What is Plagiarism

Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgment. The following are types of plagiarism and ways he to overcome them;
Direct plagiarism It is also known as copy-paste or verbatim plagiarism. It is unethical and an intentional form of stealing someone else’s work or writing. As the name suggests, students write word for word from either published or unpublished writings into their piece of work. It is a severe form of plagiarism and often results in expulsion or disciplinary actions from the learning organizations. Here’s an example of direct plagiarism.

Example01;’’My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get”

 Example02;’’My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates.You don’t know what you will get.”

        Self plagiarism; It is also known as auto-plagiarism. It occurs when an individual copy’s their writings either intentionally or not. Most commonly a person during self-plagiarism is summarizing their piece of work rather than writing a whole content from scratch on a similar concept. You may think self-plagiarism is not harmful as you are not stealing somebody else’s work. Some common examples of self-plagiarism are explained below.

Example; Using phrases or sections more than three words long from previously proposed work into a new OR handing over few new sections in writing which has already been submitted in another unit.

        Mosaic Plagiarism; With this type of plagiarism, people use synonyms to replace the words of the original piece and represent the paper as their writing. People use the writer’s central idea, and perspectives by just making changes in a couple of words or sentences. Often scholars restate other’s work with their vocabulary without reforming the central objective or meaning of the original writing. It is often difficult to detect mosaic plagiarism as the content is interwoven with several sources along with the author’s ideas and arguments.It is the type of plagiarism that is done using more than one source. The writer tries to provide the content using their sentences and wording.

        Accidental plagiarism; Plagiarism does not always occur on purpose. It is still regarded as plagiarized content when you copy someone else’s work without citing the source, incorrectly cite the sources, or omit quotation marks on accident. Just because improper citation or omission was accidental does not mean plagiarism has not been committed. Hence, it is significant for you to check any information taken and written when in doubt and cite the source properly. It commonly occurs in cases when you misquote the used sources, use sentence structure without attribution, or group the words without attribution.

        Paraphrasing plagiarism; It is also known as incremental plagiarism. With this type of plagiarism, a student commonly takes or copies a central argument or few essential concepts from somebody else’s writings. After applying a few synonyms and restricting the words, they add the content in their piece of work and represent it as their own but without proper attribution. If you will write proper citations including credits and references, then it would not be regarded as plagiarism. Moreover, if you take ideas, sentences, work, and not only this you also translate words from somebody else’s work written in another language and do not cite sources, credit, or references then it would be regarded as paraphrasing plagiarism.

        Cite your source; When alluding to an idea or wording that’s not your own, add a citation in your writing that identifies the full name of the source, the date it was published, and any other citation element that’s required by the style guide you’re adhering to.

        Include quarations; If you insert a source’s words into your writing, verbatim, one of the most simple yet obvious ways to avoid plagiarism is by using quotation marks around the text to denote that the words are not your own. A direct quote should also cite the source so that readers know who the quote is from.

        Paraphrase; Paraphrasing is rewriting a source’s ideas or information into your own words, without changing its meaning. But be careful—paraphrasing can slip into plagiarism if done incorrectly.Successfully paraphrasing without plagiarizing involves a bit of a dance. Reword and format your writing in an original way, and try to avoid using too many similar words or phrases from the source. The key is to do so without altering the meaning of the idea itself. Remember, you are still using another’s idea so you will need to include a citation to the source.

        present your own idea; Instead of parroting the source’s ideas or words, explore what you have to say about it. Ask yourself what unique perspective or point you can contribute in your writing that’s entirely your own. Keep in mind that if you are alluding to a source’s ideas or words to frame your own point, you will still need to apply the guidelines above to avoid plagiarizing.

        Use a plagiarism checker; While conducting your research on a topic, some phrases or sentences might stick with you so well that you inadvertently include them in your writing without a citation. When in doubt, using an online plagiarism checking tool can help you catch these issues before submitting your work.

        Generally;plagiarism is a very offense act which can lead to academic cancellation of results or summary dissmissal from academic works therefore writers should adhere to plagiarism guidelines so as to keep free from plagiarism cases such as incremental plagiarism.