Whether you’re a student writing an essay or a professional journalist writing articles on the daily, you’ll have to do plenty of research. Combing through articles written by others and research papers can help you obtain facts and figures that are relevant to your topic.
However, a mistake that many writers make is that they unknowingly plagiarize the material they use by duplicating the content on to their own projects. This is not only unethical but is also considered to be a crime in many cases. Writers usually make this mistake because they don’t know what counts as plagiarism, and how to use and cite their sources properly. Hence, it’s important to use sites to check for plagiarism before submitting any piece of work.
But what exactly is plagiarism? Not only does it include copying someone else’s words, but it also refers to passing off another person’s ideas as your own. So how can a writer draw upon information from another person’s work in an acceptable way? We’ve compiled 5 simple steps down below that a writer can take to avoid duplicating information.
1. Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is a rather tricky concept to understand. A widely held misconception is that simply copying and pasting some text and replacing a few words or changing the positions of the sentences counts as paraphrasing. If you paraphrase in this manner, your content will likely be flagged by a copy content checker as plagiarized and thus will be rejected.
A good way to paraphrase is to read the relevant text a few times, making sure to properly grasp the information the writer is trying to convey, and then write down your version without looking back at the original text. This ensures that the content you write is in your own words and will pass any plagiarism filter.
2. Quoting The Source (News - Alert)
Often there are times when you have to use the same words as the source. For example, when quoting what the author has said in a literary piece, quoting a historic speech, or introducing a certain view that you wish to comment on. In these cases, you can copy the text, but you must make it clear what part you have copied by using quotation marks, don’t try to pass it off as your own. You should try to copy as little as you can if you want your material to be cleared by a plagiarism filter.
It is not necessary to use quotations if use information that is widely known, either amongst the whole population (important historical dates, generally accepted facts) or amongst the community that you are writing for (using equations and formulae that are well by mathematicians when writing a paper for them).
3. Citing The Material Used
When quoting or paraphrasing, it is essential that you also cite the original material that you used. You must use both in-text citations and a bibliography at the end. It’s advisable that you keep updating your bibliography with sources as you use them, rather than doing it all at the end because you might end up missing a source.
What many people also do not know, and might fail to believe, is that you should also cite yourself if you’re using some of your previous work. This may seem unnecessary, but if you don't do this, your work can get flagged for plagiarism. This also allows the reader to access your previous work easily.
4. Use Sites To Detect Plagiarism
The best way to pass a copy content checker is by using one yourself. A quick search on the internet will give you a free duplicate content checker that is simple and easy to use. To check for duplicates online, all you have to do is copy your content and paste it onto the specific area in the checker. Once you run it, the checker will determine whether what you wrote is plagiarized or not, saving you from feeling embarrassed in case it gets flagged when your professor runs it. These sites are completely safe to use and are used daily by hundreds of users – students, teachers, writers alike!
5. Include Your Own Ideas
A very easy way to avoid duplicates is to base your essay on your own ideas. Your essay is supposed to use your own thoughts and opinions to build upon existing ideas. You can use sources to back your claims with supporting evidence, but don’t copy someone else’s ideas. After all, your essay is not supposed to be a regurgitation of the original author’s work.
You must give your own thoughts or point-of-view on the matter, which you can form to relating the topic to your personal experiences. If you incorporate your own ideas but are still scared of getting flagged for plagiarism, use a copy content checker to double-check your work. Remember that your take on the matter is what will make your essay stand out and will ensure that it’ll stand out.
Conclusion
Imagine working immensely hard on an essay, only to find out that your hard work was rejected and went to waste because it got flagged for duplication. Not only can that be annoying, but it can also get you in a lot of trouble in school or college – whether the duplication was intentional or not.
When doing your assignment, take special precautions to cite the sources you use correctly. More importantly, aim to build up your own ideas. Luckily, you can use these five steps and online sites to check for plagiarism and avoid duplication in all your assignments. The more you practice doing them, the easier it’ll become to write assignments with no duplication.
