What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is using someone else’s written work and ideas and presenting them as your own by incorporating them into your work without giving them full credit. In the article writing industry, it is a career killer. It lowers credibility in your ability as a content creator and your authority on the subject matter. This article reviews the types of plagiarism and simple ways to avoid it.

Types of Plagiarism

Accidental plagiarism: happens when there is a lack of adequate citations or incorrect citations, forgetting to quote, or mistakenly using phrases or word combinations similar to the original.

Source-based plagiarism happens when a writer copies content from a secondary source but cites the primary source instead.

Patchwork plagiarism (Mosaic Plagiarism) – Involves embedding content from different sources into your article or content without citing the sources. The result is a mosaic of plagiarized work.

Direct plagiarism is the deliberate passing-off of another writer’s words as your own. It often involves the entire content. Direct plagiarism from different sources results in mosaic plagiarism.

Self-Plagiarism – It is the reusing of your own words in different articles. It happens when one writes on the same topic for two other clients or websites.

Paraphrasing plagiarism happens when a writer reuses another’s work but changes a few words or phrases to make it appear different. It is common in articles written using bots.

How to Avoid Plagiarism

Maintaining the originality of information in writing can be difficult, especially if the topic is unfamiliar. Therefore, learning how to avoid plagiarism from the beginning of your writing career is essential. Fortunately, there are simple ways to achieve this. Here are three of them.

Use more than one source: Conduct thorough research on the topic because you run a high risk of content plagiarism without it. The rule of the thumb is to use three or more different sources.

Quote – When using someone else’s words, ensure your readers know the sources. You can quote them within the text or add them as sources at the end of your work.

Check- Always check your articles using different content check tools like Grammarly. These tools will compare the text to available content on the internet to determine if there are similar texts. They will then highlight them, giving you a chance to correct your work before you submit or publish it.

Also read: A survival guide for article writing beginners

Conclusion

Plagiarism is a crime you do not want to commit in the writing industry. Fortunately, you can easily avoid it even at the early stages of your content creation career. At Seopips, we train budding writers in the art of research and rewriting to produce plagiarism-free articles.

Enroll today to learn more.

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