Reducing Plagiarism -17 Actionable Plagiarism Tips That Works Like Charm

Reducing Plagiarism -17 Actionable Plagiarism Tips That Works Like Charm

Plagiarism, regardless of the heavy sanctions attached to it in the academic and professional field, can be hard to avoid sometimes. Often, people indulge in plagiarism heavily without being aware of it. If you are one of these people, this article was curated to provide 17 magic tips to help you look out for plagiarism when creating written content. These tips include;

1. Commence by understanding what plagiarism is and how it can be avoided.

   To effectively avoid plagiarism and ensure complete accuracy, it is vital to understand the meaning and types of plagiarism and how such a problem can be eliminated.

   Plagiarism, in this regard, can be depicted as the act of misusing, copying or duplicating an author’s work without giving due credit or credibility to the author or owner of the work. To avoid plagiarism, it is vital to take note of the following tips;

   • Use in-text citations and a referencing list to reverence the works consulted to create a written piece.
   • Paraphrase properly, do not copy or plagiarize.
   • Understand the plagiarism requirements and policies of your agency, organization or academic institution and adhere to them.

   Thus, to ensure complete accuracy, it is vital to stick to these tips and then use plagiarism checker software.

2. Understand the difference between common knowledge and original ideas from authors.

   One of the core issues which lead to heavy plagiarism is the inability of a writer to distinguish between common knowledge and original ideas when creating a written piece. In this regard, common knowledge can be described as a piece or piece of information that is well-known and accepted in diverse fields.

   Such information can be acquired from various sources, such as; historical occurrences (such as the First and second world wars that occurred in the 20th century) or scientific concepts (such as water boiling at 100 degrees Celsius at sea level), etc. In both professional and academic fields, common knowledge should not be cited.

   On the other hand, original ideas can be described as the fresh or novel understanding or interpretation of a concept or research created due to proper understanding or investigation by an author or researcher.

   Examples of original ideas include a fresh hypothesis of a literal piece, etc. It is vital to note that all forms of original ideas, whether small or big, should be cited or referenced in a written piece.

3. Avoid making use of plenty of direct quotations in a written piece.

   Often, using a lot of direct quotes in a written piece can be detected as plagiarism. This is so because it gives an examiner and a plagiarism checker software the impression that the author failed to paraphrase or summarize and he/she relied heavily on the works of others in other to create the proposed article.

   Thus, to avoid this, direct quotations in a written piece should be used as scarcely as possible. You can paraphrase or summarize the information and still give credit to the writer instead of resorting to direct quotations.

4. Make proper use of the ‘track changes’ feature in MS Word.

   Writers who use Microsoft word can keep a record of the changes they’ve made to a document with the aid of the ‘track changes’ option. This is so because it permits the user to examine any edits made to the document and confirm that any content added or changed is original and not plagiarized.

   This is a useful plagiarism checker tip. The feature normally contains a list of all modifications, the added, removed, or changed text, and the date and time the modification was made.

5. Refrain from purchasing pre-written academic papers or making use of essay mills.

   The major issue associated with purchasing pre-written academic papers is the inability to comprehend or tell whether or not the work collected or purchased was or is heavily plagiarized. Often, the promise of complete accuracy may not be valid.

   Thus, if you choose to go through this route, it is vital always to proofread the article or paper yourself multiple times or run it through a paraphrasing checker software such as Turnitin, Grammarly, etc.

6. Record all the sources consulted in a written piece for proper referencing.

   Consulting and tracking all the sources cited while writing a paper could be extremely stressful. Nonetheless, it is vital to note that to avoid plagiarism, it is important to cite all the sources used in a written piece properly. Software or technological tools such as Mendeley and Google Scholar can help to make this task much easier.

7. Always use proper referencing styles.

   In academic papers, referencing styles tend to differ depending on the proposed academic field. For instance, for social sciences such as psychology, sociology, etc., the American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style is the selected form of referencing style which ought to be used.

   Thus, to avoid gaining a heavy plagiarism score, using the recommended referencing style for your field of study is vital.

8. Stick to the plagiarism policies of your institution or organization.

   Sticking to your institution’s or organisation’s plagiarism policies is another important way to avoid curating heavily plagiarized pieces. Every institution ought to have a set of rules and regulations governing plagiarism. Thus, it is vital to conduct proper research, figure out these policies and adhere to them.

9. Paraphrasing could go a long way.

   By rephrasing or rewording information from a source, paraphrasing is a crucial plagiarism checker tip that can assist you in avoiding plagiarism. When paraphrasing, credit the original author and use your language and sentence structure to communicate the same meaning as the source.

10. Use a plagiarism checker on all written content, regardless of its nature.

    Use plagiarism detection software on all types of work (including, but not restricted to, books, journals, websites, etc.) as a way to ensure originality and prevent plagiarism.

    These applications may check your work for plagiarism by scanning it and comparing it to a database of sources, including books, papers, and websites. Examples of plagiarism checker software that can be used include; CopyScape, Turnitin, Grammarly, etc.

11. Frequently update your plagiarism checker software or tools.

    A key recommendation for keeping plagiarism checker tools and software current and reliable is to update them frequently. The software will have more access to fresh data sources and be better at spotting plagiarism the more recent it is.

12. Recognize the academic and legal implications of plagiarism.

    The best way to become aware of a situation is by being aware of its repercussions or implications. In this context, plagiarism is a serious violation of academic and professional integrity and could attract serious punishments.

    Academically, for instance, it could result in constant course failure or, in extreme situations, expulsion from the institution. This could ruin future plans or dreams such as scholarship pursuit, internship or job opportunities, etc. It is vital to keep this in mind when creating an academic piece.

13. Before submitting a written piece, always proofread.

    Proofreading can be regarded as a two-way street in that it could aid a writer in singling out the errors in a written piece and detecting its originality. This can be done by spotting the areas where sources were poorly cited or not cited in the written piece. Thus, it is vital to proofread as much as possible before submitting a written piece.

14. Use multiple plagiarism checker tools to detect plagiarism in a written piece.

    There are diverse plagiarism checker tools which can be used to detect plagiarism in a written piece. Examples of such tools include; Grammarly, CopyScape, Turnitin, etc. Running the written documents through multiple plagiarism checkers to ascertain or ensure complete accuracy is possible.

    It is also vital to note that no program for checking for plagiarism can guarantee 100% correctness, so it is crucial to thoroughly proofread the material before turning in any work.

15. Check for plagiarism in both the text and the sources.

    It is crucial to evaluate the sources you are using in addition to the material you are working with when looking for plagiarism. This is because plagiarism can happen when someone uses information from a source without properly referencing it.

    This is also when someone copies and pastes content from a source. You can ensure that you capture all instances of plagiarism, whether straight copying or paraphrasing, by checking the content and the sources.

16. Use plagiarism detection software that checks against a variety of sources.

    Using plagiarism detection software which checks against various sources is a vital plagiarism detector tip. This is so because it enhances the likelihood of finding information that has been plagiarized.

17. .Manually review your work after using plagiarism checkers.

    Although it is not always accurate, plagiarism detection software can be a valuable tool for finding plagiarism in a piece of writing. However, after reviewing this software, it is vital to personally analyze the work to ensure that any highlighted instances of plagiarism were genuinely plagiarized and not false alarms.