Is plagiarism copying word for word

Last Update: Jan 03, 2023

This is a question our experts keep getting from time to time. Now, we have got the complete detailed explanation and answer for everyone, who is interested!

Asked by: Itzel Gislason

Score: 4.7/5
(59 votes)

No word-for-word and no paraphrasing plagiarism is present. Thus, the writing must be common knowledge or the writer’s own ideas.

Is plagiarism only word for word?

Plagiarism is an ethical concept, not a legal one, so there is no universal accepted standard. The ‘five-consecutive word’ is a rule of thumb, not a legal precept.

How many words does it take to plagiarize?

The rule of thumb is: More than three consecutive words, not counting short words such as «a,» «the,» «but,» «in,» «an,» or «and» need either quotation marks and a footnote or acknowledgement of the author in the text of your paper.

Does Turnitin check word for word?

Turnitin does not check word for word. … This means that Turnitin will use particular keywords to scan for the similarity between your paper and works that are available in its database.

Is it plagiarism if reworded?

Most of us understand that just copying and pasting someone else’s work, without providing a citation, is plagiarism. But what if: You change a word or two in the sentence after you paste it into your paper, then provide a citation at the end of it. … You rewrite the sentence or paragraph or sentence in your own words.

41 related questions found

Asked by: Itzel Gislason

Score: 4.7/5
(59 votes)

No word-for-word and no paraphrasing plagiarism is present. Thus, the writing must be common knowledge or the writer’s own ideas.

Is plagiarism only word for word?

Plagiarism is an ethical concept, not a legal one, so there is no universal accepted standard. The ‘five-consecutive word’ is a rule of thumb, not a legal precept.

How many words does it take to plagiarize?

The rule of thumb is: More than three consecutive words, not counting short words such as «a,» «the,» «but,» «in,» «an,» or «and» need either quotation marks and a footnote or acknowledgement of the author in the text of your paper.

Does Turnitin check word for word?

Turnitin does not check word for word. … This means that Turnitin will use particular keywords to scan for the similarity between your paper and works that are available in its database.

Is it plagiarism if reworded?

Most of us understand that just copying and pasting someone else’s work, without providing a citation, is plagiarism. But what if: You change a word or two in the sentence after you paste it into your paper, then provide a citation at the end of it. … You rewrite the sentence or paragraph or sentence in your own words.

41 related questions found

Plagiarism is derived from the Latin word “Plagiarius” meaning “kidnapper”. Plagiarism means stealing or copying another’s work and representing it as own work. On Internet, everything is available for free. We can share, upload, download, view, or search any text, audio, and video. Everything is there for free. The availability of anything and everything on the internet has made our lives easier but people make misuse of this advantage of the internet by representing other’s work as their own for fame, for academic benefits, for money, for personal interests, etc. 

Plagiarism is most commonly practiced in academics and researches. On the internet, we have all kinds of literary articles, educational content, research papers, etc available for free. This facilitates everyone and assists them in gaining knowledge and becoming literate. Earlier when there were no Internet people either had to visit libraries when they wanted to study or know anything or had to purchase expensive books. But now we just type the topic in our browser and we get thousands of search results. As a result, some people use these articles, research papers, educational content in an adverse manner.

Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional. We should have the knowledge of what can be called plagiarized content and what not. Following are the key points to understand what can be called as plagiarism:

• If we use another person’s work under our name.
• If we copy other’s ideas and words and don’t give them the credit.
• If we download copyrighted images or music and present them as our own.
• If we copy maximum words and modify them so that we can cleverly use them under our own name.
• If we use someone else’s copyrighted music or video for our own music cover or video.
• If we recreate an image, video, music, article, etc in such a manner that it is quite similar to the original one.

Types of Plagiarism

There are several types of plagiarism. In this article, we will get to know the common ones:

• Complete Plagiarism: Complete Plagiarism is the most extreme form of plagiarism. In this plagiarism, a person completely copies someone else’s work such as a research paper, article, image, etc, and represents it as their own work. This form of plagiarism is similar to identity theft or stealing.
• Verbatim: Verbatim is also known as direct plagiarism. When we read a book we must have observed that if any statement that a famous person has made is always represented in double quotations and is highlighted so that we get to know that it is said by this particular person. Similarly consider a person writing an article and mentioning someone’s else work or words that too exactly the same. But this person doesn’t represent it in quotation marks. Then that person is said to be exhibiting direct plagiarism. Hence copying another person’s work word to word and not representing it in quotation marks is known as Verbatim or direct plagiarism.
• Self Plagiarism: This kind of plagiarism is the duplication of a person’s own work. It is also known as auto plagiarism. It occurs when a person copies some words of his own published work and uses the same for another work. This form of plagiarism is commonly observed in research journals. Researchers may make re-use of their research work for another research work, however, the percentage of re-usage must be according to those set by the publishing journals if they allow them to do so.
• Source-Based Plagiarism: This form of plagiarism is most commonly observed in research work. In the research paper one needs to provide references that have contributed to their work, If a person provides wrong references that do not exist, or that are not relating to the work then it is known as source-based plagiarism. The falsification of data or its fabrication is also source-based plagiarism. Falsification and fabrication of data are manipulating or representing false or non-existing data.
• Accidental Plagiarism: This kind of plagiarism mostly occurs due to a lack of knowledge. If we don’t know how to paraphrase, cite and quote a research work we leave the work as it is and it results in accidental plagiarism.

