Types of Plagiarism and How to Avoid Them
Like every other field, the field of research has its own codes of conduct. Certain ethics need to be followed here, and they cannot be violated even unknowingly. One such violation is plagiarism. What is plagiarism? It is simply copying someone else’s work and claiming it to be your own. There are various types of plagiarism, and all of them are easily detectable nowadays; therefore, we have got to be pretty cautious while referring to some other work while writing something, and before you publish your thesis, make sure you have cited all the resources diligently. Let us talk about the types of plagiarism and how to avoid them:
- Direct Plagiarism: When you copy someone’s work word for word and present it as your own, it is direct plagiarism. If an entire text by someone is copied and referred to as original work, it is called ‘Global Plagiarism.’ It is only natural that you will read something to get a proper idea about the topic you are focusing your research on, but if you start quoting from that paper and do not give credit to the original author, it is simply stealing. And stealing is a crime everywhere. But again, sometimes, there is no better way of explaining things than copying the original author. To solve this problem, quotation marks and references are used, but most universities do not allow direct copying more than twice in a paper. Paraphrasing is a good option that can ease this problem.
- Mosaic Plagiarism: It is simply ‘patch-writing’, which means instead of copying one text, one is referring to various texts and stealing words, phrases, and other portions from it and putting those together in one paper. You need to remember that all the resources that are available are for you to gain knowledge on something; they should never be copied; rather, you should understand those, have a clear idea, and then reproduce in your own way.
- Paraphrasing: Paraphrasing is not recreation; it is rewriting the same in a different way, using different language. It must be a little confusing because it was just mentioned as a remedy for plagiarism, but we need to remember that paraphrasing without citation is also a form of plagiarism. You are using your own words to elaborate on someone else’s idea. To avoid such plagiarism, there are APA and MLA formats that help us give in-text citations with paraphrases.
- Accidental Plagiarism: It can happen in several ways, and that too unknowingly. That is why it is called an accident. Sometimes we read so closely that we subconsciously paraphrase a particular writing and think we are actually writing something original. It can happen if we misquote someone or give an incorrect citation. The best way to avoid this is to write and cite simultaneously, so there are fewer chances of forgetfulness.
- Self-plagiarism: It is mainly a technical issue. Imagine you have written paper A, and now you are on your way to writing paper B. Now if you copy certain parts of paper A and write in this paper, it will be self-plagiarism. The plagiarism detector software will not see if you have copied from yourself. It will just find the similarities and mark those portions as plagiarized. Also, sometimes it is considered foul in the academic world; it means you are not thinking enough. The solution again is paraphrasing and citation.
It is true that we need materials to write something, but we have to create something original from them. Nowadays, software can detect all types of plagiarism no matter how skillfully it is done. Therefore proper citation is the only way that can save us. Keep revising, and do not forget to use a basic plagiarism checker to scan your work before you make a submission.
