How To Avoid Plagiarism – Strategies & Consequences

Avoiding plagiarism is essential for any researcher, especially in the sphere of academic writing. Plagiarism refers to the act of passing the ideas, words, or work of someone else as one’s own without giving proper credit to the original source. Depending on the type of plagiarism, this can cause ethical controversies and serious consequences. Thus, it is essential to have a good understanding of citing sources properly and paraphrasing productively. This article will delve into how to avoid plagiarism.

To our “Plagiarism” article

How to avoid it

Below, you’ll find several points that help you avoid plagiarism, which we will then further elaborate on in the rest of the article.

• Start your assignment early
• Create original ideas
• Don’t reuse assignments
• Note your citations when drafting
• Properly cite your sources
• Paraphrase
• Use quotation marks
• Use AI responsibly, if permitted
• Proofread your work
• Use plagiarism checkers

Why is plagiarism so bad?

Plagiarism can be a form of cheating, depending on the type, but first and foremost, it is an unethical practice that can severely impact your academic career since you are effectively stealing intellectual property. As a student, this act can lead to low grades, outright failure of a course, or even suspension and expulsion from the institution. Since this can affect your master’s or bachelor’s degree, you need to know how to avoid plagiarism as much as possible.

10 strategies to prevent plagiarism

Plagiarism isn’t always intentional. Oftentimes, it stems from poor planning, misunderstanding citation rules, or when a researcher is relying too heavily on sources. The strategies below will help you maintain academic honesty and avoid common mistakes.

Start your assignment early

Rushing definitely increases the temptation to copy or skip proper citation and make mistakes. So, give yourself enough time to think out your ideas, research, and write thoughtfully.

Create original ideas

Seems pretty obvious, but your assignments should always reflect your own understanding. Instead of simply restating other people’s work, analyse, question, and build on what you learn.

Don’t reuse assignments

Recycling your own work for different classes (also known as self-plagiarism) can violate academic policies when you don’t have permission to do so. Always check with your instructor before reusing your content.

Note your citations when drafting

As you gather sources, keep detailed notes on where ideas and quotes come from. For example, use different text highlighters when paraphrasing, using a direct quotation, or stating a claim that requires a source. This makes citation easier later and helps you avoid unintentional plagiarism.

Properly cite your sources

Whether you’re quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing, always credit the original author using the appropriate citation style. It is important to cite sources used for your paper, as this allows readers to locate the source if they want to learn more about the topic. You should cite your sources whenever you quote or paraphrase the original text. This could be done using:

• In-text citations
• Footnote citations
• Reference lists
• Bibliographies

There are many citation styles you can use, and the most popular are APA style, MLA, and Chicago style. You should stick to a single citation style throughout your paper. Also, make sure you check whether your professor requires you to use a particular citation style.

Paraphrase

Don’t just swap out a few words with synonyms, restate ideas in your own voice while still preserving the original meaning, and still include a citation. Many students are simply tempted to change some words in the sentence, as this can beat plagiarism checkers. However, this is the wrong way to paraphrase and still counts as plagiarism. Instead, you have to reformulate the sentence. You can also combine ideas from different sources into one sentence.

Use quotation marks

When you’re using someone else’s exact words, enclose them in quotation marks and include a proper citation to clearly distinguish them from your own writing. If the quote is long, you should use block quotes.

Here are some instances where you should use quotation marks to avoid plagiarism:

• When you’re unable to paraphrase the text without affecting its meaning
• When you need to evaluate the terms or language used by the author
• When you need to keep the author’s style and authority
• If you want to use the author’s definition

Use AI responsibly, if permitted

AI tools can support your work, but only if allowed by your institution. Never use AI to write your assignments or bypass original thinking. Although AI detectors aren’t always reliable, if you use it, then make sure to use it responsibly, e.g., help with grammar and typos.

Proofread your work

Carefully review your final draught by proofreading your work to catch citation errors, missing references, or unclear paraphrasing before submission.

Use plagiarism checkers

Before submitting, run your work through a plagiarism checker (or plagiarism detector) to catch unintentional issues and make sure to use proper citation throughout.