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If you are new to academic writing and/or the English language, you might feel overwhelmed by the strict plagiarism guidelines imposed by your school or university. You may worry that you could steal or plagiarize the work of others without even knowing it, risking your academic standing and future career. The good news is that most teachers and professors recognize the difference between honest mistakes and intentional plagiarism. Knowing how to avoid plagiarism in academic writing will save you time and effort; you won't run the risk of having to rewrite your essay from scratch if you eliminate this risk immediately.

Five Tips to Avoiding Plagiarism:

What inspired you to write this essay? Does your essay make an argument that provides a new perspective on a certain issue, or is it essentially the same as one of your sources? Although other authors should certainly contribute to your knowledge of your argument, you shouldn't lift someone's perspective verbatim. Remember, plagiarism is "the act of submitting, publishing or sharing the written work of another person, group or institution without proper attribution or official citation, either intentionally or unintentionally resulting in the perception that it is the author's own, original content." Your thesis statement or argument statement cannot be cited; it must be your own thoughts. Use your sources to help inspire you instead of copying them directly. Do you agree or disagree 100% with what each author is saying? Where are they "grey" areas for you? The grey areas are most likely where you will find your argument. Review direct quotes in your paper to make sure they are cited properly. Also, make sure there aren't more than two to three direct quotations per paragraph. If you review your essay and find that large portions should be cited, you need to rewrite those sections to include your own discussion of the facts. Did you receive aid from another person? Professors encourage their students to visit university Writing Centers and tutors, but make sure that you aren't just asking someone else to do your work for you. Good tutors and writing assistants will lead you into making your own conclusions. If your professor suspects that you did not come up with your argument on your own, he or she might quiz you or ask you to explain how you arrived at your conclusion. If you can't figure out how to do that, you might be guilty of plagiarizing the thoughts of someone else, which is against most college honor codes. Are the facts and evidence that support your argument taken directly from another source? Review your essay and make sure you aren't stealing the same cited facts from another resource to use in your own paper. You should only cite sources that you read first-hand. Have you determined your own conclusion, or repeated the conclusion of one of your sources? If you have successfully formed your own argument and supported it with your own evidence, your conclusion will easily be in your own words. If it isn't, you could be plagiarizing.

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