Plagiarism can be an overly challenging matter. Here a CTRL+C, and there a CTRL+V, and one can easily insert another author’s ideas and words into a document. However, doing this without acknowledging the sources is an act of stealing. Most students tend to commit plagiarism unwittingly through naivety, unawareness of referencing etiquette, severe time constraints, or lack of confidence in their capability to communicate their ideas effectively in English.
Plagiarism is blasphemy in the academic world, and its consequences can be ugly. It can severely ruin the reputation of a student and throw a long shadow on their personal credibility and academic careers. In fact, as per a survey of Florida State University, 29.2% of faculty members believed that students often plagiarized written assignments.
You may find answers on eminent essay writing service forums about how you can make your essays non plagiarized effortlessly. We’ve done the extensive legwork for you. Here, we will walk you through certain remarkable tips and techniques that will enable you to easily check for plagiarism in essays and keep it at bay at all costs.
Let’s dive right in!
Compare the Current Paper to Your Normal Style
Consider the kind of work that you normally tend to turn in. Try to understand if the style is noticeably different. Then, the educators may consider that you have plagiarized your most recent essay. For instance, try to understand if your work is significantly lengthier or has more in-depth analysis than you normally tend to submit. This doesn’t imply plagiarism per se, but try to keep your eyes open for other signs of plagiarism.
Use Plagiarism Checkers
The second most important way to check for plagiarism in an essay is to use plagiarism detection tools. You might have heard of them before as you deliver your essays and wait for the results. Your professor tends to provide you with a report where you will have certain parts highlighted and the grade that leaves you disappointed.
As a way to keep plagiarism at bay, you can make use of reputed plagiarism tools. Most tools do not save your content and keep all your data confidential. They also have a built-in grammar correction tool, so you can receive a special editor to make things flawless. You only need to paste your content or upload the file and wait for the final report. Once you make the changes, you can check the results again and see the percentage of the originality.
Paraphrasing Accurately
According to a survey of Donald McCabe of Rutgers University for 3 years, 36% of undergraduates and 24% of graduate students admitted to paraphrasing a few sentences without footnoting them properly. Again, in the same survey, 7% of undergraduates and 4% of graduate students self-reported copying materials almost word for word from a written source without citation. So, now you see why most students are accused of plagiarism?
However, you can check for plagiarism in your essay by implementing remarkable paraphrasing techniques. Paraphrasing is not merely changing several words that go without a reference. In truth, paraphrasing is keeping the original meaning intact and describing why and how some ideas can be helpful for your essays.
You must always cite the original authors when some idea is not yours. Suppose you see paraphrased content highlighted as plagiarized while scanning through a plagiarism tool. In that case, it is always wise to take a closer look at the original resource and try to paraphrase it once again. Always keep the original meaning and offer an introduction with a detailed explanation to help your readers comprehend the idea or an assumption.
Pay Close Attention to Writing Styles
Another crucial aspect is to evaluate the grading rubric and the writing style. If you are tackling MLA or APA style formats, analyze how to offer in-text citations and ensure that every reference in your text is also enlisted in the ‘References page’ or ‘Works Cited.’
If you aim to get your essays ready for publishing, you will most likely use the Chicago Manual of Style. It includes footnotes and endnotes. Check with the rules and ensure you have every essay cited or quoted. Ensure that your references are complete and that the same citation style is used throughout the paper. Further, if you offer poor references that are incomplete, it is also considered to be a form of plagiarism that can deduct your grades.
Evaluate Whether the Paper Veers Off-Topic
Most students look for essays online to turn in as their own. Professors of your educational institutions are well aware of these, as most of these online essays are quite general. If you also want to take inspiration from an online essay, take the idea and write it as your own. Also, ensure that if your professor asks you a specific question from the paper, you should be able to answer it properly.
Mix Unique Voice and Citations
Another remarkable way to avoid plagiarism in your essays is to infuse a healthy mix of your ideas and content that’s not yours. Suppose you are working on a complicated engineering essay or writing a social media campaign. It is only natural to offer statistical data or cite information from the interviews. However, the trick is calculating the word count and creating a detailed outline for your introduction and body paragraphs.
It is completely acceptable when you’ve only one citation for a brief section. Take a logical look at the essay and introduce your citations by describing why they matter and how they help comprehend the key argument. Also, the key is to use the ‘an introduction-citation-analysis part’ template as you write. It will enable you to keep the originality ratio high.
Final Thoughts,
Though we may know how to check our essays for plagiarism, allocating extra time for proofreading and editing is vital. When working with the final report of a plagiarism scanner, ensure that you check every sentence and analyze its readability.
While we only desire to turn in unique essays, it is also significant to make our writing logical and accessible. When you get the originality report from the tool and make the necessary corrections, begin the additional editing in a different file and run the plagiarism checker again for safety. It will highlight the authenticity of your essays and significant grammar issues that can be rectified right away. Do not forget to implement the steps mentioned above, as it only takes a couple of minutes to stay safe and credible in the world of academia. Here’s wishing you good luck!