Imagine crafting the content you love, working until you’ve got what you think is perfect, only to wake up next morning and find the label “plagiarism” on your text. As impossible as it sounds, many creators might actually experience this unpleasant situation just because they are inattentive to details or don’t remember the meaning of some key terms.
What is plagiarizing content? That question is easy once you’ve learned the basics. There can’t be any practical solutions to this problem without a little background. So let’s define plagiarism, see why it can happen unintentionally, and look at some of the best ways to avoid it.
Plagiarism definition and types
We need to know exactly what the issue is before establishing how to avoid it. In simple words, plagiarism is when a person steals the idea or a ready work created by someone else and publishes that content under their name. However, if you cite the materials by a different author incorrectly, an automatic plagiarism check might also classify that as theft. Let’s look at what plagiarism types exist and what conditions they need to happen.
- Global is the kind of plagiarism where you straight up steal someone else’s work. It can be anything, from designing a cabinet or a video to a scientific investigation that took years to complete. Taking the creation and saying, “I made this!” rarely pays off, but dishonest people do it anyway. Still, it’s hardly possible to do that accidentally.
- Incremental plagiarism is less obvious. That’s when you insert the parts of a different work into your content. Citations can solve or ruin everything in this case. Surely, including an idea and referencing the author can do you no harm, but only if you remember to use quotation marks and follow the right format.
- Mosaic plagiarism is no better. Also called patchwork plagiarism, this type is about combining the bits of your text with the pieces taken from different sources. It’s really hard to create something like that by accident unless you’re really unsure about your content or there’s a specific task to find lots of resources for it.
- Self-plagiarism is, perhaps, the trickiest among them all. It presupposes that someone takes an idea they’ve already used and throws it into an entirely different piece of writing. You need to have good memory and concentration to minimize the risk of falling into this trap.
How unintentional plagiarism can happen
As the term suggests, unintentional plagiarism happens by accident. Some people might think that it can only occur to inexperienced writers who don’t know a lot about their responsibilities. In fact, almost anyone can get an unpleasant notification, even if they didn’t try to deceive the plagiarism checker used by universities. That’s why every creator needs to know the key reasons behind accidental plagiarism and try to avoid those factors. Let’s look at some of them.
You might be in a hurry. Time management issues can hurt your content because proper references demand a scrupulous and not hasty approach. However, it’s not always possible to plan the writing process in advance, so incorrect references can become an unpleasant outcome. Experience can reduce this risk, but only self-discipline will help you eliminate it.
Working with a new topic can add stress, causing us to miss important details. Most writers get really anxious if they’re new to the subject they need to describe, which may entail lots and lots of quotes. It’s twice as hard to paraphrase everything well and keep track of all quotation marks when you’ve got too many, so an automatic system can mistake this approach for mosaic plagiarism.
Forgetting to proofread is another mistake nobody should make. Skipping this step might cause many issues, and unintentional plagiarism is certainly one of them. Even if your structure is perfect, and you don’t have too many quotes, you might get something wrong on the first try, which is perfectly normal.
You might have insufficient concentration. We need an extraordinary attention span to write content with references really well. Nevertheless, the human factor sometimes wins, so we miss the seemingly obvious details, like the lack of in-text citations. Everyone knows what happens after that.
What to do to avoid plagiarism in your content
Being attentive is a great strategy, but it’s not enough. If you want the plagiarism checker that colleges use to give your text a 100% uniqueness score, you have to use specific strategies. Here are some of them.
- Cite the ideas of other authors right after finding them. This approach might sound annoying, but it saves your time and gives you an opportunity to write without thinking about formalities later on. Moreover, you can create a rigorous reference list before even creating the introduction, so you’ll only have to check it at the final stage.
- Paraphrase with a different structure. If you choose to convey the idea by another author in your own words, don’t hesitate to change the grammatical layout of the sentence instead of replacing separate words. That way, you will cite the thought while the formulation will be your own.
- Cite consistently and include a full reference list at the end of your work. This means you’ll have to create in-text and bibliography citations for all authors whose ideas you use, even if you have only taken the core principle. It’s also important to mention every author who is on the “works cited” list in the text.
- Double check all references while proofreading your content. Proofreading is the tool that helps fix poor paraphrasing, double check the in-text citations, and make your text as perfect as it gets. Most people ignore references at this stage, but you have to review them even if you’ve created a bibliography in advance or while sitting on the barcalounger. Pay attention to the dates, page numbers, and italics where necessary. Make sure that in-text citations are consistent with the reference list.
Bottom line
Hopefully, these tips will help you create unique content without being afraid of the college plagiarism checker. You can boost your confidence by practicing paraphrasing and creating references in different styles in your spare time, or you can make sure to get everything right as you go. It’s important to understand that everybody fails, so you shouldn’t be hard on yourself if you get something wrong at first. The most valuable thing is the ability to learn from mistakes, upgrading your skills. Additionally, there’s no shame in asking someone more experienced for help. In other words, do your best, reach out to others, and you’re certain to succeed.
