With new technology comes newer and easier ways to check for plagiarism. When essay writing, it is important to check your content to ensure that it will not be flagged for plagiarism when it is handed in. Educators now use multiple tools, including search technology as well as content comparison algorithms, to help them detect plagiarism. If you want to avoid plagiarism and have a good piece of writing, you can order an essay. Here is an article where you can find the best websites where you can order high-quality essays.
What Is Plagiarism and When Does It Happen
While the idea of plagiarism is nothing new — the term has been around since the 1st century — it is only relatively recently that it has become a larger problem in the education world. One major reason for this is the increased use of the internet. Social media and sites like Google allow almost instantaneous access to information. For those looking to not write things on their own, the internet makes it quite easy to find someone who will write your essay for you.
However, the introduction of the internet has also been beneficial for those who may be wondering if the article or essay they are reading has been plagiarized. With the simple click of a few buttons, people are able to determine if what they are reading has been copied and pasted from somewhere else and see exactly where that information was written previously.
Identifying Plagiarism
Determining plagiarism is done in several ways. Through keyword analysis, the person is able to enter a keyword into a system and a list of documents will appear that use that word. While this may not be the easiest way to determine plagiarism, the person can also use an entire string of words rather than just one lone word. The more words you can put into the system, the easier it will be for you to determine if the article you are reading has been written before.
Determining That It’s Not the Student’s Work
Educators also keep an eye out for a drastic change in the quality of work that is submitted. If a student hands in an essay one week with many mistakes and turns in a well thought out paper the next week, this may be a sign that some plagiarism has taken place.
Spelling Mistakes
Another way to determine if an article is plagiarized is to look at spelling mistakes. Sometimes spell check will not automatically correct misspelled words, causing the mistakes to remain from one article to the next if it has been copied and pasted.
Web-Based Detection
Web-based detection software is available for use as well to make it even easier to detect plagiarism. This type of software is able to compare an essay to a database of other student papers as well as published papers. However, it is still up to the teacher to determine if they believe the student did indeed purposely plagiarize, and what to do about it.
That said, there are several things a student can do to avoid plagiarizing when writing an essay. Most importantly, cite your sources. All of them. All the time. If an idea is not yours, cite it. Even if you are not directly quoting.
Some Advice To Avoid Plagiarism
If you are copying an idea word for word, it is important to always use quotation marks. This way it is very clear that your intention was not to plagiarize an idea. However, if you are paraphrasing, quotation marks would not be necessary, although you should still cite your source.
Use Plagiarism Software
As a student, you can make use of plagiarism detection software too. Using this type of software could allow you to avoid being accused of plagiarism when it was not your intent. Some types of plagiarism are done mistakenly, and using this software will make you aware of what has happened so that you can fix it with proper citations.
Simply Use Your Thoughts and Ideas
One of the easiest ways to avoid plagiarism is to use your own thoughts and ideas. Write about things you know and have experience with. If it is your own ideas, there is no worry that the information may be found somewhere else. However, if the paper requires specific data or historical information, this may be impossible to do.
If you are still confused about plagiarism and how to avoid it, it is okay to ask. Sit down with your professor and share what you have written so far and what you are unsure about. It is all right to ask questions.
In the end, it is important to simply use caution when writing and remembering to cite every source you use. Even when you think it is all right to not cite something, or perhaps you feel you are citing too much, it is always better to cite something than to not cite it. The more time you spend researching your topic and reading about it, the better you will understand and the easier it will be to put the information into your own words. Once you are able to do this, you won’t have to worry so much about plagiarizing.