Why is plagiarism unethical?

• Plagiarism is unethical because we are representing someone’s other work as our own without giving them the right to. In the real world if someone else takes our things without our permission then we call that person a “thief” and doing so is considered as a punishable offense. Similarly if in the virtual world someone copies someone else’s work it is unethical and is a punishable offense.
• Plagiarism affects the integrity of academics. Researchers are given the degree of Ph.D. on basis of their research works, students are given grades according to their homework. If we will be practicing plagiarism we will not be gaining any knowledge. We may even succeed in getting our Ph.D. degree or good grades but that will put our career at risk and is a threat to our future. We will be a risk for society, organizations where we may work as we do not have the complete knowledge of the corresponding work.
• If we use the plagiarized content for our personal benefits such as monetary gains, fame, etc then it is unethical because we are being benefitted for what we actually have not done. We are being rewarded without actually performing well or giving our 100 percent to get that reward. It is immoral to do so.

How to avoid plagiarism?

There are certain steps we can follow in order to avoid plagiarism.

• Always give credit to the person whose work you are including in your own work. Make use of double quotations to prevent verbatim.
• Build your own ideas and thoughts and use them in your work. Do not copy another person’s ideas or work. Develop yourself and work on yourself so that you can enhance your thought process. Increase the domain of your knowledge.
• Make use of paraphrasing. Paraphrasing means the representation of an idea or thought in our own words in such a manner that the original essence of that idea remains the same. But we should also do paraphrasing in such a manner that it does not convert to plagiarism.
• Use online plagiarism checker tools. There are many sites that offer plagiarism checker tools. These sites check your work against thousands of other works available on the internet and give you a percentage of plagiarized or unique content. They can even tell from which site the content is copied. We should always use plagiarism checker tools in order to prevent plagiarism. Some of the plagiarism checking tools are – Grammarly, smallseotools, turnitin, quetext, etc.
• Always provide correct references in your research paper or article.
• Learn how to cite your articles, provide references, use double quotations, etc. You should know how to write a scholarly article or book or research paper before you begin writing.
• If you are using someone else’s videos, images, or audios in your own video, etc always ask them first, and even after that provide them the credit for the same.
• Keep your morals high. Be educated about plagiarism and be an ethical person. As in real life, you don’t do bad things as you know the differentiation between what is good and bad similarly teach your inner conscience that plagiarism is unethical and you should not make use of plagiarized content.

Laws against plagiarism

There are many laws against plagiarism. Some of them are mentioned below-

• In section 57 of the Indian Copyright Act 1957, authors have “the right to claim authorship of their works among other things. It grants the authors the special right to be attributed for their work. The statute recognizes the right to attribution analogous to the rights not to be plagiarized.”
• In section 63 of the ICA 1957, “a convicted infringer is liable to be imprisoned between six months to three years, and to be fined between fifty thousand and two lakh rupees”.
• University Grants Commission or UGC has provided a certain set of guidelines that need to be followed by universities in order to prevent plagiarism in academic activities.

Sample Questions

Question 1. What is plagiarism?

Solution:

Plagiarism is stealing or copying another’s work and representing it as our own work without giving them the credit.

Question 2. Why is plagiarism unethical?

Solution:

Plagiarism is unethical because we are representing someone else works as our own without giving them the right to. It also affects academic integrity adversely.

Question 3. What is verbatim?

Solution:

Copying another person’s work word to word and not representing it in quotation marks is known as Verbatim. Verbatim is also known as direct plagiarism.

Question 4. What is paraphrasing?

Solution:

Paraphrasing means the representation of an idea or thought in our own words in such a manner that the original essence of that idea remains the same

Question 5. Mention any law against plagiarism.

Solution:

In section 57 of the Indian Copyright Act 1957, authors have “the right to claim authorship of their works among other things. It grants the authors the special right to be attributed for their work. The statute recognizes the right to attribution analogous to the rights not to be plagiarized.”

Plagiarism is the practice of taking credit for someone else’s words or ideas. It’s an act of intellectual dishonesty. In colleges and universities, it violates honor codes and can cause irreparable damage to a person’s reputation. It also comes with serious consequences; a plagiarized assignment may lead to a failing grade, a suspension, or an expulsion.

Clearly, the issue is not to be taken lightly. However, if you act with academic integrity, it’s also nothing to fear. The best way to avoid plagiarism is to understand the concept itself.  

Some forms of plagiarism are obvious. Copying someone else’s essay word for word and submitting it as your own? Plagiarism, of course. Turning in an essay you bought from a paper mill is too. The issue is not always so blatant, however. In addition to overt acts of academic dishonesty, other, more complex forms of plagiarism exist, and they lead to similar consequences nonetheless.

1. Direct plagiarism is the act of copying another person’s work word for word. Inserting a paragraph from a book or article into your essay without including attribution or quotation marks, for example, is direct plagiarism. Paying someone to write an essay for you and submitting it as your own work is also direct plagiarism. If you commit direct plagiarism, you’re likely to be caught thanks to software and tools such as Turnitin.
2. Paraphrased plagiarism involves making a few (often cosmetic) changes to someone else’s work, then passing it off as your own. Unless a specific idea is common knowledge, you cannot include it in your paper without providing a citation—even if you do not include any direct quotes. 
3. «Mosaic» plagiarism is a combination of direct and paraphrased plagiarism. This type involves tossing various words, phrases, and sentences (some word for word, some paraphrased) into your essay without providing quotation marks or attributions.  
4. Accidental plagiarism occurs when citations are missing, sources are cited incorrectly, or an author shares an idea without a citation that isn’t as common of knowledge as they thought. Accidental plagiarism is often the result of a disorganized research process and a last-minute time crunch. Ultimately, if you fail to cite your sources appropriately, you’ve committed plagiarism—even if you had every intention of giving credit.

