On daily basis, bloggers, students, writers, the academia etc are faced with the battle of plagiarism. Many are offenders while the rest are the offended. Unfortunately, those guilty of plagiarism mostly do not know how to avoid plagiarism. In this discourse, we shall reveal to you the top 3 simple tips on avoiding plagiarism. We hope this will guide you into writing quality articles and academic works devoid of rancour and criminality.
Before we reveal the top 3 simple tips on avoiding plagiarism, it is necessary to have a refresher on what really constitutes plagiarism. According to Wikipedia.org, “Plagiarism is the “wrongful appropriation” and “stealing and publication” of another author’s “language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions” and the representation of them as one’s own original work”. The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary says it is “to use (another’s production) without crediting the source”. Essentially, plagiarism means the use of another author/writer’s work without crediting the source. By so doing, you act like the idea or work was yours while it belongs to someone else.
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Having known the meaning of plagiarism, let us quickly consider the top 3 simple ways of avoiding plagiarism.
Top 3 Simple Tips On Avoiding Plagiarism
The following tips below will guide you on how you can effectively avoid plagiarism in your works even as a blogger.
- Quoting – The chief way of avoiding plagiarism is by quoting the words, ideas or anything you copied. When you copy a sentence, idea, or view from another writer, place them into quotation marks and makes sure you reference the author or the source. For instance, plagiarism is “the act of using another person’s words or ideas without giving credit to that person” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarism).
- Paraphrasing– To avoid plagiarism, you must be able to paraphrase, i.e, to put idea into your own words. Wisc.Edu simply puts it this way, “Read it and put it into your own words. Make sure that you do not copy verbatim more than two words in a row from the text you have found. If you do use more than two words together, you will have to use quotation marks”.
- Referencing– “One of the most important ways to avoid plagiarism is including a reference page or page of works cited at the end of your research paper. Again, this page must meet the document formatting guidelines used by your educational institution. This information is very specific and includes the author(s), date of publication, title, and source. Follow the directions for this page carefully. You will want to get the references right” – writecheck.com.
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Avoid plagiarism by any means possible. It is an intellectual theft. It equates to one being a street armed robber. Make your work unique, find your ideas within and give due credit to whom its due when your idea is from another source.
We have been able to show you the Top 3 Simple Tips On Avoiding Plagiarism. There are other ways you can still use to avoid plagiarism; however, we believe these 3 can get you started in a very big way. Share this with friends. Thank you.
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