“Plagiarize: to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own: use (another's production) without crediting the source;
to commit literary theft : present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source”
Webster dictionary
Plagiarism is one of the most severe violations of academic writing. It may have serious consequences for a student even expulsion from college/ university. Not to expose yourself to such unjustified risk, remember rule 1 – avoid any form of plagiarism.
Sometimes it is especially difficult because of the specific nature of writing itself.
On the one hand you should show that you have conducted a deep research, but demonstrate a brand new perspective on the suggested topic. You should refer to authoritative sources, but at the same time express your own opinion.
It does not matter for your professor whether you plagiarize incidentally or deliberately. To be on the safe side -remember rule 1.
First of all avoiding plagiarism implies citing sources. You don’t have to do it only when the idea is a common fact for the intended audience.
Common knowledge is something that:
your reader already knows.
can easily be found in general reference sources.
isn’t cited in other sources.
To avoid plagiarism you should start documenting the sources as early as you start doing your research.
In your draft mark the ideas that are your own and those which are drawn from other sources. Underline, italicise someone else’s words in your notes. As you are paraphrasing, try not to peep into the primary source, write form memory. Then you will check and correct the possible inaccuracies. Start paraphrasing with acknowledging the author: According to….., . If you want to keep a particular phrase, do not fail to use quotation marks with it.
Limit the general number of direct quotations to the most powerful ones. Your writing will lose its own voice and identity when stuffed with too many direct quotes.
How to avoid plagiarism