Plagiarism is the act of claiming the ideas or words of others as your own. Plagiarism is a serious act and can result in losing one's job or being expelled from school; but it can easily be avoided. Plagiarism often occurs simply because the writer is unaware of the guidelines on how to properly credit words or ideas that come from other sources. There are many excellent resources on the web providing guidance and plagiarism checker tools that can help writers avoid plagiarism.
Quick Tips
Write without looking at the original text, the go back to it to check for inaccuraces.
Cite any information that is not common knowledge with a proper reference
Be clear to the reader when writing ideas or information which is not your own.
Avoid too many quotations; try to use them only when needed to convey that which can not be clearly stated in your own words.
Do not copy form or structure; this can be plagiarism also.
Learn the rules regarding plagiarism from the many sources availabe online.
Use web tools to check your own work for plagiarism.
Learn the rules regarding plagiarism from the many sources availabe online.
General Tips on How to Avoid Plagiarism
Credit the source within the summarized or paraphrased text and use the proper form of citations according to the style you are using.
If possible, write without looking at the original text. Often, plagiarism is unintentional and can be avoided by relying on your memory of what you have learned from your research and then returning to the original source to check accuracy.
Check your text for inacurracies and for words or phrases that are too similar to the original source.
Check your text for similarities to the original in form or structure. In addition to the copying of words or phrases, copying the form or structure of the original work can also be a form of plagiarism.
Be sure to use quotation marks to indicate where text taken from the original source, such as those that convey a specific point of view of the original author, can't be accurately paraphrased, or contain unique words or phrases. Use these quotations judiciously.
Use a block-style quotation for longer passages, but avoid doing so frequently. Use only the text necessary to convey the point to the reader. Avoid quoting an entire paragraph and use short quotations if possible.
Use brackets within quotations to add words which will add context or make the quotation more understandable to the reader, but never change or add words which editorialize or alter the original author's message.
Use ellipsis points to indicate omitted text. Three points indicate words omitted within the sentence; four points indicates omitted text between sentences.
Avoid using too many quotes, as this will take away from the impact of your original writing.
Remember that plagiarism does not only concern written works but can arise from use of any knowledge that is not your own (and is not common knowledge) when not properly cited.
Consult a variety of sources of information regarding plagiarism (there are many available on the web) and pay specific attention to the rules for the format or style within which you are working.
Use web tools to scan your work and check for plagiarism.
Mahalo Anti-Plagiarism Tool
How to use the Mahalo Anti-Plagiarism Tool:
Create an empty bookmark, name it, paste the following into the "Location" field, then save it (Javascript must be enabled in your browser):
javascript:q%20=%20%20+%20(window.getSelection%C2%A0?%20window.getSelection()%C2%A0:%20document.getSelection%C2%A0?%20document.getSelection()%C2%A0:%20document.selection.createRange().text);%20if%20(!q)%20q%20=%20prompt('Search%20words',%20);%20if%20(q!=null)%20location='%20http://www.google.com/search?q=%22%20'%20+%20escape(q).replace(/%20/g,%20'+')%20+%20'%22';%20void%200
To check questionable text, highlight a portion of that text, then click the bookmarklet. It will run a Google search, tell you the source of the material (if any). For more information, see Mahalo Anti-Plagiarism Tool.
