Avoid Plagiarism

Avoid plagiarism through attribution and acknowledgment. Plagiarism.org offers writers a tremendous resource and definition of plagiarism to help them avoid the writer’s shame, that of stealing another person’s work and labeling it as your own. Sadly, plagiarism does not need to be intentional to take place.

Avoid plagiarism by attributing your sources.

The easiest way to avoid plagiarism is to attribute your sources while writing. Articles that require research include everything from health to writing to music and education. If it can be written about, it can be researched. Even fiction writing requires a certain amount of research to clarify details.

The Internet makes plagiarism an easy trap to fall into. Find an article online that is similar to the topic being written about, then simply rewrite it in your own words. This is a form of plagiarism, whether it duplicates word for word the statements in the article or simply paraphrases them. Without proper attribution, it steals the ideas, the work and the efforts of another writer and declares them your own.

Attribution is very simple to add to your writing and protects your reputation, your integrity and your job prospects.

Avoid Plagiarism by using a plagiarism checker such as Copyscape. Copyscape charges a small fee for checking not only website urls, but also plain text look-ups. Copyscape can provide reasonable assurance that the work is original, but it can also be fooled by a good writer who knows how to rewrite sentences.

Ultimately, the burden of avoiding plagiarism rests on the writer. They must be honest in their attribution of work and not pretend an expertise they do not have. When writing about caring for a newborn, it only takes five words to attribute information to a pediatrician. If quoting from a study; do not use 'some studies suggest' as it is a vague reference, but rather cite the specific study and link to it if appropriate. This not only builds integrity in the writing, but also avoids plagiarism.

Use the following quick guide to help you correctly determine how to attribute your source. When in doubt about attributing a source, go ahead and attribute it.

The last key to avoid plagiarism is to use reliable sources for material. Most sites that end in .org or .edu are considered reliable sources of information. They are also among the easiest to attribute and create a valid resource for your work. But if you go to random online web pages and you want to verify their sources, follow the web sites’ attributions to their sources.

By verifying the information trail, a writer protects their personal and professional integrity. If a website does not provide a valid source trail to track and seems fishy, then go with your gut and don’t cite that source. In the long run, you are responsible for the work you turn in, whether it is good, bad or indifferent. If you do not take the steps to avoid plagiarism, including verifying your sources and providing reliable and valid work, then it is your prospects as a freelance writer and author that will suffer.

Remember, attribution takes less than a sentence, but accusations of plagiarism can’t be undone with hundreds of sentences.

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