Achievement 3 by @frankie14. Task: Content Etiquette

In the short time I’ve been here, I’ve realized that Steemit is a wonderful platform where individuals can post any type of content at all and get rewarded for it, as long as the content is original. What exactly is original content, one may ask?
Original content is never-before-seen content that an individual produces on their own.
Steemit actually rewards this originality, as seen in the blockchain, and this is called the “Proof of Brain” concept.

To maintain “originality”, any bit of content that is borrowed from somewhere else must be properly cited. Citation basically means making reference to wherever the external content was gotten from. Failure to cite the source is deemed PLAGIARISM. This is a serious offence not just on Steemit but everywhere in the world.

Plagiarism in simple terms is posing someone else’s work as one’s own. This work could be a quote, a paragraph, a picture , or even a line. As long as it’s not yours, it must be properly cited in your post.

There are four main types of plagiarism, namely:

1. Direct plagiarism
2. Self-plagiarism
3. Mosaic plagiarism
4. Accidental plagiarism

Direct plagiarism:
This is simply when the plagiarist copies and pastes text from someone else’s work without properly citing the source. This is also the most harmful type of plagiarism.

Self-plagiarism:
This occurs when a student for example, submits the same work for two different assignments or projects. This doesn’t often breed serious legal consequences, but it is still a punishable offence.

Mosaic plagiarism:
This type of plagiarism could be unintentional as well. It occurs when someone directly lifts a line from another’s work verbatim without using quotation marks. The plagiarist could even cite the source of the work but if the exact line that was lifted isn’t in quotes, it is deemed mosaic plagiarism. source

Accidental plagiarism:
This type occurs more as a result of neglect and ignorance than from a desire to cheat. Examples are failure to properly cite an unoriginal piece or paraphrasing someone else’s work without indicating. source

Plagiarism is a serious offence all over the world and it has the following consequences;

1. A destroyed professional reputation, as the error of plagiarism follows one throughout the rest of their career.

2. A tarnished academic reputation, as one’s academic career may be jeopardized simply because of an act of plagiarism.

3. Legal consequences - Copyright laws are very serious and an author whose work has been used without proper acknowledgement can sue the offender.

4. Monetary consequences - Usually if an author’s work has been used without his consent, he may be paid an agreed sum of money as recompense by the offender. source

Here are a few tips on how you can avoid plagiarizing someone else’s work;

• Rather than “copy-pasting”, try to paraphrase.
• Use plagiarism checkers to ensure that your whole body of work is original.
• Use quotations marks wherever you lift a line or lines from another person’s work verbatim.
• Cite all your sources properly.
• Keep a record of all the sources you refer to.
source

To avoid plagiarism on Steemit, you need to indicate when the content does not belong to you.
You can do this with either quotes (“”) or with the “>” markup. For example;

Using the quotes:
“Glycogen assembly and breakdown are complex processes that require several enzymes.” source

Then, using the > markup:

Glycogen assembly and breakdown are complex processes that require several enzymes. source

I learnt how to use the ‘>’ markup from this page, and also with the help of @awesononso and @zekea.

Fortunately for original content creators, Steemit not only rewards their originality, it also has measures in place to stop plagiarism. There’s a community called Mosquito Squishers whose objective is to fish out plagiarized work.

In conclusion, here are a few tips I learnt about how to conduct myself on Steem:

1. Vote and comment on other people’s posts.
2. Don’t post comments irrelevant to a post.
3. Don’t use tags on your post that are not about the post.
4. Don’t post any vulgar content without tagging it with NSFW (not safe for work).
5. Be polite and and try to support others.

I have read and understood the Steemit Etiquette on Steemit Community and will do my best to embrace them.

Cc:
@cryptokannon
@awesononso
@xkool24