26 Ways to Avoid Plagiarism in Research

Papers

Its easy to find information for most research papers, but its not always easy to add
that information into your paper without falling into the plagiarism trap. There are
easy ways to avoid plagiarism. Follow some simple steps while writing your research
paper to ensure that your document will be free of plagiarism.

6 Ways to Avoid Plagiarism

1. Paraphrase - So you have found information that is perfect for your research
paper. 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. We
will get into quoting properly soon.
2. Cite - Citing is one of the effective ways to avoid plagiarism. Follow the
document formatting guidelines (i.e. APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) used by your
educational institution or the institution that issued the research request. This
usually entails the addition of the author(s) and the date of the publication or
similar information. Citing is really that simple. Not citing properly can constitute
plagiarism.
3. Quoting - When quoting a source, use the quote exactly the way it appears. No
one wants to be misquoted. Most institutions of higher learning frown on block
quotes or quotes of 40 words or more. A scholar should be able to effectively
paraphrase most material. This process takes time, but the effort pays off!
Quoting must be done correctly to avoid plagiarism allegations.
4. Citing Quotes - Citing a quote can be different than citing paraphrased
material. This practice usually involves the addition of a page number, or a
paragraph number in the case of web content.
5. Citing Your Own Material - If some of the material you are using for your
research paper was used by you in your current class, a previous one, or
anywhere else you must cite yourself. Treat the text the same as you would if
 someone else wrote it. It may sound odd, but using material you have used
before is called self-plagiarism, and it is not acceptable.
6. 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.

How to Avoid Plagiarism

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It's not enough to know why plagiarism is taken so seriously in the academic world or to know how to
recognize it. You also need to know how to avoid it. The simplest cases of plagiarism to avoid are the
intentional ones: If you copy a paper from a classmate, buy a paper from the Internet, copy whole
passages from a book, article, or Web site without citing the author, you are plagiarizing. Here's the best
advice you'll ever receive about avoiding intentional plagiarism: If you're tempted to borrow someone
else's ideas or plagiarize in any way because you're pressed for time, nervous about how you're doing in
a class, or confused about the assignment, don't do it. The problems you think you're solving by
plagiarizing are really minor compared to the problems you will create for yourself by plagiarizing. In
every case, the consequences of plagiarism are much more serious than the consequences of turning in a
paper late or turning in a paper you're not satisfied to have written.

"...the consequences of plagiarism are much more

serious than the consequences of turning in a paper late..."

The consequences of accidental plagiarism are equally daunting and should be avoided at all costs.
Whether or not you intended to plagiarize, you will still be held responsible. As a member of an
intellectual community you are expected to respect the ideas of others in the same way that you would
respect any other property that didn't belong to you, and this is true whether you plagiarize on purpose
or by accident. The best way to make sure you don't plagiarize due to confusion or carelessness is to 1)
understand what you're doing when you write a paper and 2) follow a method that is
systematic and careful as you do your research. In other words, if you have a clear sense of what
question you're trying to answer and what knowledge you're building on, and if you keep careful, clear
notes along the way, it's much easier to use sources effectively and responsibly and, most of all, to write
a successful paper. If you have questions about plagiarism at any point in your research or writing
process, ask. It's always better to ask questions than it is to wait for an instructor to respond to work
that you have turned in for a grade. Once you have turned in your final work, you will be held
responsible for misuse of sources.

With these principles in mind, here are some guidelines for conducting research
responsibly:
 Keep track of your sources; print electronic sources

While it's easy enough to keep a stack of books or journal articles on your desk where you can
easily refer back to them, it's just as important to keep track of electronic sources. When you save
a PDF of a journal article, make sure you put it into a folder on your computer where you'll be able
to find it. When you consult a Web site, log the Web address in a separate document from the
paper you're writing so that you'll be able to return to the Web site and cite it correctly. You
should also print the relevant pages from any Web sites you use, making sure you note the
complete URL and the date on which you printed the material. Because electronic sources aren't
stable and Web pages can be deleted without notice, beware of directing your readers to sources
that might have disappeared. Check when the Web site you're using was last updated and update
the URLs as you work and once again right before you submit your essay. If an electronic source
disappears before you submit your work, you will need to decide whether or not to keep the
source in your paper. If you have printed the source and can turn it in with your paper, you should
do so. If you have not printed the source, you should consult your instructor about whether or not
to use that source in your paper.

The library has several helpful resources for managing your sources, including RefWorks.

Keep sources in correct context

Whenever you consult a source, you should make sure you understand the context, both of the
ideas within a source and of the source itself. You should also be careful to consider the context in
which a source was written. For example, a book of essays published by an organization with a
political bias might not present an issue with adequate complexity for your project.

