How to avoid plagiarism?

It is common to fall victim to plagiarism while writing. Plagiarism is the practice of using someone else’s work or ideas and presenting them as your own without acknowledging or citing the original creator.

Both search engines and educational institutions take plagiarism seriously. So, whether you are a blogger, writer, or student, you need to produce unique content to gain the desired results. Ignoring even minor plagiarism can make your work doubtful and land you in hot waters.

In this blog post, we will share some useful tips that may be helpful in avoiding and removing plagiarism from your written work. Let’s talk about these tips in detail below.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, Plagiarism is:

“The practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own”

Try to Add Your Original Thoughts & Style (Don’t Copy Word For Word)

Whenever you feel the need to refer to definitions or others' statements, try to write in your own words. It will help you set your work apart from the rest.

Try to incorporate your ideas and writing style so that the resulting work truly represents you. It will reduce your chances of falling victim to plagiarism and readers will have a perception of you being the original creator.

Content filled with personal anecdotes is appreciated by both readers and algorithms that search engines employ to rank a web page. So, don’t hesitate to play with your original thoughts.

Use Quotation Marks

If your work involves quoting others to support your claim, be sure to use quotation marks. Using quotes is a good practice, giving an impression that you are honest in respecting others’ ideas and sources. Quotes are usually written between inverted commas, also known as quotation marks.  

If you want to use someone else’s words in your text, place quotation marks around the copied text and mention where it is taken from. This way you can use other sources’ text without falling under plagiarism. 

However, quotes should not make up the most of your work. If possible, you can use your own words to refer to others instead of using their statements word by word. Let’s break it down through examples:

Examples:

• "It always seems impossible until it's done." - Nelson Mandela
• Elon Musk said ‘’When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.’’
  

Don’t Forget to Cite the Source