Top tips to avoid Plagiarism in your academic work

Here are top tips that will help you reduce plagiarism in your writing, even as you reference multiple sources of original content.

Plagiarism is the act of taking someone else’s work and passing it off as your own. This includes incorporating either unattributed direct quotation(s) or substantial paraphrasing from the work of another/others/or yourself. It is important to cite all sources whose work has been drawn on and reference them fully in accordance with the referencing standard used in each academic school.

At the very least your list should include the following to Avoid plagiarism in assignments:

• Making notes: read through text, think about it, then summarise in own words.
• References: record them on a template whenever making notes from a text.
• Use quotation marks when using exact words from a source
• When paraphrasing attribute to broad idea or content to the author in question.
• Title and reference diagrams that are somebody else’s work
• Cite all sources used in the work using appropriate referencing guide

How to Avoid plagiarism in assignments

When doing academic work, you are expected to refer to several books, journals and original content from various sources. So, when you try to produce your academic work, the amount of plagiarized content in your work increases, although it may not be intentional.

Whether you are a high school student or an undergraduate, you must strive to create material that references several sources (original content) but is still seen as your own material.

Here are tips that will help you do that.

Refer more sources

If you try to write by referring to only one source, chances of plagiarism increases and it also limits your scope.

You can write better and include varied viewpoints by referring to more and varied sources.

Avoid Solely on Paraphrasing

Chances of plagiarism increases when you try to copy the original content too closely by changing just a few words. A better approach is to try to read and understand the concept, and then try to read about.

And even if paraphrasing the original content will pass most online plagiarism detectors, you are not expected to get good grades if you do not show understanding of the topic.

Avoid Quoting Too Much

It’s okay to include quotes but too much of it can pose a problem.

You should ideally try to use exact quotes only if someone (a company or a public figure) gave that with the intention that it would be shared. If not, try to understand what it/s try to say and put in your own words.

Share Your Opinion

Sharing what you feel about a point not only helps you to reduce Plagiarism, it also allows your professor to assess your understanding of the topic, and they are more likely to be impressed with such academic works.

So, feel free to share your thoughts and opinions. For example, if something relevant is mentioned in a book or journal, feel free to include that but also add what you think or how you differ on that point.

This is a great way to reduce plagiarized content.

Use Plagiarism Checker Tools

There are several plagiarism checkers available online that you may use to check your academic work for originality and to see if it matches too closely with existing material.

While the free ones may not be perfect, they do a decent job. alternatively, you can rely on trusted software such as Turnitin, which most academic institutions have.

So, before your submit your work to your teacher/professor, make sure you get it checked for duplication.

To summarize, good academic practice refers to the process of completing academic work independently, ethically and in an appropriate academic style, using good referencing and acknowledging all of your sources.

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