The question of context can be more complicated when you're working with Internet sources than
with print sources because you may see one Web page as separate from an entire Web site and
use or interpret that page without fully understanding or representing its context. For example, a
definition of "communism" taken from a Web site with a particular political agenda might provide
one interpretation of the meaning of the wordbut if you neglect to mention the context for that
definition you might use it as though it's unbiased when it isn't. Likewise, some Internet searches
will take you to a URL that's just one Web page within a larger Web site; be sure to investigate
and take notes on the context of the information you're citing.

Plan ahead

Research can often turn out to be more time-consuming that you anticipate. Budget enough time
to search for sources, to take notes, and to think about how to use the sources in your essay.
Moments of carelessness are more common when you leave your essay until the last minute and
are tired or stressed. Honest mistakes can lead to charges of plagiarism just as dishonesty can; be
 careful when note-taking and when incorporating ideas and language from electronic sources so
you always know what language and ideas are yours and what belongs to a source.

Don't cut and paste: File and label your sources

Never cut and paste information from an electronic source straight into your own essay, and never
type verbatim sentences from a print source straight into your essay. Instead, open a separate
document on your computer for each source so you can file research information carefully. When
you type or cut and paste into that document, make sure to include the full citation information for
the print source or the full URL and the date you copied the page(s). For Web sources, make sure
to cite the page from which you're taking information, which may not necessarily be the home
page of the site you're using. Use logical and precise names for the files you create, and add
citation information and dates. This allows you to retrieve the files easily, deters you from
accidentally deleting files, and helps you keep a log of the order in which your research was
conducted. It's a good idea to add a note to each file that describes how you might use the
information in that file. Remember: you're entering a conversation with your sources, and accurate
file names and notes can help you understand and engage that conversation. And, of course,
always remember to back up your files.

Keep your own writing and your sources separate

Work with either the printed copy of your source(s) or (in the case of online sources), the copy
you pasted into a separate documentnot the online versionas you draft your essay. This
precaution not only decreases the risk of plagiarism but also enables you to annotate your sources
in various ways that will help you understand and use them most effectively in your essay.

Keep your notes and your draft separate

Be careful to keep your research notes separate from your actual draft at all stages of your writing
process. This will ensure that you don't cut language from a source and paste it into your paper
without proper attribution. If you work from your notes, you're more likely to keep track of the
boundaries between your own ideas and those in a source.

Paraphrase carefully in your notes; acknowledge your sources

explicitly when paraphrasing

When you want to paraphrase material, it's a good idea first to paste the actual quotation into
your notes (not directly into your draft) and then to paraphrase it (still in your notes). Putting the
information in your own words will help you make sure that you've thought about what the source
is saying and that you have a good reason for using it in your paper. Remember to use some form
 of notation in your notes to indicate what you've paraphrased and mention the author's name
within the material you paraphrase. You should also include all citation information in your notes.

When you decide to use paraphrased material in your essay, make sure that you avoid gradually
rewording the paraphrased material from draft to draft until you lose sight of the fact that it's still
a paraphrase. Also, avoid excessive paraphrasing in which your essay simply strings together a
series of paraphrases. When the ideas taken from your sources start to blend in deceptively with
your own thinking, you will have a more difficult time maintaining the boundaries between your
ideas and those drawn from sources. Finally, whenever you paraphrase, make sure you indicate,
at each logical progression, that the ideas are taken from an authored source.

Avoid reading a classmate's paper for inspiration.

If you're in a course that requires peer review or workshops of student drafts, you are going to
read your classmates' work and discuss it. This is a productive way of exchanging ideas and
getting feedback on your work. If you find, in the course of this work, that you wish to use
someone else's idea at some point in your paper (you should never use someone else's idea as
your thesis, but there may be times when a classmate's idea would work as a counterargument or
other point in your paper), you must credit that person the same way you would credit any other
source. On the other hand, if you find yourself reading someone else's paper because you're stuck
on an assignment and don't know how to proceed, you may end up creating a problem for yourself
because you might unconsciously copy that person's ideas. When you're stuck, make an
appointment with your instructor or go to the Writing Center for advice on how to develop your
own ideas.

Don't save your citations for later

Never paraphrase or quote from a source without immediately adding a citation. You should add
citations in your notes, in your response papers, in your drafts, and in your revisions. Without
them, it's too easy to lose track of where you got a quotation or an idea and to end up
inadvertently taking credit for material that's not your own.

Quote your sources properly

Always use quotation marks for directly quoted material, even for short phrases and key terms.

