Is it possible to create content that is completely original?
It is but many students struggle with writing engaging, informative content that is substantially different from anything that can be found online. There is a thin line between paraphrasing and plagiarism, so sometimes, a lot of students find themselves unintentionally plagiarizing another’s work. It is difficult (but important) to learn how to cite original sources correctly and master the fine art of paraphrasing.
Read on to know more about different types of plagiarism, understand the differences between paraphrasing, quoting and summarizing, and learn how to use these methods to create well-researched, high quality, ORIGINAL content.
What Is Plagiarism and How It Can Hurt You
Writing and research are integral parts of the school and college experience. Sometimes, a heavy course load or plain laziness can drive students to use someone else’s work or ideas, wholly or in part, without citing or crediting the original source and pass it off as their own. Plagiarism can be a deliberate act of stealing; it can also happen accidentally, through forgetfulness or carelessness.
With plagiarism detection software so easily available, it is really quite easy to catch plagiarists. However, the consequences can be devastating for a student.
Academic institutions take plagiarism very seriously. Accusations of plagiarism can destroy a student’s reputation and cause them to be suspended or expelled. If their academic record reflects the offense, they will be barred from entering college or be transferred to another college.
The damage does not stop there though. Plagiarism can even tarnish a student’s professional and/or academic reputation and may even have legal repercussions.
Types of Plagiarism
While nothing can mitigate the consequences and after effects of being caught plagiarizing, it is important to remember that not all acts of plagiarism and their consequences are alike.
Here are the five major types of plagiarism:
- Complete plagiarism is the deliberate act of taking an entire document or manuscript written by someone else and passing it off as one’s own, without attribution or quotation marks. This is tantamount to intellectual thievery and is grounds for severe disciplinary action, including expulsion.
- Direct plagiarism is akin to complete plagiarism except that it occurs when an author copies portions of another author’s work rather than the whole, without attribution or quotation marks. This is not as serious as the first but is still considered a serious infraction of academic rules and calls for disciplinary action.
- Self-plagiarism occurs when an author, usually a published researcher, duplicates or reuses significant sections of their previously published work without attribution. The seriousness of self-plagiarism is debatable, although many academic journals have strict rules regarding the reuse of one’s own previously published work.
- Accidental or unintentional plagiarism occurs when an author does not cite their sources or misquotes them. It also occurs when they unintentionally paraphrase the source material without attribution. Cases of accidental plagiarism are taken seriously and are subject to the same academic disciplinary action as the other types of plagiarism.
How to Avoid Plagiarism – Useful Tips
- Keep track of the materials you consult in your research.
- Document and cite these materials. This is also known as “citing your sources.” The three most commonly used citation styles are the American Psychological Association (APA), the Modern Language Association (MLA), and the Chicago Manual of Style.
- Use quotation marks to directly quote your sources and give the author credit. For a research paper, this can be done in the footnotes, parenthetical remarks, an in-text citation, a reference list, or a bibliography.
- Run your work through a plagiarism checker before submission.
3 Techniques to Avoid Plagiarism
When you aren’t directly quoting, there are three ways of incorporating other people’s work/ideas into your own writing without running the risk of deliberate or unintentional plagiarism.
1. Paraphrasing
Sometimes you like the content of something you’re reading, and you want to restate those ideas in your own words. That’s paraphrasing. It is the process of interpreting, understanding, and organizing another person’s ideas in your writing. Remember that the source material of your paraphrase must be acknowledged/cited as a professional courtesy.
A paraphrase is a slightly shorter and more condensed version of the source material that encompasses a broader section of the original. A well-paraphrased idea represents your unique perspective of another’s work while still giving the original author the credit they deserve.
How to Paraphrase a Text
- Read the text carefully and note down important points. Leave out information that is not relevant to your work.
- Identify synonyms or equivalent phrases that preserve the meaning of the original text.
- Rewrite the original text from your notes. Make sure to simplify the grammar and vocabulary and adjust the word and sentence order.
- Break down long sentences into shorter ones and remove complex clauses.
- If it is necessary to use the same terminology or wording as the original, highlight the identical sections using quotation marks.
- Use a signal phrase such as “In Stolen Words, Thomas Mallon suggests” to signal to readers that the following words are a paraphrase.
- Compare your work with the original to make sure it is simple, clear, and does not change the meaning or idea of the original.
2. Quoting
As previously mentioned, you can also present an idea/piece of information from another’s work word-for-word in your writing using quotation marks. You can, however, quote only a narrow section of the original, and the quotation must be an exact match of the source with proper citation of the original author. It is also permissible to include quotations within a paraphrase. Using a long string of quotes, however, is still considered plagiarism. Quoting should be done sparingly; make sure you have a good reason to include a quotation in your writing.
Use quotes when:
- It is impossible to paraphrase the original content without changing the meaning.
- You need to use an exact definition in its original form.
- It is important to maintain the style and authority of the original text.
3. Summarizing
Unlike a paraphrase, a summary involves transcribing only the main ideas of the source material into your own words. A summary is significantly shorter than the original and takes a brief overview of the material. A summary of an entire research paper or essay, for instance, would consist of a single paragraph or a few bullet points in your own words and style. Summaries skimp on unnecessary details or examples, simplify arguments, tone down grammar or vocabulary, and focus only on key points. Summaries eliminate unnecessary information to save the reader’s time and improve their understanding.
How to Summarize a Text
- Read the text you’re summarizing to get a general idea of the content. Pay special attention to the title, introduction, headings and subheadings, and conclusion.
- Read it again carefully to build comprehension and correct any initial misinterpretations.
- Take concise notes using bullet points. Use only 1 key word for each point.
- Make sure your notes include only the really important points.
- Edit or polish your notes to write your final summary. Numbered lists or bullet points are acceptable formats for summaries. However, since research paper abstracts, marketing copy. or press releases require regular prose, you can turn each bullet point into a full sentence and write a paragraph as summary.
- Use your own notes to write the summary and avoid referring to the source material. This will eliminate any unintentional plagiarism.
- Check that your summary is a brief but informative recapitulation of the source material written in your own words, leaving out superfluous details.
Paraphrases, quotations, and summaries serve a variety of purposes:
- Supporting points in your thesis or adding credibility to claims
- Providing several perspectives on a subject
- Highlighting facts/points of view you support or oppose
- Calling attention to a passage or sentence by quoting the original
- Referencing previous work/s on the subject that lead up to your work
- Adding depth or breadth to your work
- Distancing you from the source material using quotes to alert readers to the fact that the words are not yours
Students striving to do original research and writing will greatly benefit from incorporating practices such as citing sources properly and using techniques such as paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting (with attribution). These help to avoid plagiarism, build credibility, and lead to better comprehension of a topic or course of study.