How to Avoid Plagiarism in a Research Paper Writing
Plagiarization is stealing by copying someone’s work with proper credits or citations. Many students encounter plagiarism because they have little to no knowledge about avoiding it or what it is. Some plagiarism happens intentionally when a writer uses a piece of work as his own. Some incidents of plagiarism can happen accidentally when you want to use a section of a journal or a publication without proper citation to the original owner. However, if this academic dishonesty is committed, anyone caught can have serious consequences. You buy from professional writing websites to write a no-plagiarism essay for you. But if you want to experience the writing process, here are some tips to avoid plagiarism in your subsequent write-ups.
Use a range of resources.
Strategies to avoid plagiarism include using as many sources as possible for your research paper. Students sometimes marvel and wonder that a single search result or a single academic journal contains all the information they need for the research paper and solely rely on a single piece of document for all the data they need. This action is copying the original work and transferring it to your writing as your findings. Even with proper citation, it can be tagged as plagiarism if it comes from a single source. Therefore, you should have as many different sources as possible when making a paper. Other articles may contain the same content but can vary interpretations to help you write your article better. If you are out of books to read and academic journals to go through, you can use millions of works online. To help you make sure that the sources are valid, here is a list of some of the trusted websites for research paper databases:
- Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC)
- Science Direct
- JSTOR
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
- Web of Science
Develop your style
How do you avoid plagiarism when technology makes everything easier for you? Many students plagiarize because of the so-called “copy-paste” method. They find a section they need and directly transfer it to their paper. Truthfully, copying and pasting with simple clicks made typing information less tedious, but it is still a form of academic dishonesty. When writing a research paper, you cannot skip looking for related literature and other data that will support your claim. You will need the precious study for your article. Develop your writing style for your paper. Instead of copying the idea word for word, narrate it or present it according to your interpretation. It is like telling the same story differently or from a different point of view. Developing your writing style will help you avoid plagiarism and help you hone your writing skills.
Keep good quality notes.
When looking for other sources for your paper, filter out the data before using it in your research. If you used books, journals, and the internet for your data gathering and related literature, you should keep notes on the essential parts you will include in your paper. You can study them and see how they are interrelated. Many online documents are plagiarism articles, and you must see through them before using them in your paper. Also, keep notes on the authors and citations of the data you used. Remember that you must acknowledge them at the end for using their idea.
Aside from the related literature, most of your research paper will be based on your data gathering. This part will come from other people’s work; if you have no idea how to cite appropriately and are not familiar with the ways to prevent plagiarism, you can seek professional writing services. You can pay someone to write a research paper and ensure it is original and of the highest quality.
Use quotation marks
Avoiding plagiarism is hard when you do not know if you are committing it. Every student must have a background in the different forms of plagiarism. But if you are unsure if you are copying or paraphrasing correctly, use quotation marks. Using quotation marks is the safest way to avoid the nasty consequences of plagiarism. However, you cannot use quotation marks on all the data you will be using from other academic journals. Therefore, it would be best to learn how to cite correctly so things like plagiarism won’t bother your writing process. The most common citation forms used in the research papers are MLA and APA.
Paraphrase smartly
If I reword my essay, is it considered plagiarism? It depends on how you paraphrase or summarise your essay. The rule of thumb in paraphrasing is not to copy three consecutive words from the original content. However, if you consider rearranging the content and not changing the words and ideas, plagiarism is still considered plagiarism.
To help you paraphrase smartly and adequately, here are some tips you can follow for the process:
- Please read the section you need multiple times to understand it fully.
- Take note of the critical concepts of the sections you will need in your paper.
- Please write your version of the section without using it as a basis.
- Compare the version you have versus the original text
- If the wording is too similar, adjust your version by changing words and phrases.
These simple steps can help you paraphrase more effectively and help you avoid committing plagiarism.
If you doubt your paraphrasing, you can use applications that feature plagiarism checkers. Applications such as Grammarly can compare your paper with billions of documents uploaded online for plagiarism. The best thing about these applications is that you can use them instantly. You will have more time to revise and adjust your writing in case it is plagiarized.
Plagiarism is one of the worst forms of academic dishonesty. It can permanently blemish your records, which can affect your college applications or even your career. That is why schools must teach students how to avoid plagiarism and its consequences in the early stages of education. And as they progress in their education journey, it is coupled with writing and proper citations. Plagiarism is avoidable with appropriate tools and knowledge.
