Stealing someone’s work and using it as your own is called plagiarism. The practice of plagiarism is highly discouraged in the academic world. You should try to avoid it in non-academic papers too because of the ethical issues they might lead to. A professional essay writer takes pride in producing original work. Because that is what makes you a dignified person and it also helps contribute something original to the world and the existing literature.
Why You Should Say No to Plagiarism
First of all, plagiarism is an unethical practice that is equivalent to stealing. Secondly, it undermines your credibility in the eyes of people. People with true academic spirit neither practice nor encourage plagiarism. Thirdly, it undermines your professional career to a significant extent. When your employer learns that you plagiarize regularly, you might face irreversible consequences.
Tips for Eliminating Plagiarism from Your Essay
Here we are going to discuss a few meaningful tips to avoid plagiarism in your essay.
1) Develop an independent attitude in life
People who excessively depend on others for success are more likely to cheat and plagiarize. To excel in your studies, you need to have an independent and self-sufficient attitude in life. Stealing others’ ideas and living off others’ work is a quality of morally corrupt people.
2) Come up with your own ideas
Before writing an essay, you need to come up with original and fresh ideas. That would require some reading habits and a regular thought process. People who read regularly and think analytically are more likely to be creative in their ideas. If you keep looking for shortcuts, you would end up committing plagiarism.
More specifically, when you are writing an essay, try to do some brainstorming. You should spend some thinking about the topic and drawing an outline. Brainstorming would help you reflect on your past knowledge and experiences. In addition, the outline would help you structure your thoughts in a particular order. When I write my essay, I pay close attention to these two things. Without a proper thought process, you cannot generate new and novel ideas.
3) Be skilled at paraphrasing
When you are including someone’s idea or findings in your essay, try to change its words and phrases. Paraphrasing means changing the order of words or sentences in such a way that the original idea remains intact. You can develop your paraphrasing ability through extensive writing practice. Paraphrasing is easier for people who know different sentence structures along with a wide range of vocabulary.
Sometimes students paraphrase in such a way that the original content loses its meaning. If you practice more and more, you will eventually get good at paraphrasing. Always remember that you will have difficulty avoiding plagiarism if you do not develop paraphrasing ability.
4) Pay attention to citation
You would be well-advised to give due credit to those whose idea you have borrowed. Paraphrasing borrowed content does not make it your own idea. People think they are good at paraphrasing so they have a right to steal others’ findings. You are morally obligated to cite your sources and give due credit to the original author.
In this regard, you should know the different citation styles. APA, AMA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard have widely used citation styles. Thus, citing a source with an appropriate citation style is the hallmark of a true essay writer.
5) Include quotation marks
It is suggested that you put quotation marks around the text that you have borrowed. It signifies that you are not stating your own idea, rather quoting someone else. Sometimes essay writers prefer paraphrasing to quotations. That depends on your discretion, but it is imperative to cite the source.
6) Consult an online service
If you are not confident about writing original work, it is better to seek help from a reputed platform. Various companies are offering services regarding academic writing. You can always consult a reliable essay writing service in this regard. These platforms produce completely original and creative work. I have also sought help from such platforms in one way or the other.
7) Use a plagiarism checker
There are a few softwares that can tell you the degree of plagiarism in your paper. You just have to upload the document into the software. Subsequently, the software will compare it to other documents present over the web. Then it would give you a plagiarism report indicating the percentage of plagiarism in your work.
Different Types of Plagiarism
You should have an idea about different types of plagiarism. The most usual form of plagiarism is copy-pasting the exact words. This kind of plagiarism is immediately caught by plagiarism checker tools. The second type of plagiarism is paraphrasing the source and presenting it as your original work. This is hidden plagiarism that even some renowned essay writer online resort to.
The third type is when you recycle your earlier works without citing. The fourth type of plagiarism occurs when you do not cite the source appropriately. This occurs due to a poor understanding of citation styles as well as personal errors. Lastly, the fifth kind is when you cite those sources that do not even exist.
Afterthought
It is recommended that the students go through all these tips and guidelines one by one. Plagiarism is not in line with academic excellence. Thus, students should do everything in their power to avoid plagiarism. Coming up with original and creative work signifies true academic spirit. Teachers should sensitize students regarding the value of originality and creativity in academic as well as professional life.
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