It is easy to find information for most topics, but it is not always easy to add that information into any paper without falling into the plagiarism trap. Plagiarism is almost equivalent to stealing, with one key difference being that the original work is still out there somewhere. In the world of academic writing, it is considered dishonest. Plagiarism breaches numerous standards of ethics and is subject to various penalties.
How to avoid plagiarism
Knowing how to avoid plagiarism is essential, as plagiarism could mean the loss of an entire academic degree or career. However, there are a number of easy ways to avoid plagiarism. One of those ways is to rewrite the whole content using different words. This technique is simply known as paraphrasing.
A paraphrase is a restatement in one’s own words of someone else’s ideas. This is important to note that the purpose of paraphrasing is not to make it seem like one is drawing less directly from other sources or to reduce the number of quotations in a particular paper. It is a common misconception among students that one needs to hide the fact that he/she relies on other sources. Actually, it is advantageous to highlight the fact that other sources support their own ideas. Using quality sources to support ideas makes it seem stronger and more valid. Good paraphrasing makes the ideas of the original source fit smoothly into a paper, emphasizing the most relevant points and leaving out unrelated information.
Here, it should be noted that what is usually understood as paraphrasing might not be paraphrasing in actuality. Changing a few words of the original sentences does not make a piece of writing a legitimate paraphrase. One must change both the words and the sentence structure of the original, without changing the content, the real detail. Once the perfect information has been found for a research paper, it is not just about reading it and putting it into different words. One has to make sure that he/she does not copy exactly more than two words in a row from the text they have found. If they do use more than two words together, they will have to use quotation marks. Also, one should keep in mind that paraphrased passages still require citation because the ideas came from another source, even though someone is putting them in their own words.
Another way of getting rid of the plagiarized content by rephrasing without hurting the quality of any paper is to spend more time doing the research. This technique is especially useful when using synonyms from basic word editors. This will enable the writer to make carefully structured sentences and incorporate synonyms well.
Plagiarism is considered the most serious issues in academics, it is important to avoid plagiarism because if you are caught in such activity, you can get into serious trouble. So it is better to refrain from activities that might lead you to nowhere. Try to produce genuine and original work.