Your professors have probably harped on and on about the importance of submitting plagiarism-free writing. Most colleges and universities have strict penalties if your work contains plagiarized writing. So, you certainly don’t need an additional reminder to submit unique content. After all, the consequences are not worth taking a risk.
Now, your main objective is to figure out how to submit a plagiarism-free essay. The standard solution is to cite your sources. Every time you note down information from a particular source to use in your writing, you have to give credit to the writer. But that’s just a standard rule to follow. Plagiarism can sneak into your work even if you follow this rule. So, it’s time to come up with some advanced techniques.
What is Considered Plagiarized Content?
The standard idea about plagiarism is quite simple. If you claim credit for someone else’s work, you are plagiarizing their content. But there’s more to it than that. If you don’t understand what plagiarism is, you will end up having to pay for assignment writing in order to ensure completely unique content. So, let’s go back to the basics.
- Plagiarism – Using a tool like Paraphrase-online.com to paraphrase content from a source..
- AI-plagiarism – Using AI tools to generate your content and passing it off as your own.
- Self-plagiarism – Repurposing content that you’ve written previously for another task.
It doesn’t matter if you’re copying someone else’s content on your own or using a tool to edit the work. It still falls under plagiarism. Using any of these methods means cutting corners while writing your essays. There’s a high chance that you’ll get caught and be penalized heavily. Thanks to high-end plagiarism-detecting tools, professors can figure out if your content is unique or not within seconds. So, there’s no point in taking a risk. Instead, try to use the advanced techniques mentioned below to avoid such a situation at all costs.
Techniques to Avoid Plagiarized Content
Apart from citing sources, there are many precautions that you can take to ensure unique content. Let’s review them one by one.
1. Revise the citation format thoroughly
There’s no point in citing your sources if you don’t do it accurately. In academia, you’ll come across multiple citation formats, such as –
- MLA
- APA
- Harvard
- AMA
Each follows a particular set of rules. For example, both the MLA and APA styles use the parenthetical form of in-text citations. However, the MLA mentions the author’s last name and page number. Meanwhile, the APA uses the author’s last name and publication year of the text. However, the AMA format is completely different. Here, you add a superscript number in the text and mention the source details in the reference section.
When writing your paper, always double-check the citation style that you have to follow. If you mess up the rules, you’ll have to deal with unnecessary plagiarism accusations.
2. Start working on your paper early
You’ll notice that the papers that you rush have a higher plagiarism percentage. That’s because you don’t give yourself enough time to polish the content. During research, you might note down the information that you want to include in your paper, but you cannot add your own elements to that content if you don’t have the time. It becomes a poorly paraphrased version of the original. Naturally, any checker tool will immediately flag such content.
That’s why it is imperative to take your time with assignments. Don’t rush the process. When noting down information to include in your assignment, try to use your own words. Go through the content and figure out the gist of it. Then, use bullet points to note the important details. That way, when you include the content in your paper later, you won’t be tempted to use the same wording.
3. Add some value to the content
Before adding information from other sources to your paper, ask yourself whether it is of any value. Don’t just add something for the sake of it. Any information that you include should have a direct correlation with the topic that you’re covering. Let’s consider two examples –
Example 1: Rupert claims that cyberbullying cases in young adults have gone up 6% compared to the previous year (Joseph, 2018). Educational institutes have passed fliers to curb cyberbullying incidents in students.
Example 2: Despite educational institutes spreading awareness about cyberbullying, such incidents have risen by 6% compared to the previous year (Joseph, 2018).
When you compare the two examples, notice how the first example doesn’t provide a correlation between the two sentences. The statistics provided don’t necessarily add any value. But the second example is not so. When you adopt any information from another source, you must add your own flavor to the content. This will reduce the chances of plagiarism significantly.
4. Make a note of internet sources
Many students are under the impression that they have to follow citation rules only when they use traditional sources, such as essays, journals, books, and other types of academic papers. But that’s not the case. Even if you come across a blog online and decide to collect information from it to add to your paper, you have to cite your sources. Almost every citation style has a set of rules for citing internet sources. So, make sure you revise those rules before citing any internet source.
5. Paraphrase like a pro
Paraphrasing is the process of writing someone else’s content in your own words. There are certain rules that you have to keep in mind when paraphrasing, such as –
- You must change the order of the sentences.
- Use synonyms without changing the overall meaning.
- Make changes to the grammatical form.
Even if you paraphrase something, you must cite your sources. After all, you’re borrowing someone else’s ideas. So, you can’t pass it off as your own.
In summary,
The secret to ensuring 100% unique content is to avoid all forms of plagiarism. This includes repurposing your own content or relying on AI tools to craft a solution for you. The techniques and suggestions highlighted in this blog increases your chances to submit plagiarism-free essays. But if you still struggle with your content, reach out to a professional for guidance.