Since you’re reading the article about how to deal with plagiarism, you probably know that the educational institutions started using special software to detect cheating, and it has become everybody’s pain in the neck. No wonder – now you have to master the discipline you’re working on and your writing skills as well. If you want to know how to avoid plagiarism, we’ll help you eliminate your academic-integrity-issue.
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So, what is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is about claiming someone’s intellectual/artwork to be your own. Today, most of the student plagiarism cases refer to writing essays and other types of academic papers; however, some of them might happen without any bad intention from your side.
Here is our list of tips to avoid plagiarism:
1. Use plagiarism checkers before your professor does.
The plagerism checker is a software category that runs through your text and defines the four (or more) word combinations used in other existing texts. There is a wide range of free software – various essay plagiarism checkers like https://newyorkessays.com/plagiarism-checker/ to help you determine the academic plagiarism cases in your paper.
What nuances do you need to know about plagiarism checkers?
- Some of the cliché phrases like “to be or not to be” might not get highlighted. The same thing is about prepositions/conjunctions/interjections, linking phrases (e.g., in the same fashion), and common terms (e.g., human sensory nervous system).
- When you’re working with accurate data like facts, terms, numbers, and their combinations, you have to be aware of ways to avoid plagiarism. If one sentence has the set of the same notions, it might also get highlighted.
- Different plagiarism checkers have a different architecture, thus, the results of your plagiarism check might vary from the one introduced by your professor. The solution is using a few websites to ensure your academic integrity.
2. Cite your sources and take care of your reference page
Sometimes, juggling with professional vocabulary might seem impossible due to accurate linguistic constructions you cannot omit. It especially refers to essays on biology, chemistry, physics, and medicine.
That’s why most of the highlighted phrases in your essay are probably inappropriately used sources. What can you do to avoid plagiarism when using someone else’s statement or idea? Actually cite!
NOTE: Don’t mix the common knowledge or field-specific common knowledge with the information that has to be cited!
Again, the academic world was too tired to let you do this on your own. Try automatic citation, which would be a handy tool for all your academic papers of all types.
Most of the websites would offer you two citations – one in-text and another one for your reference page. Make sure all the data is correct – citing machines will take care of everything else.
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3. Use synonyms
Synonyms are the words with the exact same meaning. This is the most practical weapon to apply in case you don’t want to ruin the sentence structure.
If creativity is not your thing, you might want to take a look at what is offered by the online thesaurus websites. The algorithm is quite simple – just type any word or even phrase you want to change and use it in your sentence. Pay attention to the context as well since some of the newly-formed sentences may sound anecdotic.
EXAMPLE:
Harry Potter is a series of fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. (original sentence from Wikipedia)
Harry Potter is an array of delusion fiction drafted by British biographer J.K. Rowling (dramatic version created with the help of Thesaurus.com)
4. Paraphrase
That’s the point you’re afraid of the most. And answering your question – yes, there are a few free paraphrasing online tools. But the results might not meet your expectations.
Paraphrasing is expressing one’s idea in a different language or brief form.
How can I paraphrase a paragraph by myself?
1. Read the text that you plan to paraphrase
2. Highlight the keywords (mainly nouns).
3. Try to retell the paragraph in your own words
How can I practice paraphrasing as a writing skill?
1. Take notes in your own words
2. Come up with synonyms and associations for words highlighted; a mini-version of a mind map is an option.
3. Read the text a few times before working with it; then try to avoid looking at the original information;
4. Play with the structure of the text; replace all of its logical parts;
Even if you didn’t read anything new from this article, this proves that your plagiarism issues are quite standard as well as the ways of dealing with it. Try our recommendation and start sharing the knowledge about how to prevent plagiarism – now you are a guru.