How to Avoid Plagiarism 

Not everyone who plagiarizes starts out with the goal of stealing someone else’s work. Sometimes, plagiarism is simply the result of poor planning and a few bad, panicked decisions. Don’t fall victim to the plagiarism trap. Follow these tips to produce successful, original academic writing.

Begin the research process as early as possible, preferably as soon as you receive a new assignment. Read each source carefully. Take breaks between reading sessions to absorb the information. Explain each source’s key ideas out loud, without referencing the original text. Then, write down each source’s main arguments in your own words. This process will ensure you have plenty of time to both absorb your sources’ ideas and formulate your own.

Write a thorough outline. After you’ve spent time researching and brainstorming, write a detailed outline of your paper. Focus on pinpointing your own original argument. As you outline, imagine yourself in conversation with your sources. Instead of restating your source’s ideas, examine them and consider how they relate to your own.

Paraphrase “blind.” If you plan to explain an author’s ideas in your paper, write the explanation without looking at the original text. If you find this process tricky, try writing out the ideas in a conversational tone, as though you’re explaining the idea to a friend. Then rewrite the information in a more appropriate tone for your paper. 

Keep track of your sources. Make a list of every source you read, even the ones you don’t expect to refer to in your paper. As you write, create a running bibliography using a free bibliography generator tool. Anytime you quote or paraphrase an author’s ideas in your draft, include the source information right next to the relevant sentence. If you’re writing a long paper, consider using a free citation organization tool such as Zotero or EndNote.

Use an online plagiarism checker. Although online tools are not foolproof, it’s a good idea to run your paper through a plagiarism checker before submitting it. You may discover that you’ve unintentionally composed a sentence that closely resembles something written by one of your sources or failed to include a citation for one of your direct quotes. Free resources such as Quetext compare your work to millions of documents and search for close matches. Your professor probably uses these tools, and you should too.

And how to avoid it — a guide for ESL learners

Do you plagiarize?

Plagiarism is an illegal form of copying. It means taking another person’s work (without asking) and calling it your own. Plagiarism can be accidental or intentional. Copying an entire essay or story and calling it your own is plagiarism. Copying one sentence word-for-word without «quotations» is also plagiarism. Whether you hand it in to a teacher, or post it in your blog, plagiarism is against the law in most nations.

Examples of plagiarism

• copying and pasting from the Internet and posting somewhere else without proper citation
• putting your name on another person’s essay or project
• copying exact wording from another person’s text
• using another person’s photo, diagram, sounds, or ideas without proper citation
• presenting research in your own words without providing your references
• purchasing another person’s text and using it as your own
• presenting ideas in the same format and order as your research source
• having a teacher, native speaker, or higher level student edit your paper to perfection

Why do English learners copy?

Here are some common excuses English learners use:

• I didn’t know how to put it in my own words.
• It’s not illegal in my country.
• I thought the Internet was a public domain.
• I don’t understand the rules of copyright.
• I wanted to get a better mark.
• I wanted to impress my teacher.
• I didn’t understand the assignment.
• I have a small vocabulary.
• I didn’t have time to do the work.
• My parents want me to get better marks.

There are two main reasons why plagiarism is taken so seriously in the academic world:

1. Authors and artists work very hard to create original work. They deserve the credit.
2. Teachers want to know that students understand their research. Copying requires almost no effort.

International plagiarism

Most countries have copyright laws. In places like North America, plagiarism is taken very seriously. Students learn about plagiarism at an early age, and teachers in high schools and universities rarely accept any excuses for copying.

In some countries, the idea of «intellectual property» is not valued. Students from poor countries (or places where the government has a lot of control) may not understand the idea of an author owning his words or a photographer owning his photo.

There is no excuse for international students to plagiarize in a foreign country, however. It is important to understand and respect the copyright rules of the author or artist’s country.

Reasons not to plagiarize

Even though most ESL or EFL teachers will not accept any of the excuses above, many students are tempted to plagiarize. Teachers are trained to recognize plagiarism. Most importantly, they know the level
of their students. Learners who intentionally plagiarize will likely get caught.

Here are more reasons not to plagiarize:

• It is unfair to the true author.
• You will not learn anything.
• You will get a bad reputation with teachers and other learners.
• You could get kicked out of school.
• You will lower your chances of getting into schools.
• You could lose the cost of tuition.
• You might be asked to rewrite all previous assignments.
• Teachers don’t want to be the police.
• You will lose important references for future jobs.
• You could get fined.
• You could lose your job.
• You risk being sued or taken to court by the publisher or artist.

Copying from the Internet

Text on the Internet is no different than text in a book or newspaper. Anything that another person writes, including email, is copyright protected. Internet plagiarism often involves copying text or images from websites, blogs, forums and social media sites.

Myth: «The Internet is a public domain.»
Not true! Most Internet content, including images, is protected by copyright. You need permission to use it. You also need to credit the author or creator.

