How to avoid plagiarism in academic writing

Academic writing comes with many requirements and demands. You have to comply with the rules, use a specific citation method, and make sure you do not have any spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistakes. At the same time, you need to make sure your paper is original and does not present someone else’s ideas without citing them. This is what plagiarism is about. And it is not tolerated within any educational institution. 

Many academic writing services highlight the reality that plagiarism is more and more present within our societies and educational institutions too. Access to information has made it more prevalent. And because the consequences of it are severe, plagiarism should be avoided in academic writing at any cost. So, how can you do it? 

Use the proper citation methods 

One of the first techniques you should put into practice to avoid plagiarism in your academic writing is to use the proper citation methods. Plagiarism can sometimes be accidental, but this does not mean that you will not suffer any consequences in case you are caught. So, it is crucial that when you do your research and take notes to include in your paper, to note the sources down. 

This will help you make sure that you cite the ideas properly, using the right citation methods. You will find in your requirements list for your academic paper which citation style you should choose. There are many of them, such as the APA or Chicago style. Whichever one you choose, make sure you apply the rules appropriately.

Avoid procrastination

You might wonder what is the connection between procrastination and plagiarism. You might think that this is not a very good solution to avoiding plagiarism. However, it is essential to avoid procrastination as much as you can. 

If you do it, it means that the deadline will be tighter and you will need to work on your paper faster. Which, in turn, might make you skip some steps or be sloppier in your work. And this might lead to plagiarism due to the bad decisions you have made along the road. So, avoid procrastination as much as you can and start working on your academic papers ahead of time.

Paraphrasing 

Even though in some contexts paraphrasing is seen as a subtle plagiarism method, you can use it to avoid full plagiarism. You can rephrase the sentences you want to include in your academic paper. This way, the words of the original author will not be the same as yours. However, their ideas, results, facts, stats, or whatever you present are theirs anyway. So, do not forget to cite it properly or include it in the reference list.

Plagiarism checkers 

Thanks to the evolution of technology, you can now have access to so many tools that could make your life easier. And using a plagiarism checker is one of these tools. As mentioned above, plagiarism can be, in most cases, accidental. Which means that you are not even aware of it. This happens to any student, but you could skip suffering the consequences if you submit an original paper. 

And to make sure you do this, you can use a plagiarism checker. You can find many of these tools online, some of which are for free or have an affordable price. Professors always use these tools to check the written papers of students, so you can do the same before submitting your paper. The tools will highlight the words, sentences, or phrases that are identical to others online. This way, you know exactly what changes you have to make to your text so that you increase its originality level.

Avoiding plagiarism in academic writing is a must, as the consequences are severe: suspension or even expulsion. To not risk your academic progress, you could apply some tips and tricks that will help you do that. As plagiarism is sometimes accidental, you could use a plagiarism checker to make sure your paper is original. 

Avoid procrastination as it makes you sloppy in your work and skips steps of the process, which may lead to plagiarism. Use the proper citation methods and learn the secrets of paraphrasing. These suggestions help you avoid plagiarism, but it is a daily process you have to engage in so that it will become second nature.