How to Avoid Plagiarism: 3 Easy Methods

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Are you looking for ways on how to avoid plagiarism?

Sometimes it’s not easy to avoid plagiarism because you can sometimes plagiarize your work unknowingly.

Fortunately, there are rules you can follow to avoid plagiarism.

Ideally, we normally use other people’s work to compile our articles, books, etc.

This makes it easier to commit plagiarism without knowing.

Because even when you adhere to the rules, a single sentence can turn out to be plagiarism.

In this article, you’re going to learn three easy methods to avoid plagiarism.

But before that, let’s learn a few basic things.

What Is Plagiarism?

First things first, before you know how to avoid plagiarism, you need to know what it is in the first place.

Typically, plagiarism is the act of passing on other people’s work (words, sentences, ideas, or the whole work) as yours without giving credit to the source.

Plagiarism could also involve citing or referencing other people’s work wrongly.

When writing an academic paper, you use other student’s or scholars’ work and various sources of information and evidence. Sometimes to avoid plagiarism is as simple as using the AMA format generator developed by Edubirdie that can be accessed from their official website.

You could be asking why you should be worried about committing plagiarism.

Keep reading to learn more.

Why you should avoid plagiarism?

Plagiarism is considered an “academic sin”. A writer or student who submits plagiarized work is considered a thief.

Usually, some types of plagiarism are considered serious than others.

For instance, direct plagiarism can get you suspended from school whereas self-plagiarism can be forgiven with a warning.

Students facing plagiarism cases are also denied funding or their marks are deducted.

As an academic professional, you want to avoid plagiarism as much as you can.

So here are the methods to avoid it.

1.    Cite Your Sources

Citing your references is one of the surefire methods of avoiding plagiarism.

Whether you have used someone’s quote, an idea, wording, or article, citing your sources can help to keep you safe from plagiarism penalties.

Usually, there are different common styles of citation.

So as a rule, you need to cite your sources according to the style recommended by your learning institution.

2.    Paraphrase

You can use someone’s ideas, words, or words while avoiding plagiarism by use of the paraphrasing method.

This method involves rewriting someone’s ideas or information in your own words without losing the original meaning.

Note that if not done properly, paraphrasing can land you in plagiarism.

While paraphrasing, you also need to avoid using too many similar words from the source.

3.    Use a Plagiarism Checker Software

No matter how keen you’ll be when using information from outside sources, you’re going to include a sentence or two from the source.

Failure to provide citations, you’re in for a hot soup.

Fortunately, you can use a plagiarism checker tool to detect this problem before submitting your work.

There is plenty of plagiarism checkers online today- some are free while others are premium.

It’s That Simple

As you can see, plagiarism is an academic issue you don’t want to face.

Fortunately, it’s something you can avoid.

Once you know what plagiarism is and instances that are considered plagiarism, then using the three methods can help you submit plagiarism-free work.

Good luck!