Keep a source trail

As you write and revise your essay, make sure that you keep track of your sources in your notes
and in each successive draft of your essay. You should begin this process early, even before you
start writing your draft. Even after you've handed in your essay, keep all of your research notes
 and drafts. You ought to be able to reconstruct the path you took from your sources to your notes
and from your notes to your drafts and revision. These careful records and clear boundaries
between your writing and your sources will help you avoid plagiarism. And if you are called upon
to explain your process to your instructor, you'll be able to retrace the path you took when
thinking, researching, and writing, from the essay you submitted back through your drafts and to
your sources.

Plagiarizing, or representing someone else's ideas or words as your own, will cause
problems for people in any stage of life. Students get flunked for it and it even cost
Joe Biden a shot at becoming the US President in 1988.[1] Avoiding purposeful
plagiarism is straightforward, but to avoid plagiarism committed by accident, you
should restate information several times to verify that you've put it into your own
words and always cite the original source of that information so that you give credit to
where it's due.

Steps
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1.

1
Understand what plagiarism is. The American Heritage dictionary defines
plagiarism as: "the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts
of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work." [2] Thus
plagiarism not only includes the word-for-word copying of another piece of work, but
close imitation of it also. Using synonyms and other word choices is not an excuse to
justify plagiarism. You should write a piece of text strictly in your own words and then
cite your sources. You can help yourself write a good paraphrase that is not too close
to the original by thinking of the paraphrase more as your interpretation or reflection
on what you read, rather than a re-wording of what you read.
Original source: "The law of the land prohibited slaves from seeking remuneration
from their masters for even the most heinous crimes."
 Plagiarizing: "The law of the land forbade slaves from seeking damages from their
masters for even the most vile crimes."
Not plagiarizing: "Even injured, tortured, or taunted slaves could not press for
remuneration from their masters according to United States law at the time.
(Jefferson, 157)"
Plagiarism also applies to:[3]
Downloading a paper from the internet.
Hiring someone to write something for you.
Attempting to make the ideas of others appear like they are your own.
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2.

2
Be familiar in the area that you are talking about. By understanding the subject,
you are more likely to write in your own words, rather than restate someone else's
definition of this subject. Look for information on the topic you want to write about.
 This can be on the Internet or in books, although books are almost always more
authoritative than the Internet.
The trick here is to grab several different sources of information. If you're relying on
just one source a book about slavery the chances are higher you'll inadvertently
copy or plagiarize. If you rely on three books about slavery, one documentary, and
two original sources, the chances are much lower that you'll inadvertently plagiarize.
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3.

3
Restate the subject to yourself a couple of times. The key is to understand the
material and be able to express its meaning in your own words. Try to avoid reading
from another author's material too much, as you will be more inclined to restate that
author's exact statement.
 Original source: "Slaves worked grueling 12-hour days, from sun-up to sun-down,
surviving on little more than 1,200 calories of starches and their own blood, sweat,
and tears."
Reworked: "Surviving on about half of what we today consider the suggested caloric
intake, slaves in the 19th century worked bitter, back-breaking hours. (Jefferson, 88)"
Reworked: "In the 19th century, slaves worked for as long as there was light,
receiving little in the way of nutrition. (Jefferson, 88)"
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4.

4
Reference your quotes and sources. You must include a bibliography or works
cited in your paper. If you use a direct quote from another author's work, then you
must quote it and cite it properly. Many teachers accept the standard MLA format,
unless otherwise specified.
 You can avoid inadvertent plagiarism by inserting quotation marks (if an actual quote
is used) and citing your source immediately when you make a quote or a paraphrase
from that source. If you wait to do so, or if you leave inserting quotation marks and
citations as the last step in writing your paper, you might forget a quotation or a
citation and get in trouble for plagiarism.
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5.

5
When in doubt, give credit. There are a lot of ways to do this in order to avoid
plagiarism. Here are a few:
Mention the source inside your paraphrase: "According to Richard Feynman,
quantum electrodynamics can be described using path integral formulations."
Put quotation marks around unique phrases you think could be interpreted as being
copied: "A 'paradigm shift' happens when one scientific revolution forces the
community to think of the world in a fundamentally different way."
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6.

6
Understand some basics about copyright. Plagiarism can be more than a bad
academic practice, it can be a violation of the law if you break copyright. Here is what
you need to understand to stay legal:
As a general rule, facts cannot be copyrighted. This means that you are able to use
any facts you find to support your writing.[4]
Although facts are not subject to copyright, the words used to express them are,
particularly if the wording is original or unique (copyright covers original expression).
You are free to use information from other materials in your articles, but you must use
your own words to express it. To avoid this, you can take the existing facts and put
them into your own words. There is a grace on how different the phrase can be;
adding a comma is not enough. However, changing the grammar around is.[5]
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7.

