How to Avoid Plagiarism in Content Writing

While writing useful content a writer goes through many challenges. He has to make sure that what he is writing is to the point and consists of the necessary details. He also needs to draw upon previously established ideas and create a content that is plagiarism free and excites the readers at the same time. It might not be easy for every writer to create their own original content, so it’s important for us to understand what we mean by plagiarism and how we can avoid it.

What Is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism can be defined as the unethical practice of using someone’s content or ideas without their acknowledgement. Sometimes it can be planned and done purposely. Otherwise it can be done accidentally or mistakenly. However in both cases, plagiarism is considered as a serious offense and can result in extremely negative consequences like loss of the author’s prestige and credibility. It can also put a person in grave trouble in case the author takes legal action against him.

Therefore, we should avoid plagiarism at any cost and learn ways to create content that is plagiarism free.

How Can We Avoid Plagiarism?

Since plagiarism is a serious ethical offense, we ought to guard ourselves from it. Here, are some guidelines that may help you in avoiding plagiarism:

i) Cite your source:

If you are suggesting an idea that’s not your own, don’t forget to add a citation that identifies the name of the source and the date it was published. Also, if you have written facts or something that is common then it is not necessary to cite the source, but you can include a reference if you still are uncertain.

ii) Include quotations:

If you have used words from some other source into your writing, then you can avoid plagiarism easily by using quotation marks around the text, to indicate that it isn’t written by you.

iii) Paraphrase:

Paraphrasing is rewriting an idea taken from a source into your own words, without making a difference in its meaning. To paraphrase without plagiarizing, you need to format your writing in an original way by avoiding the use of similar words and sentences from the source.

iv) Present your own idea:

Instead of copying the source idea, try to present your own idea and give your personal opinions on the topic you are writing about. Your views and perspective might be different from the source but can create a unique influence on the reader. In this way you will be able to contribute something that is your own in your writing style.

v) Use a plagiarism checker:

Sometimes while writing a content you might mistakenly use some phrases or words from other articles and forget to cite the original author. In such cases you can use a plagiarism checker to avoid plagiarism. There are many plagiarism tools available online like Grammarly, Quetext, Duplichecker, etc which can help you to create plagiarism free content. These tools highlight the line or part which is plagiarized and also tell from which content the text comes from. You can then rephrase the lines or cite the original source from which you’ve taken the words or idea.

Hence, the aforementioned points if taken into account will indubitably help one avoid plagiarism and ensure the authenticity of their written content.