Plagiarism is a serious offense in the academic community. It reveals your inability to produce an original paper or give credit to whom it is due. Professionals from various fields work hard on their research papers to bring new ideas to the table. Likewise, authors continue to craft new content for their readers. By not crediting them in your work, you claim them as yours, thus stealing their ideas. This is why plagiarism is prohibited in schools and universities, even if you are just writing an essay.
As a student, you can take various steps to prevent committing plagiarism in your paper. After all, you do not want to receive low grades or disciplinary sanctions for this offense. You can look for professionals from custom writing service companies. They are used to crafting essays without plagiarism. But if you do not have the means to hire them, you can follow the tips discussed below.
Paraphrase Your Content
Paraphrasing is an act of expressing another person’s idea in a new form to suit the context of your work. Because it entails using different words and sentence construction, many students think that paraphrasing keeps them from committing plagiarism. Unfortunately, it is not the case because the idea is still not theirs. And by not citing the author, they are still stealing credit.
Along with summarizing and quoting, paraphrasing is just one of the ways you can incorporate an idea into your paper. To do this well, you must fully understand the text first. If you have to reread it several times, you must do so. This way, you will not leave some concepts or insights behind. Afterward, try to paraphrase it while keeping in mind the passage’s main idea. Once you are finished, compare the original text to your paraphrased version to check if the essential parts are included. Do not forget to include in-text citations to achieve a plagiarism-free essay.
Referencing and Citing
You might be typing the words ‘write my essay no plagiarism’ on your search engine because you need help. You either need someone to work on your paper or want to know some tips to avoid plagiarism. But you must understand that the best way to do the latter is by referencing and citing. By doing this, you give credit to the text’s authors and pay respect to their hard work.
As mentioned above, you must cite your sources whether you paraphrased, summarized, or quoted them. Later on, you must create a ‘References’ list based on the citation style you will use. In academic writing, the commonly used citation styles are APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard. They vary in different ways, and misusing them is also considered plagiarism. So, you must ask your teacher or professor beforehand to know which one to use. Once you have identified it, it would be best to familiarize yourself with its rules. If in doubt, you may consult professionals for the best results.
Use Plagiarism Checkers
Asking the question, “How can you avoid plagiarizing?” shows your commitment to adhere to the rules of academic writing. Many students end up defying this because they think it is time-consuming. While it is true that writing is time-consuming, you must understand that the skills accompanied in it are essential. Because you might work on various papers in the future, it is best to learn some techniques as early as possible.
One of the techniques you can do to avoid plagiarism is using plagiarism checkers. Over the past years, our society has witnessed outstanding advancements in technology, especially in education. This is why we now have several educational tools and programs, including plagiarism checkers. You can look for free or paid checkers online, and they can even generate plagiarism reports for you. These will help you determine which parts to edit. In this way, you will feel secure that your work does not contain any plagiarized content.
Use Quotation
Quotations are crucial elements in any writing output. They provide evidence to back up the author’s claims, which will help strengthen the argument. They can also be used in showing examples or stories that are necessary for the paper. Because most essay types must be written with citations, you must learn how to embed quotes. Even though this task is challenging, it decreases your chances of plagiarizing someone’s work.
In using quotes, you must learn how to use double (“ ”) and single (‘ ’) quotation marks. Based on the US punctuation rules, the latter is used when quoting someone within a quotation. But in the British punctuation system, it is the other way around. Because they can be confusing, you must study them carefully.
Another factor you must consider is the rules of the citation style you will use. Some will require you to indicate the year of publication and/or the specific page of the passage. But regardless of the citation style, you will always put the author’s name.
Credit The Original Author
Indeed, the best way to avoid plagiarism in essays is by crediting the original authors. As mentioned repeatedly, you must always indicate the authors in every passage you cited in your paper. Afterward, you must include all the necessary details about the original text as part of the reference list entry. By doing this, you free yourself from the negative consequences that plagiarism can bring. Other people might be comfortable with this act, but you must always prioritize intellectual honesty in all your endeavors.
In conclusion, there is no easy way to hide plagiarism. Once your teacher runs your paper on a plagiarism checker, they will know its quality. Instead of being intellectually dishonest, you can avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing and quoting with referencing and citing. You must always credit the original author and use plagiarism checkers before submitting your work. If you are struggling with citation rules, you can always seek help from your teacher or other professionals. This way, you can avoid its consequences and produce an excellent essay.