aside sections in your paper where you describe the groundwork that others did and that you build on. Having a more or less fixed place for it also makes it easier to check and double-check once you have finished writing.
While you write, it is also a good idea to mark the ideas and quotes taken from others, either with a note or by highlighting them in a different color. This gives you a good overview of how much of the paper is your own work, and it helps you avoid the kind of plagiarism that takes, twists, and combines other people's ideas.
The highlighting also makes it easier for you, and for anyone who proofreads your paper, to check the citations.
Reference managers such as Zotero, EndNote, or Citavi can make citing easier as well. They help you organize your sources and place citations in the text automatically, as footnotes, endnotes, or in parentheses, with the correct references. Ask at your university: many universities provide such a program to their students.