Copying from the Internet is very easy to do. It is also easy for teachers to catch. Teachers who suspect plagiarism can check the Internet for exact wording by doing a simple search.

The World Wide Web is a growing international community. It loses its reputation when copyright rules are broken.

Getting caught for plagiarizing

The punishment for plagiarizing can be very severe. Some teachers will give you a second chance if your form of copying was unintentional. Many teachers have a strict policy and will not accept any excuses.

Students, job applicants, and even politicians have been caught plagiarizing. When you put research into your own words and acknowledge your sources, everybody wins.

Some people often misuse the easy method of gaining information. High school students often download information from the internet using other people’s work without attribution in their academic papers. This deliberate habit of taking credit for someone else’s textual work is termed as direct plagiarism.

Plagiarism is a huge issue. It is not restricted to the academic world. There are plenty of plagiarism instances in online articles. The presence of online platforms helps individuals to get information from multiple sources. E-books and online archives of journals also provide adequate information.

In most cases, direct plagiarism is intentional, but in some cases forgetting to insert quotation marks can lead to direct plagiarism. Whenever the written article contains passages or lines directly copied from another author’s work, this is unethical.

People committing this kind of content scraping are known as content stealers. However, people who use content without any attribution often assume that their plagiarism won’t be detected.

It is vital to note that there are online tools that are adept at plagiarism detection. Advanced plagiarism software can detect copied content with the source very quickly. Hence, it is straightforward to find individuals who have submitted papers with copied content.

The Various Forms of Direct Plagiarism

Direct plagiarism is a form of plagiarism that has many subtypes. A clear example of direct plagiarism is the word for word copying. The well-known types of plagiarism are discussed below:

• Mosaic Plagiarism:

It’s an intentional form of plagiarism. Mosaic plagiarism occurs when a person copies text from an author and then juxtaposes their own words within that text to alter the text’s appearance subtly. However, the meaning is kept the same.

This superficial alteration is carried out to ensure that plagiarism scanners do not detect the passage’s copied content. But sophisticated plagiarism detectors can easily find this form of direct plagiarism in written work.

Mosaic plagiarism is also known by another term that is patchwork plagiarism, and even as patchwriting. These terms are used to define the nature of this kind of plagiarism, where there is a palpable propensity to hide the copied content.

• The Word-for-Word Plagiarism: 

In this case, content is copied and pasted without making any changes. This direct plagiarism example can be intentional, but there is also a chance that this can fall under the category of accidental plagiarism. In some instances, students copy reference passages from a text and use it in their academic papers.

The absence of attribution and/or quotation marks makes the entire passage plagiarized content. Minor errors can lead to direct plagiarism. It is essential to review the quoted and paraphrased passages carefully for quotation marks and citations, respectively.

Appropriate authorities severely punish the direct plagiarism violation that involves blatant copying in academia.

Ways to Avoid Direct Plagiarism

It is vital to avoid direct plagiarism because it is a punishable offense. In most cases, it is intentional, and so in academic circles, this form of plagiarism has a long-term effect on a person’s research career. It is best to avoid all types of plagiarism in a paper, but it is essential to avoid direct plagiarism.

People who are inclined to copy text from different sources instead of writing an article, individually, need to remember the simple fact that plagiarism brings zero value to a paper. A modestly written work is far better than a plagiarized article.

Some students lack the confidence of writing assignments. They often find well-written content on the internet and prefer to use it in the hope of getting better grades. But it is vital to note that direct plagiarism is easily detected, and then the entire paper can get canceled.

Copied or duplicate content never helps a written project, and fear of getting low grades shouldn’t propel a person to copy content from different authors.

How to Avoid Mistakenly Copied Content?

Apart from those who commit direct plagiarism intentionally, some individuals mistakenly copy content from one or more sources. For them, there are a few ways to avoid such crucial mistakes. Scan the following points to avoid unintentional direct plagiarism in a paper:

a) Simultaneously Cite Reference Passages:

It is not uncommon to copy a few lines from a reference text to elaborate on the research topic. While taking down lines from a reference book, it is vital to add the citation for that particular reference in the academic papers’ works cited page.

It helps in noting down references correctly. The problem of missing out citations won’t be there when the simultaneous citation process is followed. Correct citation in the paper can remove the issue of providing the wrong attribution against a passage.

b) Follow the Rules Regarding Paraphrasing Content:

An academic essay cannot be a conglomeration of paraphrased passages from different texts. There is a rule regarding the percentage of content that can be paraphrased from other texts. It is vital to adhere to the given percentage.

c) Review and Scan the Paper:

It is vital to recheck the paper for missing quotation marks or erroneous attributions. After manual checking of the paper, it is prudent to check it with a high-quality plagiarism checker. Software plagiarism scanning helps in finding instances of direct copying quickly.

The plagiarism report shows the percentage of copied words present in the document. A scattered phrase throughout the paper that forms a substantial portion of the paper is patchwork plagiarism and requires extensive rework.

However, a low percentage of scattered copied phrases or words aren’t considered as direct plagiarism. But the presence of a single passage that is highlighted as a direct plagiarism instance by the scanner makes the entire paper guilty of direct plagiarism.

Conclusion

Avoiding plagiarism is essential. Direct plagiarism violation is dealt with strictly by examiners. In case a person unintentionally paraphrases text from someone else’s work, the problem gets solved by scanning the paper with an advanced plagiarism detector.

