How to avoid plagiarism

According to Webster dictionary plagiarize means:

- to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own to use (another's production) without crediting the source

- to commit literary theft to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source”

Plagiarism is one of the most severe violations of academic writing. It may have serious consequences for a student and even expulsion from college/ university. Not to expose yourself to such unjustified risk, remember rule 1 – avoid any form of plagiarism while writing an essay.

Sometimes it is especially difficult because of the specific nature of essay writing itself.

On the one hand you should show that you have conducted a deep research, but on the other hand, you should demonstrate a brand new perspective of the suggested topic. You should refer to authoritative sources, but at the same time express your own opinion.

It does not matter for your professor whether you plagiarize incidentally or deliberately. To be on the safe side -remember rule 1.

First of all avoiding plagiarism in essays implies citing sources. You do not have to do it only when the idea is a common fact for the intended audience.

Common knowledge is something that:

• - your reader already knows.
• - can easily be found in general reference sources.
• - is not cited in other sources.

To avoid plagiarism you should start documenting the sources as early as you start doing your research.

In your draft mark the ideas that are yours and those which are drawn from other sources. Underline, italicise someone else’s words in your notes. As you are paraphrasing, try not to peep into the fprimary source, write from memory. Check and correct possible inaccuracies. Paraphrase acknowledging the author, e.g. According to.... If you want to keep a particular phrase, do not fail to use quotation marks with it.

Limit the general number of direct quotations to the most powerful ones. Your writing will lose its own voice and identity when stuffed with too many direct quotes.

You can find detailed information about citing rules at https://library.duke.edu/research/citing/.