How Can Students Avoid Unintentional Plagiarism?
Students often gather helpful data from various sources, paraphrase it slightly, and submit it as is. And that’s where they make a huge mistake. They fall prey to unintentional plagiarism.
Remember, plagiarism, in any form, whether intentional or unintentional, is harmful to students and researchers. Although you may not intend to plagiarize others’ work, unintentional plagiarism can ruin your work and credibility. Therefore, no matter what, you must not overlook it.
Is accidental plagiarism also bothering you? There is nothing to worry about. In this guide, we will share some practical tips to avoid it and ensure originality. Before that, let’s learn what it is!
Unintentional Plagiarism – Definition
Unintentional plagiarism happens when you use someone else’s work without giving them credit. However, in this type of plagiarism, you don’t want to steal their work. Instead, it happens by mistake. For instance, it might occur when you forget to cite a quote, paraphrase too closely, or copy a fact, thinking it’s common knowledge, but it isn’t.
Types of Unintentional Plagiarism
Here are some common types of unintentional plagiarism:
Forgetting to Cite Sources
It happens when you read something from another source, add it to your academic assignment, and forget to cite the sources.
Using Quotes Without Quotation Marks
This occurs when you copy exact quotes and mention the source, but don’t add quotation marks. Although you have cited the source, you didn’t clarify that you copied the exact words.
Patchwriting
This one’s tricky. Sometimes, students change a few words here and there but keep the structure of the original. It still counts as plagiarism.
Self-Plagiarism
Universities prohibit submitting the same work twice, even if you wrote it. Repurposing old material without permission or citation is considered self-plagiarism and can lead to penalties.
How Students Can Avoid Unintentional Plagiarism?
Thoroughly Research Your Topic
First of all, start with a real understanding. Don’t just collect quotes and paraphrased paragraphs. Instead, read multiple sources, learn the material, and understand the topic. This way, your ideas will naturally form around what you know. Otherwise, you might unintentionally write what someone else has written in their articles.
The better your research process, the lower your risk of accidental copying. To ensure this, read at least four to five studies on the same topic. It will help you grasp the knowledge and learn how to bring diversity to your content.
Manage Your Time Well
Never leave your work for the last minute. This leads to various costly mistakes. For instance, when you are rushing, you forget citations. Also, you might want to grab content from the first page on Google, paraphrase it carelessly, and consider it unique. But when you submit it, you realize it’s not.
Therefore, it’s better to plan. For effective time management, break down different tasks into chunks. Moreover, allocate time for each task, including research, writing, proofreading, and editing. Eventually, you will be able to cover everything on time and have enough time to check the text for plagiarism and remove all instances of duplicate content.
Use Quotation Marks for Direct Quotes
Missing quotation marks are one of the top causes of unintentional plagiarism. Avoiding it is not difficult at all. In fact, it requires only a few seconds. If you are using someone’s exact words, wrap them in quotation marks, even if it’s just one sentence or a phrase. Then, follow it with a citation. Otherwise, it looks like you wrote it.
Paraphrase Content Effectively
Paraphrasing is very crucial in academic writing. Almost every student and researcher uses this technique to ensure originality. However, remember, paraphrasing isn’t about changing a few words. It’s about re-expressing the idea in your voice.
To paraphrase the text, read it thoroughly and grasp the message. After that, take a break and write it in your own words and style. Also, once you paraphrase something, don’t forget to mention the source. The paraphrased text still belongs to someone else. Therefore, you must give credit to the actual author and not claim ownership.
Cite All Sources
If you have collected information from a book, website, research paper, or even a YouTube video, cite it immediately. Citation isn’t just about direct quotes. It’s for ideas, stats, arguments, and data, too. So, make sure to cite all your sources and don’t take ownership of anything that originally didn’t belong to you.
Also, make sure to use the correct format for citations. There are plenty of citation styles, including APA, MLA, Chicago, etc. Each has its own rules, and they matter a lot. Use the one suggested by your institute.
Develop Your Own Voice
Having a unique writing style can also make a huge difference. It’s one of your biggest weapons against accidental plagiarism. When you have a distinctive style, you can easily pick helpful information from other sources, use it in your assignment, and avoid plagiarism easily.
The stronger your voice, the less you will lean on others’ words. That lowers the risk of copying by accident. Therefore, you must improve your writing prowess and develop a unique style that’s not borrowed from elsewhere. To build a unique voice, you must read multiple types of content regularly, practice writing daily, analyze your strengths and weaknesses, and improve your style over time.
Check Plagiarism
Finally, run a plagiarism check to spot all instances of plagiarism in your work. However, don’t trust any random plagiarism checker. Instead, choose the best option that is renowned for identifying all types of plagiarism and providing detailed reports. Having a trusted plagiarism checker on your side can help you instantly detect all the duplicate segments and prevent all the penalties.
Once you spot plagiarism in your text, address it immediately. For that purpose, you can either rewrite it in your own words or add citations. Both methods can help you avoid plagiarism and its consequences and ensure that your work is 100% unique.
Conclusion
Yes, unintentional plagiarism is harmful to students. But avoiding it isn’t very difficult. By doing enough research, paraphrasing the text, citing your sources, and adding quotation marks when required, you can easily avoid plagiarism and ensure uniqueness. Finally, check the entire text for plagiarism, and if the plagiarism detector spots a few duplicate segments, adjust the content accordingly. You are good to go.