Academic writers need to use material from other writers to support their own ideas. Failure to integrate
this material appropriately, however, can lead to plagiarism, a form of academic misconduct. This page explains
what plagiarism is, gives
types of plagiarism, gives some
examples of acceptable and unacceptable source use, lists reasons
why students plagiarise, and suggests
ways to avoid plagiarism. There is also a
checklist to help you check your writing for plagiarism.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism means using words or ideas of other writers without giving proper acknowledgement —
that is, without making it clear that the words or ideas are not your own, or without making it clear
whose they are. Plagiarism is a widespread problem in higher education, and most universities use
plagiarism detection tools such as Turnitin to tackle plagiarism issues. Historically, plagiarism has been viewed as an
academic crime, which is evident from the collocation commit plagiarism; other collocations with this verb are
commit murder and commit a crime. However, since much plagiarism is unintentional, the term
textual borrowing is often used in place of the word plagiarism to remove the negative connotations.

Types of plagiarism

Plagiarism can be categorised according to the intent of the writer
into intentional plagiarism (also called deliberate or prototypical plagiarism)
and unintentional plagiarism (also referred to as textual or accidental plagiarism).
While the intent of the writer can be difficult to determine,
there are various common indicators that the plagiarism is unintentional and results
from a lack of understanding of academic conventions. These include attempts to cite sources,
either directly in the text or via a
reference section, as well as attempts
to paraphrase the source material, however poorly.

It is also considered unacceptable to copy from your own earlier work. Such plagiarism is called
self-plagiarism, and incurs the same penalties as plagiarising from another writer.

Examples of acceptable and unacceptable source use

The following gives examples of unacceptable source use, i.e. plagiarism. The original source is
shown first, followed by two plagiarised examples.

In the first example, neither in-text citation nor paraphrase has been used. In the second example, although an
in-text citation is used, the text has been copied word-for-word without paraphrasing, which is plagiarism.

The following shows two ways this material could be incorporated in an acceptable manner into the writer’s text.
The first example uses quotation, while the second uses paraphrase.

Why do students plagiarise?

Students plagiarise for many reasons, which vary according to the type of plagiarism being committed.

Intentional plagiarism — reasons

Intentional plagiarism can result from a desire to gain an advantage, a belief that the plagiarism will not be
detected, or a lack of confidence by the student in their own writing ability. Time difficulties, mentioned in more
detail below, can also lead to intentional plagiarism, as a student may deliberately copy in order to save time.
The ease with which information can be accessed from the Internet can also make it tempting for students to
copy and paste directly into their assignment.

Unintentional plagiarism — reasons

Unintentional plagiarism is likewise caused by a variety of reasons. One of these is a lack of understanding
of what plagiarism is and that uncited copying is not acceptable.
This is especially the case for students whose first language is not English. In some cultures,
for example Confucian Heritage Cultures, uncited copying is not only acceptable but expected.

A second reason why students commit unintentional plagiarism is time difficulties.
These can be the result of having to complete several assignments over a short period of time, or caused by poor
time management. Time difficulties can lead to
unintentional plagiarism since the student may lack time to paraphrase sufficiently,
or may lose track of which information is from which source or which material is their own.

A third reason is lack of
citation skills.
In-text citations are used to acknowledge who
wrote the original ideas, and if these are missing, or there are too few of them, then ideas from others writers
will not be properly acknowledged.

A fourth reason is an inability to
paraphrase appropriately.
Beginning academic writers may make only surface-level changes, e.g. changing some words using synonyms.
The term patchwriting (Howard, 1993) is often used to describe this kind of paraphrasing, which results
in a text which matches the original too closely. Patchwriting is seen as an important stage for developing writers,
and this type of plagiarism should be seen as a learning opportunity.

A final reason why students plagiarise unintentionally is because of a lack of good
note-taking skills. Students may fail to take notes
using their own words, and therefore unintentionally copy from the original when using their notes.

In short, reasons why students plagiarise include:

• a desire to gain an advantage [intentional];
• a belief that the plagiarism will not be detected [intentional];
• a lack of confidence by the student in their own writing ability [intentional];
• ease of access to sources on the Internet [intentional];
• lack of understanding of what plagiarism is [unintentional];
• time difficulties [intentional and unintentional];
• lack of citation skills [unintentional];
• inability to paraphrase appropriately [unintentional];
• lack of good note-taking skills [unintentional].

Avoiding plagiarism

Methods to avoid plagiarism relate to the reasons why students plagiarise, given above. It is important for students
to have a clear understanding of what plagiarism is and its consequences. This, along with training in
citation skills and
paraphrasing skills, is a core component of any
academic English writing course. Contrasting academic conventions in English and in the student’s own language may be helpful.

Improving time management skills will help students
avoid time issues that might lead to plagiarism. Students can be advised to ask tutors for an extension if they feel
particularly overloaded, which some tutors may be willing to grant.

Familiarisation with appropriate citation requirements is important. There are many different systems that are
commonly used, e.g. Harvard,
APA, and
MLA.
Different universities, and different departments within the same university, will use different systems,
so students will need to be clear what the conventions are for their course.

Learning how to
take effective notes will also help students avoid
plagiarism. Students should take notes in their own words. If any words
are directly copied from the original text into notes, quotation marks should be used so that these quotations
are not accidentally transferred into the final text. It is also important for students to use their own notes,
and not borrow someone else’s, since they will not know whether the notes are in the student’s own words —
in addition to which, copying from another student’s notes is also a form of plagiarism.