7
Understand what doesn't need to be cited. Not every single thing in academic
research needs to be cited, or else research would be too painful for people to
undertake. The following things don't need to be cited in your research and final
papers:
Common sense observations, folklore, urban legends, and well known historical
events, such as the date of the Pearl Harbor Attacks.
Your own experiences, insights, creations, and musings.
However, if you used these same experiences, insights, creations, or musings in a
previous assignment that you submitted academically, or got published, you would
need to first obtain your instructor's permission to re-use the material and, if you
receive permission, include a self-citation.
 Your own videos, presentations, music, and other media created and originated by
you.
However, if you used these same videos, presentations, music, or other media
created and originated by you in a previous assignment that you submitted
academically, or got published, you would need to first obtain your instructor's
permission to re-use the material and, if you receive permission, include a self-
citation.
The scientific evidence you gathered after performing your own tests, polls, etc.

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Tips
If you must copy, do not copy whole pages or paragraphs! Instead, put most of it
into your own words, and quote the copied part. Then, cite your source using the
proper Bibliography format. Use EasyBib.com to cite your sources in the proper
format.
Here's one suggestion for getting things into your own words. Use Google's language
tools to take an article and translate it into another language: for example, English to
German. Then copy and paste Google's translation back into Google's language
tools and translate that into another language: in our example, German to
Portuguese. Then translate that back into English. You will end up with extremely
broken English that is barely understandable. Using the knowledge of the subject that
you've gained from reading the articles and researching, now you can fix the broken
English and will have an article that has your own influence placed on it.

If you're worried something that you have might sound like someone else's, it's
probably because it does.

Even if you do use something that is purely your own idea, it is strongly
recommended that you at least state that you came up with it. Otherwise, your
teacher might mistake it for un-cited source material and falsely accuse you of
plagiarism.

Some schools offer programs/services that scan papers for plagiarized content. If you
are highly concerned, then you might want to consider such services.
 If you are honestly writing a paper or essay, the chances of you plagiarizing another
person's content are very slim. If you are conscious of the fact that you are copying
someone else's work, then chances are that you will be caught.

Cite your sources immediately when you use them, instead of later. Otherwise you
might forget to cite one (or some) and that would be plagiarism.

Warnings
Having someone edit your paper for you by adding/replacing a few words or phrases
still counts as someone writing part of your paper for you, and is therefore considered
plagiarism.

Don't take the risk of attempting to plagiarize. Not only will it cost you your grade, but
also your respect and reputation with most teachers and colleagues. Many colleges
and universities will expel students who deliberately plagiarize.

Submitting the same (or very similar) paper for two or more different classes is called
self-plagiarism. You may be able to reuse brief portions or ideas from a paper you
previously submitted, but only if you first get your instructor's permission and include
a self-citation. (You still can't paraphrase anything you previously said in your own
first submission too closely either)

Lecture notes you take in class, and source material you put into a different format
does not count as your own work that you may leave un-cited if used in an
assignment. Although you took the notes or wrote the assignment in your own form,
you still used other peoples' work, so you'd need to cite your teacher and/or author of
the original source. (For example, if you create a pie chart out of statistics you found
online, you'd still need to cite the internet source and the statistics you generated the
pie chart from, even if the pie chart itself is your own)

How to avoid plagiarism

When using sources in your papers, you can avoid plagiarism by
knowing what must be documented.

Specific words and phrases

 If you use an author's specific word or words, you must place those words within quotation
marks and you must credit the source.

Information and Ideas

Even if you use your own words, if you obtained the information or ideas you are presenting
from a source, you must document the source.

Information: If a piece of information isn't common knowledge (see below), you need to
provide a source.

Ideas: An author's ideas may include not only points made and conclusions drawn, but, for
instance, a specific method or theory, the arrangement of material, or a list of steps in a
process or characteristics of a medical condition. If a source provided any of these, you need
to acknowledge the source.

top

Common Knowledge?
You do not need to cite a source for material considered common knowledge:

General common knowledge is factual information considered to be in the public domain,

such as birth and death dates of well-known figures, and generally accepted dates of
military, political, literary, and other historical events. In general, factual information
contained in multiple standard reference works can usually be considered to be in the public
domain.

Field-specific common knowledge is "common" only within a particular field or specialty.

It may include facts, theories, or methods that are familiar to readers within that discipline.
For instance, you may not need to cite a reference to Piaget's developmental stages in a
paper for an education class or give a source for your description of a commonly used
method in a biology reportbut you must be sure that this information is so widely known
within that field that it will be shared by your readers.

If in doubt, be cautious and cite the source. And in the case of both general and field-
specific common knowledge, if you use the exact words of the reference source,
you must use quotation marks and credit the source.