School assignments are usually based on the existing body of knowledge thus, making it more prone to plagiarism. You might find many online high school with the same topics as yours’s but might not be able to use it because you are no aware of how to use plagiarism from the assignment. For example, subjects like history are usually based on already exiting facts and stories, therefore, while making a history assignment it can be difficult for you to come up with new ideas and might end up writing something that already exists, and your teacher might mark it plagiarized. Here are some simple tips that will help you to avoid plagiarism in your assignments and can ace at any subject you want:
Understanding Plagiarism:
In simple words, plagiarism is stealing. When you copy someone’s word without citing them or without any reference to the source, the text comes in brackets of being plagiarized. Plagiarism can take many different forms. Even at times when you write a text by yourself, software like CheckForPlagiarism.net can detect it to be plagiarized if three words are being used in the same sequence as in any other source. Therefore, understanding the forms of plagiarism is important for you in order to avoid it.
Direct or Indirect Quotations:
Even if you want to add some ideas from any other author or source, you must consider adding it either in the form of a direct quote or an indirect one. Direct quote means that you will be using the exact same words by using quotation marks and also mentioning the name of the author or the source from where you have taken it. Likewise, while using an indirect quotation, you can mention the name author and paraphrase in your own words what he has said. Using direct or indirect quotations in your assignment does not just save you from plagiarism but also increases the credibility of your work.
Proper Citations:
At times even if you use direct or indirect quotations, sometimes the plagiarism checker might mark it plagiarized because it might not be properly cited. Therefore, you must learn to cite quotations properly as per the method that is recommended by your teacher (e.g. APA or MLA). Make sure to have proper in-text citations and separate ones on the reference paper at the end of the assignment as well.
Rephrase:
Even if you want to use information from somewhere but cannot find a proper name of the author or a book, then you can use the information but by rephrasing it. You can change the words but the meaning of the sentence must remain intact. However, but you must include your viewpoint as well to increase the authenticity of your work and add value to it. Rephrasing often helps in avoiding plagiarism.
Seek Help from Your Teacher:
Teachers provide you with the best guide about plagiarism and how to cite the information properly to avoid plagiarism. You can ask them to proofread your document and let you know what correction should be made before you submit it for gradation.
Plagiarism Check:
You can find multiple online software that helps in detecting plagiarism in your assignment. Make sure to run your assignment at least once through a plagiarism checker before the final submission. One of the most important things when it comes to plagiarism checker is to be ensured of its authenticity. You will find number of free online plagiarism checkers, but they will only look up the search engine publications and will not check your assignments thoroughly. Therefore, it is better to pay for some authentic checker such as ‘check for plagiarism’ as they have highly affordable payment plans for students and ensure to run a thorough check on your term papers or assignment. CheckForPlagiarism.net plagiarism checker will do an in-depth check by looking up through the journal publications etc. and will give you guaranteed output. It is better to pay some bucks than to risk your grades!
Start Working Early:
To be honest, when you will start working way before time, you won’t feel a need you steal someone’s ideas and won’t have to worry about plagiarism. Start working on your assignments early so that you can have ample time to come up with new ideas and be able to come up with creative ways of putting up the information even if already exists.
These simple tips will surely help you avoid plagiarism in your school assignments. The assignments are meant to increase your knowledge and boost up your creativity. They do not just help you to improve your writing skills but are also meant to teach you how to organize your information in a presentable form. You might find it hard to write your assignments all by yourself, but it is for your good only. Make sure to put an honest effort in doing assignments and let your learning skills be polished to perfection.
]]>It’s the desire of every writer to write the creative, thoughtful and insightful content but it’s also a choice of the writer too. By putting efforts and spending time one can create good content and a prosperous brand especially by the quality content, in any language can make it effective and knowledgeable.
Here is a guide to writing quality content in any language:
Original high-quality content
Before writing, the writer should be well aware that what he wants to write and say. If the writer is sitting for hours and not well aware of the thoughts that he wants to write, his sitting will be useless. For writing purposes, one should be aware of their audience for whom they are writing and what they want to read. To understand the reader’s mind is the basic need of the writer for writing any kind of content. If the writer is aware of their target audience then they should be aware of their demographics as well as their requirements and needs about the content to be read by them.
Learn about the audience and their basic language
After analyzing the audience one should be focused enough to learn the language of the target market. One can take the online courses to learn that language because of flexibility in using that too as well as one can give an impression in that language in various contexts. Learning languages develops the brain and is always fun to learn and beneficial while traveling, writing, searching, etc. One can learn several online languages within their own pace like French language courses, Japanese language cultural courses, etc.