If students have access to an anti-plagiarism tool such as Turnitin, they may be able to submit a draft assignment
to check for plagiarism, before submitting the final assignment. Such software will only identify plagiarism due to
inadequate paraphrasing, rather than lack of citations. Students should check with their tutor to confirm whether
multiple submission of assignments like this is possible.

Finally, Internet sources should be avoided, if at all possible. Most university courses will expect students to
cite from academic articles or text books rather than Internet sources. If Internet sources are used, it is important
for students to take notes, as with any source, rather than copy and paste directly into their writing.
A common error is to copy and paste first and paraphrase later, though it is all too easy to lose track of which
words are from source material, and which source they are from.

References

Ali, W.Z.W., Ismail H. and Cheat, T.T. (2011) ‘Plagiarism: to what extent it is understood?’, UKM Teaching and Learning Congress 2011. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.320.

Howard, R.M. (1993) ‘A plagiarism pentimento’, Journal of Teaching Writing, 11(3), pp.233-246.

Stapleton, P. (2011) ‘Gauging the effectiveness of anti-plagiarism software: An empirical study of second language graduate writers’, Journal of English for Academic Purposes 11 (2012), pp.125–133. Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2011.10.003.

Sun, Y. (2013) ‘Do journal authors plagiarize? Using plagiarism detection software to uncover matching text across disciplines’, Journal of English for Academic Purposes 12 (2013), pp.264–272. Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2013.07.002.

Sun, Y. and Yang, F. (2015) ‘Uncovering published authors’ text-borrowing practices: Paraphrasing strategies, sources, and self-plagiarism’, Journal of English for Academic Purposes 20 (2015). Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2015.05.003.

Checklist

Below is a checklist for avoiding plagiarism. Use it to check your writing if it includes reference to
external sources, or ask a peer to help.

Area	Item	OK?	Comment
Citing sources	The text includes in-text citations.
The in-text citations are in the correct format, e.g. surname(s) + year for Harvard style referencing.
In-text citations are given each time an external source is used in the text.
It is clear which ideas are the writer’s, and which are from external sources.
Paraphrasing sources	Original texts have been changed in several ways (changed words, changed word forms, changed word order) to make the paraphrase acceptable.
If direct quotation is used instead of paraphrase, quotation marks » » have been used to signal the quotation.
If possible, the text has been submitted to an anti-plagiarism checker such as Turnitin to ensure there are no instances of plagiarism from poor paraphrasing.

Have you ever thought about what plagiarism means or why it is considered a huge problem? Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else’s words, ideas, images, or creations and passing them off as one’s own work. It can happen in many different contexts. For example, it’s common for students to plagiarize their term papers or dissertations in school. But it can also occur in the workplace or in professional situations, such as when an artist creates a piece based on existing designs or someone copies original characters from a TV show or book.

Unfortunately, plagiarism happens more often than it should. It can occur unintentionally or because the writer didn’t properly cite their work. Despite differences in intent and outcome, plagiarism comes from copying someone else’s work without giving them proper credit.

The following is the list of actions considered plagiarism:

Image source: Thing Link.

1. Copying words/ideas/thoughts from someone else without giving proper credit: Even if you don’t copy exactly but rather re-write the information in your own words, it is still necessary to credit the original source.
2. Presenting someone else’s work as your own: This is the simplest and most common form of plagiarism. You are plagiarizing if you purchase, borrow, or steal an assignment and submit it as your own work.
3. Failing to quote: If you use another person’s words directly in your paper, you must enclose the words in quotation marks. You also need to include a citation.
4. To present an existing idea and thought as new information: Presenting a paper with minimal or no new information and copying existing ideas to write a brand new paper comes under plagiarism. Making up the majority of your work by using copied ideas is plagiarizing.
5. Providing wrong information about the source: If you use a direct quote from another source, make sure to include the author’s name and date of publication in your citation. When you do not provide this detail, you are not citing correctly, and therefore, it is considered plagiarism. It also applies when using paraphrased ideas and information from another source. So, ensure you cite as you write.

Recommended for you: 8 Common Queries with Answers That Briefly Describe Content Plagiarism.

Types of Plagiarism

Image source: Analytic Steps.

There are various types of plagiarism. They include:

1. Direct or Global Plagiarism: In Global or Direct plagiarism, the words are copied word-for-word from another source without citing the author or including quotation marks. It involves copying and pasting the entire original work without any changes except the author’s name. It is the most used form of plagiarism in the academic industry.
2. Patch or Mosaic Plagiarism: Mosaic plagiarism can be tricky to identify. It involves the attempt to disguise the original source by simply copying a series of sentences or paragraphs lifted straight from the source without using quotation marks or by using similar words while writing the original quote of the author.
3. Self-Plagiarism: Self-plagiarism is a common problem that occurs when students submit their own previous work from previous courses without the professor’s permission. However, remember that it can also happen when a student submits the same paper to multiple classes. Students may submit work projects or assignments for a course in addition to writing a final project for the same class.
4. Accidental plagiarism: Plagiarism isn’t always meant to be malicious, and it isn’t always done consciously or purposefully. It might ensue carelessly out of ignorance or unawareness. But even if the omission or incorrect citation was accidental, it’s still considered plagiarism, and it can happen to writers who just don’t know better.

How To Avoid Plagiarism?

Image source: eLearners.

