Plagiarism is taking someone else's ideas or labour without credit. Plagiarism is using another's words or images without attribution. Plagiarism is frowned upon, punishable by disciplinary action, and often outright prohibited. Because of this, students, researchers, writers, and academics must comprehend plagiarism and how to avoid it.
Academic plagiarism can lead to expulsion, reputation loss, or degree invalidation. The accessibility of accessing material online has increased the opportunities and incentives for plagiarism. This makes early confirmation of plagiarism and attribution even more crucial.
Common Forms of Plagiarism to Stay Away From
There are many ways plagiarism could show up in your work.
Copy-Pasting Content
This involves directly copying sentences, paragraphs, or even entire pieces of content from sources like websites, journals, and published works without giving credit. It is easy to find relevant writings online and pass them off as your own by copy-pasting. But this qualifies as blatant plagiarism and can have severe repercussions if caught.
Paraphrasing Without Attribution
If you take a paragraph from another source and change some words/phrases while keeping the underlying text and ideas the same, you paraphrase without giving credit. Even if you do not copy verbatim, paraphrasing content without mentioning the source is considered plagiarism.
Using Photographs, Artwork or Data Without Permission
Using any photographs, data, graphs, images or artworks created by others without permission or attribution is plagiarism, like with text. Always cite the creator/source, even when using visual elements.
Self-Plagiarism
Reusing your past work without proper citations is known as self-plagiarism. For example, submitting the same essay twice or reusing chunks of old writings in new content requires proper attribution.
Why is Proper Referencing Important?
Attributing your sources using proper citations and references helps establish academic integrity and honesty. It also gives due credit to the creators/authors of the ideas or works you use. Proper referencing also showcases the research you have put into your work to inform your analysis and conclusions. Omitting references makes it look like you are claiming the originality of ideas that are not your own. This can have profound implications for one's reputation and career if found indulging in plagiarism repeatedly.
How to Avoid Plagiarism?
Here are some tips to ensure you provide proper attribution and avoid plagiarism issues:
Put all direct quotes within quotation marks. This marks content that is not your own but taken from another source. Always provide the author's name, publishing year, title of work, page number, website link, etc., for full attribution alongside the quote.
Paraphrase content and cite the source. If you have to take ideas from other literature, rephrase them with significant changes in your own words instead of direct reproduction. Also, provide the reference alongside.
Cite sources next to all data/statistics used. Any numerical figures, data, or statistics that are not your own should be referenced. Eg. "As per a 2021 survey by Gallup, 73% of students admit to cheating in college [1]".
Use proper citation styles. Follow established citation norms like APA, MLA, Chicago, etc. They provide guidelines on referencing quotes, paraphrases, sources, visuals, etc.
Create a references/bibliography section. Have a dedicated team listing full details of all sources you have cited in your work.
Use plagiarism-checking software. Tools like online exam help, Grammarly, and Turnitin help detect plagiarized content by comparing it against existing sources. Use them to check your work before submission.
When is Referencing Not Required?
You do not need to provide references for ideas/information that are:
Common factual knowledge: Date of India's independence, names of oceans, universal scientific facts, etc.
Your analysis and conclusions: As long as these are based on your research and critical thinking.
Personal experiences: For instance, accounts of something you witnessed or did.
However, providing citations wherever possible to establish credibility is still recommended.
Acknowledging others' efforts is essential. Avoiding plagiarism and its attendant problems is possible if you take the time to recognise your sources correctly and clearly distinguish them from your writing. The purpose of referencing is not just to prevent plagiarism but also to uphold ethical values of honesty and acknowledgement when building upon other people's work.