Do research before writing
One cannot write high-quality content until and unless he did much research on the topic from several kinds of research and sources to have authentic content for writing. Before writing one should search the topic and develop it. When you have gathered your target audience then the necessary thing is to gather sufficient knowledge that what readers needs are, then specify the topic you want to cover and extract the important points. Gather the information from the previous researches too for building the backbone for your topic. It’s quite good to fill the gaps and provide the readers with the content which is not informed before in their particular language to transfer the exact meaning to them. It often happens that the meanings of several words change from language to language so one should be confined with the language they are using to write the content for the particular target audience.
Think smart, write smartly
In writing the use of the content of headings, their tones, lengths, use of words length of paragraphs, etc., matters a lot. In writing the headlines, the idea should be straightforward, numeral and direct as well as should be eye-catching. As in the heading, the “smarter” has caught the attention to read further and has elevated the value in the reader’s mind.
Produce thought-provoking content
Writing in a thought-provoking expression for the readers is something really attractive for them because it can keep the reader engaged for long as well as it can hang on the reader’s mind in the words. This all depends on a writer that how well he can express in a language to have the reader’s attention for long. The best way to provoke thought in readers’ minds can be: by leaving the questions in the writing that how can the reader reelects such questions on oneself. Readers always judge the content by the initial few lines which reflects the whole agenda of the writer regarding the topic. So, the introductory lines should be fascinated enough for the readers along with the preview of the whole agenda of the content that could seek the attention that what is going to be covered in it. One can even use the quotation with reference, story, tale, or even an autobiography to grasp the reader’s attention because they can even be helpful to clarify the point in the reader’s mind and will seek attention.
Use images and visual representations
People used to learn differently based on VAK. Some used to learn through visual aids, some through the audios and some on the basis of knowledge. It’s sure that no one can learn less through visual aids. Using pictures, images, graphs, videos, diagrams can best represent the point. Association of write-up with the pictorial configurations enhances readers’ understanding and adds value.
Plagiarism Content of several language and its importance
The material, content or any kind of write-up copied from any other source is considered as the Plagiarism material and can be sued because of the copyright claims. One can check the Plagiarism from the online Plagiarism checkers. They not only check the languages having the Latin alphabets but can even check it in several other languages likes Chinese, Cyrillic, Latin, Danish, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, etc. Copying of material is also a common act without taking the copyrights, in the contents of several languages. So, it’s best to get it checked initially in a variety of languages that requires a similarity check report to save oneself from the copyright claims as well as to provide the worth content. The several plagiarism checkers can help enough to check the copied content in more than 80 languages and even provides with a language they are supporting which can be used to check the copied contents for the quality work.
Conclusion
No doubt, writing wonderful content is not at all an easy task to do but it becomes easier when one is passionate enough for it. The best thing about the contents is that they are timeless. Writing something today can be in your hands many years later with a huge number of views and shares. One can make their site a recognized brand by adding quality content in it.
]]>The effects of plagiarism, frequently overlooked in university years, not only result in poor knowledge and writing skills – they can also have adverse consequences on one’s career. We have compiled a list of five people who would appear to have plagiarized, whether intentionally or not, on more than one occasion.
The Politician
Current Vice-President Joseph Biden is an important example of how mistakes from university can come back to haunt you. A failed 1965 introductory law school course forced him to withdraw from the Democratic US presidential nomination race in 1987. The allegation centered on plagiarism. In an attempt to save his campaign, Biden admitted wrongdoing and also clarified that it was unintentional mistake in his work during his first year in law school. Following his withdrawal from the Presidential race, Biden appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court and the allegations were dismissed.
There was also another incident involving Biden in the same race. Accusations surfaced about some of his speeches in which he was alleged to – on certain occasions – have used excerpts of a speech made by British Labour party leader Neil Kinnock without appropriate attribution. It should be noted that in Biden’s previous speeches he had been citing his sources appropriately.
The Journalist
The British writer and journalist Johann Hari also has a story to tell. In 2002, he started working for The Independent newspaper. Subsequent years brought about numerous allegations concerning the alleged similarity of Hari’s interviews with previous published work. In 2011, Hari was suspended by the newspaper pending an inquiry, the results of which have not been made public.
Subsequently, the Council for the Orwell Prize, which Hari had been awarded in 2008, gathered to scrutinise the allegations. Hari made the honorable decision to return the prize. Later, the Council said that the prize would have been withdrawn had Hari not made the decision to return it. The Independent posted Johann Hari’s personal apology on the 15th September 2011.