To avoid plagiarism, the initial step is to understand it properly. Now, since we steer clear of that, let’s explore ways to prevent it.

1. Create an Original Idea:

To eradicate the potential of plagiarism, the most effective method is to present an original idea. First, ensure that the following idea has not already been published elsewhere. Good research takes time — a LOT of time. Executing your research well in advance allows you to spot errors and avoid bad decisions, thereby helping you perform better in your paper. Take the maximum time to develop your ideas and perspective on the subject. After all, no work is as good as an original one!

2. Track and Cite your Sources:

It is not every day that you find an exquisite idea that is completely original. You might find a similar notion that a different author has already published. It is not unethical to use that in your research. However, it is unethical not to cite and appropriately credit the original author. Thus, you mustn’t copy anyone’s words, ideas, or phrases when writing your papers. Even if you reword what others have written, you need to cite these as your information sources. When you choose to use others’ words or ideas, it is necessary to cite them in the required format.

3. Quotations:

One of the most common ways to avoid plagiarism is by inserting quotes around a direct quote. It indicates that the words aren’t your own and that you are paying credit where credit is due (and not stealing someone else’s words). Quotation marks (““) surround written material directly copied from a source. Indirect or paraphrased quotes are not put in quotation marks.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a quote is:

• To repeat (something written or said by another person) exactly.
• To write or say the exact words of (someone).

For instance,

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts.” — Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7.

4. Good Paraphrasing:

Paraphrasing is repeating something in different words and wording. There may be multiple ways and methods to write a paraphrase, including changing the length of the prose, changing the sentence structure, etc.

For example:

Original: This is the most famous brand among all and is preferred by many influencers.

Paraphrased: The following brand is the most prominent and is loved by the majority of influential people.

Paraphrasing is like riding a bike; it feels simple and easy to do. But, on the other hand, plagiarizing is like biking head-first into a brick wall. It hurts! And could hurt your academic career. So, to paraphrase with confidence, cite your sources.

5. Summarizing:

Summary writing is a kind of writing in which the writer condenses or reduces the detail or length of a larger text. In other words, you take longer articles and trim them by removing some details without disrupting the actual meaning of the content.

For example:

Original: The Amphibians, which is the animal class our frogs belong to, were the first animals to crawl and come onto the land to live.

Summarized: The amphibians were the first species to leave the sea and live on the land.

You may like: Tools & Tips to Deal with your Stolen Content (Plagiarism).

6. Employ Plagiarism Checking Tools:

Plagiarism checkers (tools) are pretty popular for a good reason. If you’ve never used a plagiarism checking tool before, you might be wondering what all the fuss is about. In short, these tools can accurately check an enormous number of websites for any instances of your work that you may have copied without attribution and catch them before you submit your work.

They’re essential because they can help you create original content that stands out among all the other articles online. Some prominent plagiarism checkers are Grammarly, Copyscape, and Turnitin. It is always advisable to check your plagiarism percentage before submitting your work.

Consequences of Plagiarism

Image source: Pubrica.

Plagiarism is a considerable violation in academia. It can lead to professional, legal as well as ethical consequences.

In Academic Institutions:

Plagiarism is one of the most severe offenses in academic institutions. Some students might not understand its gravity and continue plagiarising their academic papers and assignments flagrantly. Suppose you’re caught plagiarizing or turning in the work of another student or professional. In that case, you can face consequences as severe as expulsion from school, suspension, and failure of the course. It harshly affects and damages one’s reputation.

“Students who plagiarize or otherwise engage in academic dishonesty face serious consequences. Sanctions may include, but are not limited to, failure on an assignment, grade reduction or course failure, suspension, and possibly dismissal,” says Bowdoin University.

In Academia and Research:

It’s an issue that many academic researchers encounter, and one that can have serious personal, financial and professional consequences for those accused of plagiarizing another individual’s work. The most apparent impact of plagiarism is the damage to a researcher’s reputation. The consequences are not limited to revocation of degree if your dissertation/thesis is plagiarized, loss of funding, loss of work status, and legal actions as well.

“Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgment, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author’s institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies, or taking appropriate legal action,” quotes SAGE publications.

You can learn the consequences of plagiarism in a broader spectrum here.

What are the legal and monetary repercussions?

Writing is not a simple task. It requires skill, practice, and dedication to create content that grabs readers’ attention. No one wants their hard-earned articles and books to be copied without attribution. An author has all the rights to sue the plagiarist on the grounds of copyright infringement. Many people don’t know about the legal repercussions of plagiarism or the details of copyright law. It is a literary breach and, in some cases, considered a criminal offense that can lead to a prison sentence.

Another consequence can be in terms of monetary compensation. Michael Bolton, the singer, was also sued for plagiarism. The Love Is A Wonderful Thing song that he is most famous for was striking similarities with the Isley Brothers’ song. As a result, Bolton and Andrew Goldmark, his coauthor, was ordered by the jury to pay $5.4 million in damages for copyright infringement.

You may also like: Brand Protection in 2022: Tools, Web Scrapers & Proxies.

Summing it up

Ultimately, plagiarism is wrong. It’s theft and should never be tolerated. However, by researching what it is, you’ll be better equipped to avoid it as a writer. Whether you choose to write as your profession or cultivate it as a hobby, getting your facts straight and accurate citing ensures you don’t get in trouble over simple or minute things.

