How do I prevent plagiarising my writing?

Plagiarism is presenting the work, words, or ideas of another as one’s own. It is a form of cheating, but is sometimes caused by carelessness and forgetfulness on the part of the student.

Avoiding Plagiarism in Written Work

Creating a preliminary research paper using tools (e.g., a mind map) will help you generate original ideas. In addition, you may use the following checklist:

Planning your research

Consult your instructor or librarian
Request a recommendation if you have concerns about plagiarism, citation format, or grant reliable resource difficulties.

Plan your paper
Create a plan or outline that identifies your sources and original ideas. Use any Mind Map Tool to clarify your ideas during brainstorming.

Take Effective Notes
Noting each idea’s source (e.g., title, author, publisher, DOI or URL for online sources) will help you remember to provide credit.

More information available on Plagarism.org

Tips

#1 Understand What’s Expected
#2 Collect Credible Sources
#3 Make Notes, Plan, and Structure Efficiently
#4 When it doubt, cite

More information available on 4-tips-to-easily-avoid-plagiarism

Guidelines for avoiding plagiarism

If your name appears on an assignment, ensure that all of the work in it is your own.
You should not copy words from an article, a book, or the internet without properly citation, or submit another student’s work as your own submit work done by someone else.

Place quotations under two lines in quotation marks (“”).

Place quotations longer than two lines in a separate paragraph without quotation marks.

Include a citation following each quotation and use the appropriate referencing style for your subject or course.

Keep quotations brief and to the point; assignments are meant to assess your knowledge and ideas.

When you summarise the arguments and ideas of others or use images, diagrams, or charts that you did not create, you must clearly show that they are not yours and credit the original creator, just as you would with a quotation.

A reference list includes all sources that you have summarised or quoted. Create the list on a new page at the conclusion of your paper.

How you format this list will depend on the citation style you apply. Read more on our LibGuide.

Even if accidental, misrepresenting or misquoting the words of another person is a serious form of academic dishonesty.

– When quoting from a book or article, you should not use your notes. Return to the source and verify that you have accurately captured the author’s words.

– Do not take quotes out of context or misrepresent them; be truthful about the meaning of your sources.

– Ensure that you know where to find all of your sources, as the person grading your work may wish to revisit them.

Self-plagiarism occurs when a student
incorporates a sentence or paragraph from a previously submitted assignment into a new submission.

Your instructor may request that you submit your work through Turnitin. Before submitting, you can check similarity using Grammarly.

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