The Writer
Stephen Ambrose was an American historian, biographer, and a university professor of history. His book “The Wild Blue” triggered accusations from Tulane Law Professor Sally Richardson in 2002. The basis was several passages plagiarized from Thomas Childers’ book “Wings of Morning: The Story of the Last American Bomber Shot Down over Germany in World War II”. Although footnoting the sources, his methods were incomplete and flawed. Further investigation by Forbes found Ambrose’s unethical practices to date back to his doctoral dissertation in 1963.
The Artist
Damien Hirst, a member of Young British Artists, as well as artist and entrepreneur, has also received criticism for plagiarism and appropriation. Starting with works of art dating back to 1989, his controversial work has provoked numerous claims. In 2000 he was sued over his sculpture Hymn. Despite making numerous charitable donations, Hirst had to agree on restrictions on further reproduction of his sculpture.
His questionable methods led to eight more claims, as The Guardian reported. His “In the Name of the Father” is reported to have been plagiarized from John LeKay’s earlier “This is My Body, This Is My Blood”. Other notable pieces include “The Pharmacy”, which Joseph Cornell had first created in 1943.
The Pro
Gerald Posner, referred to as “Superplagiarist” by Gawker, is the heavyweight plagiarist in our list. His copycat-like habits resulted in a federal lawsuit in May 2013. Prior to this, claims ranged from Frank Owen’s lawsuit about his (Owen’s) book “Clubland” being plagiarized, through to optioning another book infringing copyrights for a TV show. In fact, Posner’s ways are so notorious that the media is overflowing with publications covering claims about his work. The Miami Times detailed 35 instances of plagiarism by Posner.
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Academics and Plagiarism Checkers
Implementing plagiarism checkers certainly affects academics’ work. Academics at conventional educational institutions and virtual learning environments have welcomed the integration of such in-depth analysis into the assessment of students’ work. These tools provide an objective measure of plagiarism, albeit subject to academic interpretation. Moreover, if staff are provided with sufficient training, these plagiarism reports serve as a valuable instrument even when feedback is given.
Studies also show that the time taken to scan students’ submissions has been considerably reduced by the introduction of plagiarism detection systems. This has many beneficial effects, including increased time for academic evaluation and faster responses to submissions. Academics and students alike have welcomed this trend.
Plagiarism Checkers Impact Student Performance
Plagiarism is generally reduced in the second draft, according to a study by Barrett and Malcolm in 2006. Exact numbers show a substantial decrease in non-original work from 26% to 3% in re-submission. Students were given an extra incentive not to commit another offense in their second submission through awarding them higher marks for original material. As Ledwith & Risquez observed in 2008, this increase can be as much as 0,48 points in just a single draft apart.
Besides being motivated to produce original works, students also benefit from plagiarism checkers while they work on their assignments. Being able to check the originality of one’s material is invaluable and has a direct effect on students’ productivity. Bear in mind that electronic plagiarism checkers provide comprehensive and swift feedback.
The Big Picture
The rapid adoption of plagiarism detecting technologies has enabled a major overhaul in the way students’ work is assessed. It has already expedited both the writing and assessment stages. But this is just the first step in finding a long-term solution to the problem of plagiarism. In order to really impact on students’ practices, further measures must be taken. Academics require further training to find a balance between improving student writing and referencing skills, and analyzing plagiarism reports. Handling information gleaned from such reports is also the key to motivate students to strive for originality and a thorough understanding of assessed material.
Criticism of such plagiarism detecting technologies hinges on the fact that some incorrectly indict the innocent. However, it should be pointed out that software detecting plagiarism has been enhanced greatly and now provides extensive reports.
This process should be complemented by teaching students how to steer clear of plagiarism on a daily basis. It aims to make students better scholars and not just better at evading detection.
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Publishers of periodicals in the academic field or otherwise are sometimes faced with the question as to whether the content of a material falls within the scope of plagiarism. In such instances it may be useful to be able to distinguish between plagiarism, similarity and copyright infringement.
The difference between plagiarism and similarity
When the content of any given material, be it an article, a review or a paper, is checked, similarities to other such materials may appear. This does not, however, automatically mean that the respective content has been plagiarized. At this point this simply means that similar content to other such materials has been found but it does not imply dishonest or illegal practices.
Especially in academic papers, a high percentage of instances of similarity can easily be explained through comparison and an analysis of the content and its context. Quoting the title of another paper will be detected as a similarity. So will names, book titles or bibliographies, references and quotes, common phrases and constructs, etc. Though similar, they do not qualify as plagiarism because plagiarism implies using someone else’s work or ideas as if they were one’s own.
Take, for example, a review of an academic paper. Needless to say, such a review will feature many quotes from the original paper. Apart from that, it will also include a lot of other similarities due to paraphrasing, making use of the same concepts and so forth. Therefore, if credit is given where it is due, this will not be considered plagiarism.