This article is written by Kanu Priya. Kanu is from Typeset and is an avid reader and enthusiastic writer. She has written several other blogs in the niche of academia and research. Intrigued by marketing and the digital world, she has a keen interest in content marketing and learns new things every day. You can follow her on LinkedIn.

Contents

• Examples of Plagiarism
  • Word for Word Copying
  • Slightly Modifying Words
  • Improper Referencing
  • Not Enough Original Content
  • Re-using Code Samples
• Images
• What happens if I plagiarize?
• References

Introduction

Plagiarism is a persistent problem on CodeProject. In many cases plagiarism is committed by well-intentioned authors who are trying to teach members about a concept and «borrow» a definition from msdn or some other source. In some cases authors seem less well-intentioned and plagiarize entire works, word for word. But what is clear in all cases is that there is a lack of understanding and respect for plagiarism.

This article is meant to educate authors about plagiarism, as well as other community members on how to spot it, so it can be reported.

Examples of Plagiarism

Word for Word Copying

If you copy text word for word from another document and do not reference it clearly and immediately, that is plagiarism.

For example, if you are discussing client-side validation and you take this text from msdn¹:

If client-side validation is enabled, the page includes references to script libraries that are used to perform the client-side validation.

And you place this text inside your article, like this:

If Client-side validation is enabled, the page includes references to script libraries that are used to perform the client-side validation. Every validation control makes sure that a standard block of client script is emitted into the page.

With no reference, this is plagiarism.

Slightly Modifying Words

Sometimes you come across a definition and try to make it your own by changing a few words. If you do not refrence this, it is plagiarism.

If you write:

The Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern is an architectural design principle that separates the application components of a Web application into three layers.

And it is a slight re-write of what is on msdn²:

The Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern separates an application into three main components: the model, the view, and the controller.

This rewrite is close enough to the msdn original from that a reference would be required.

Improper Referencing

Throwing a reference at the bottom of an article does not give you permission to copy any text from that source wherever you want. Each reference you make must have a clear citation. For this you can either provide a link to the material immediately, followed by a Reference list at the bottom, or simply throw a superscript number³ that either links or corresponds to the numbered reference listed at the bottom so that users know precisely what you are citing and where it occurs in your article. Each instance of copied text in this article uses BOTH citation forms, as an example.

Not Enough Original Content

While we can appreciate that there are only so many ways to define things and that in your article you may require a number of definitions in order to help the reader understand a concept, there is a limit to the amount of references you can use in an article before you have committed plagiarism. As a rule of thumb, allow yourself no more than three references or instances of copied / modified text. 90% of the content must be your own, and you should aim for 100%.

For example, suppose the following image was your entire article, with the yellow highlights indicating referenced material:

This has so much referenced content that you have now committed plagiarism.

Re-using Code Samples

While CodeProject is a site that encourages teaching others about coding in as much detail as possible and encourages authors to use code examples in their document to help illustrate points, this does not tacitly imply that all code examples are a free-for-all use and reuse wherever you want. This is also true of the rest of the code examples you find on various sites on the internet. Wherever you get your code sample from, you must first read the license associated with that code / the site from which it originates to ensure you are abiding by the stipulations set out in that license. Most importantly, make it totally clear that some/most of the code isn’t yours. If you use someone else’s code then DO NOT remove their copyright notices.

For example:

(function ($) {

    $.fn.FlickrImageWall = function (options) {

        var wwsAreOk = false;
        var workersCompleted = 0;
        var src = "";
        var workerArray = new Array();
        var imagesSoFar = 0;
        var maxImages = 15;

Again, the majority of code examples should be your own.

Images

Copying/re-using someone’s image is a copyright issue, rather than plagiarism. Fair Use, Royalty-free, and images licensed under Creative Commons all have their own particular rules about re-use, which you will have to look at carefully before you can use someone else’s image.

Ideally, if you want to use an image in your article it will be either a photo you took yourself, a graphic you created. If you re-use an image from another source you must provide proper attribution for the image (and additionally ensure that, if the original image was published under a particular license that you honor the licence’s policies regarding attribution).

If you discover an article that has re-used images please either report the article using our reporting system as «Formatting/Layout issues» and offer an explanation of what image was re-used, or email us with that information directly so we can email the author to request proper attribution. If authors fail to provide proper attribution on their articles the re-used images, the article itself, and the author’s account my be forfeit.

What happens if I plagiarize?

We’ve tried many things to tackle plagiarism on CodeProject. We’ve re-activated accounts of plagiarists and even worked with them to teach them what plagiarism is, and tried to help them them to get their articles in working order.

Experience has taught us this method does not work. A recurring theme with plagiarists is that they want their articles published, regardless of the cost. Plagiarists often have great difficulty grasping a full understanding of the concept, and there is a consistent theme of being unwilling to work with us to track down their own plagiarism and properly remove it from the site.

We are a site of authors and to see one author steal from another devalues the site and community as a whole, and is disrespectful to authors in general. As a site that lives and dies by the contributions of others, we cannot condone plagiarism. Plagiarism conflicts with CodeProject’s goals, community, and ideals and will not be tolerated. If you submit plagiarized content on CodeProject you risk losing your account and articles permanently, and without a chance of rebuttal.

References

1. Client-Side Validation for ASP.NET Server Controls — msdn
2. ASP.NET MVC Overview — msdn
3. CodeProject Plagiarism FAQ (you don’t need to reference you own article this is just an example)
4. HTML5 WebWorkers Experiment — Sacha Barber — CodeProject