What does Plagarism mean?
The term Plagarism could best be understood with the words of Merriam-Webster dictionary as "the act of using another person's words or ideas without giving credit to that person". Source
In other words, when you make a speech or write a piece of work for a public or private audience and you use information from another person or group's work without acknowledging that you got such information from their work, you're guilty of Plagarism. This is because such copied information will appear to have been formulated by you whereas you're not the original author, as you have failed to give due credit to the source of your information.
You can also be guilty of plagarism if your source is cited, but not correctly.
Types of Plagarism.
The types of Plagarism basically mean the different ways in which plagiarism can be made.
All types of plagiarism involve using someone else’s words or ideas and with failure to make proper citation.
We're briefly going to highlight and x-ray a few of the different types of plagarism which are most common.
• Verbatim plagiarism:
Verbatim plagiarism is also called direct plagarism and it occurs when you copy and paste text into your work without making reference to the source of the copied text.
Regardless of whether you actually remove or change some words from the text, if the structure (systematic order) and most of the words in the text are the same as with the source or original work, it's still direct or verbatim plagarism.
If you have to use the exact words of an author, you should be sure to quote the original source by placing the copied text between quotation marks and also adding an in-text citation.
• Global plagiarism:
Global plagarism simply put, is using the entire work of another person or group and claiming it to be your self-made idea or concept.
That is, claiming authorship to the entire work of another person.
Global plagarism is one of the most serious of the different types of plagarism, and the consequences can be far reaching due to the fact that it involves deliberate and direct deception about the source of a work.
• Paraphrasing plagiarism:
Paraphrasing is a continuous verb from the verb 'Paraphrase', which means to rephrase (rewrite or report) a piece of text in your own words.
When you paraphrase and make proper citation of your sources that is not plagarism. It becomes plagarism when you rewrite the points made in a text as though they were your personal ideas, failing to cite your source(s).
Also, when you translate a piece of text from one language to another language without citing and the original source, it is plagarism.
• Patchwork plagiarism:
Patchwork plagiarism is also called mosaic plagiarism.
It involves creating a new text from the combination of ideas, phrases and passages of different sources. It can include rephrasing slightly, the passages of a source and leaving most of the words and structure unchanged as appears in the original source, and adding your own words around the passages to make meaning with the plagarized text. It actually requires more effort than a simple 'copy and paste' approach.
• Self-plagiarism:
Self-plagiarism means reusing work that you’ve previously submitted or published. It’s considered dishonest to present a paper or a piece of data as brand new when you’ve already gotten credit for the work.
Self-plagarism is common for people who run short of fresh ideas and are hesitant to research from other sources. They then resort to their own previous works.
Hence, Self-plagarism is the act of reusing a work which you have published or submitted already. It's considered an act of deception to present a work as unique where as you have received credit already for the work.
Although inherently, reworking old ideas and passages is not plagiarism, but your previous work should be duly cited.Source
Consequences of Plagarism.
Plagarism can do quite unpleasant and dire damage to one's professional and academic reputation, as well has pose serious legal implications in the event of a law suit being filed against the plagiarist by the author of a material on the strength of Copyright laws.
It's therefore advised that you try to avoid plagarism in any content you make, and there are quite a number of practical ways to do so. A number of such ways are briefly discussed below.
How to avoid plagarism.
• Cite your source
Always be careful to add a citation in your writing when referencing an idea or wording that is not yours. Your citation should include the full name of the source, the date of publication, and any other required element by the style guide you're adopting.
• Include quotations marks in your reference
When referencing words or ideas, verbatim from any source, be sure to insert the quoted texts in between quotation marks to indicate that the words are not yours, and also cite the source of such quote for easy identification of the origin.
• Create your own ideas.
Rather than fully depending on other people's ideas about a topic you're working on, try to understand the concept and craft out some ideas of your own that follows the flow of the subject matter. In order words, be creative and intuitive in thinking. Put your brain to work and cook up ideas, points and words that stands out as unique contents. That way, you stand a great chance of avoiding plagarism, you build you brain power, and you gain reputation from people who come across your work.
• Paraphrase correctly.
When paraphrasing, be a step ahead with your creativity. Avoid too many similar words with the original source while making sure that the point being made is maintained. Also, ensure to cite the original source because no matter how best you paraphrase, you're still using someone's ideas
• Scan your content with plagiarism checker
A great way to avoid plagarism is to check x-ray for completed work for any trace of plagarism which you would promptly change or adjust before submission or publication. This check can be done by copying and pasting your work in a plagarism checker scans through the work and reports any identified plagarized content.
There are a number of plagiarism checkers on the net, like the one offered by Grammerly and Small SEO Tools. Grammarly also offers a plagiarism checker that scans your text for borrowed content for free.Source
So, with the few said, I believe you have something to help you with your content creation on whatever platform you're engaged with. Thanks for your time.😊😊
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