What about copyright infringement?
There is another issue here which has not yet been touched upon. What about copyright infringement? Can someone be accused of copyright infringement but not of plagiarism? The answer is yes. Copyright infringement concerns the unfair or unregulated use of someone’s property and the violation of their rights over it. Plagiarism, on the other hand, is about claiming (directly or indirectly) ownership over something which does not rightfully belong to one.
In his blog, attorney Mark Fowler has written an article titled ‘The Unoriginal Sin: Differences Between Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement‘ which examines this matter and the legal implications behind it in detail. The most important point to take away is that copyright infringement may occur even when an author has given all credit where it is due. For example, quoting extensively from someone’s work may be considered an infringement even if one has been very diligent and consistent in providing all the proper references.
How to evade both plagiarism and copyright infringement
In a nutshell, plagiarism is evaded by being consistent in always acknowledging and giving credit to one’s sources. This, of course, applies equally to quoting, paraphrasing or simply expressing someone else’s ideas and words in one’s own words.
The difference between similarity and copyright infringement, on the other hand, is harder to spot as similarity inevitably occurs in any text. It is the amount and the way it is used that can turn it into a copyright infringement. Therefore, when checking papers for a periodical, publishers and editors need to assess the percentage of similarity and whether it: a) may constitute a copyright infringement (if too much has been used) and b) whether the amount of similarity does not lower the quality of a paper.
Extensive quoting is not advisable, whether it be in periodicals or otherwise, as it seriously calls into question the originality of the author’s point of view and the necessity of publishing such a paper at all. Each case of similarities must be studied carefully so as to reveal whether it is a form of acceptable practice, intentional or unintentional plagiarism or copyright infringement.
]]>Boundaries between authenticity and plagiarism are as blurred as ever (or even more) and there is no easy answer to such matters. And what about self-plagiarism? Such questions have been addressed by a number of authors such as Kenneth Goldsmith, Judy Muller, Jenny Mackness and others. This article will try to present the main issues posed by repurposing and how students could go about when needing to present their own or other people’s content in a different format.
What is repurposing?
A general definition of repurposing could be to use something, anything, with a different purpose than it was initially designed for. When it comes to text, this means to reuse a text in a different form from the one in which it was originally created. But to repurpose a text does not mean to simply provide it with a different form but maybe also with a different context, a different medium and/or to enhance the text by adding new elements to its presentation.
In that sense, repurposing is an act of reusing something already existent and changing or recreating it, so as to both capture its initial meaning and build upon it. Exactly this is what creates a significant difficulty when it comes to referring to someone’s or one’s own original work and all the while being ‘creative’. Naturally the question arises, what does a student do when faced with the task of having to deliver a presentation based on someone else’s work and having to offer an original or critical point of view on the subject at the same time?
While some proponents of modern forms of creativity have stated that such absolute originality is almost inherently impossible and is always, visibly or not, informed by many different sources, academic criteria are not quite as lax on this matter. Therefore, with rules being tight and penalties grave, students should pay heed when delivering their papers or presentations.
How to avoid plagiarism when repurposing
The central point against plagiarism is that it is a blurring of boundaries. Boundaries between something created by someone else and a person’s own contribution. After all, the point of academic or scientific work is, strictly defined, to contribute to an ever increasing body of knowledge.
Plagiarism creates a false promise for ‘truth’ or for something new in the field. And while it can also be accidental and each case must be studied separately, there are certain guidelines students should adhere to, in order to be on the safe side.
When repurposing texts and other materials students should:
- Never forget to explicitly give proper credit when referring to someone’s ideas, as they are expressed in writing, in visual or audio or through other means and media. Repurposing does not ‘lift off’ the rights of an author over their ideas or writings.
- Always be aware of the proper context of such ideas and never misrepresent or distort such context. Because repurposing is a form of reusing, recreating and reinventing ideas, the boundaries between what is a personal addition or view on such ideas must be very clearly defined and pointed out.
- When quoting, it goes without saying, quote correctly and always provide in full the original source of the quote. Do not overuse materials, so as not to have a paper or presentation entirely made out of other people’s materials. The same goes for paraphrasing or summarizing.
All in all, the same rules that apply to any other form of work, apply to repurposed materials as well. Repurposing is to present or express things in a different way or take some idea as a reference point and develop something new out of it whilst, at the same time, retain the original idea in its proper context and entirety.
While repurposing is not a fancy new word with which to legitimate plagiarism, it can easily land in a grey area where distinguishing between original and stolen work is hard. The novel aspect brought in by repurposing is to use a number of mediums or medias to provide something already existent with a new expression. As such, it requires a great degree of care and attention, where it uses someone else’s ideas.
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