What Are Different Types of Plagiarism and How to Avoid Them?

Plagiarism stands as a significant hurdle in achieving academic excellence. It is an act of intellectual theft that goes beyond the basic definition of copy-paste.

Plagiarism involves many intricate layers that delve into the intent, extent, and diverse formats of the plagiarized content. From neglecting to attribute someone’s quotes to recycling one’s previous work, it all falls under the umbrella of plagiarism.

The repercussions of plagiarism depend upon the degree and intent behind the act of using someone’s work without giving a proper credit. Engaging in plagiarism, whether knowingly or unknowingly, not only carries ethical implications but also jeopardizes one’s dignity, in both academic and professional settings.

Hence, it is imperative to understand the different types of plagiarism to prevent even unintentional involvement in such practices.

Most Common Types of Plagiarism

To develop a conscientious approach toward research writing and avoiding plagiarism, it is crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of its different forms. Some of the most common types of plagiarism include:

1. Complete Plagiarism

This form of plagiarism is widely recognized and prevalent. It involves presentation of the entire body of another person’s work (such as a research article, manuscript, or image) as your own. In this case, the plagiarized version mirrors the original work entirely, with no alterations made, and does not offer credit to where its due.

Example:

When a student downloads a research paper from the internet and presents it as their own, falsely claiming an authorship.

2. Self-Plagiarism

This form of plagiarism occurs when an individual duplicates their own work by reusing their previous content, ideas, phrases, or even data, without a proper citation. It is more concerned with the intent of depicting the content unreported and new, when, in reality, it is not. The deceptive nature of this act leads to self-plagiarism. It is most commonly observed in research journals, damaging the writer’s credibility. Many publishers are now employing plagiarism detection software or tools to curb this form of intellectual theft.

Example:

A student submits a new paper on environmental science, reusing paragraphs from their previous work on climate change without citing or acknowledging that it is a recycled portion of their own writing. This would be considered self-plagiarism, as the student presents their own work as if it were new and original in a different academic context.

3. Direct Plagiarism

Direct plagiarism, also referred to as verbatim plagiarism, involves mirroring of the another author’s words without providing appropriate attributions. When quoting another work in your research, it is essential to use quotations marks or indentation. This should be followed by accurate acknowledgement of the sources cited. It slightly differs from complete plagiarism because it involves copying specific sections of others’ work rather than the entire content. Practicing this tactic to evade academic integrity may result in disciplinary actions against you.

Example:

Source: The journey of academia is a grand quest for knowledge, more specifically an adventure to find the right information through credible sources, and that’s where scholarly sources walk in. As the name suggests, it simply means that such sources are written by scholars and experts of a specialized field. These sources are in the form of journal articles, books, conference publications, or websites. Such resources undergo a stringent peer-review process by a panel of subject matter experts.

Plagiarized version: Searching for credible sources could be difficult due to the immense amount of information available today. Such sources are written by scholars and experts of a specialized field. These sources are in the form of journal articles, books, conference publications, or websites. Therefore, citing them grants your study a reliability factor.

4. Paraphrasing Plagiarism

In this form of plagiarism someone else’s work is reused with slight changes implemented by changing certain words and phrases. It is one of the most common but often unrecognized form of plagiarism. Paraphrasing plagiarism in simple context means using your own words to decried another published content without proper credit. Even when translating content from another language it is important to attribute the sources.

Example:

Plagiarized version: The journey of academia is a grand quest for knowledge, more specifically an adventure to find the right information through credible sources, and that’s where scholarly sources walk in. As the name suggests, it simply means that such sources are written by scholars and experts of a specialized field.

The academic pursuit is a noble quest for knowledge, particularly an expedition to uncover accurate information from trustworthy sources. Scholarly sources, as the term implies, are authored by specialists and experts in a particular field (Enago Academy, 2024)

5. Source-based Plagiarism

Source-based plagiarism encompasses deceptive tactics in referencing and data manipulation. This includes utilizing incorrect sources, presenting a misleading bibliography, falsifying research data, etc. This paints a false picture about the depth of the research. More severe forms of this plagiarism includes data fabrication, which has an immediate clinical implication in fields like medical research.

Example:

While addressing a research problem, an author might consult secondary sources but only attribute the information to the primary source, neglecting to credit the secondary source.

6. Mosaic Plagiarism

Mosaic plagiarism, or patchwork plagiarism, involves integrating phrases or text from various sources into one’s own work. Here, the writer copies phrases, passages, and ideas from various sources to create a new text. Despite its complexity, plagiarism checker software can effectively detect it. It requires more effort that simply copying. Therefore, whether intentional or not, it is considered academically dishonest and punishable, even if the source is footnoted.

Example:

In the process of writing a review article on the impact of climate change, a researcher consults various sources, integrating their unique insights into the discourse. However, the researcher fails to provide proper acknowledgment to the sources consulted.

7. Accidental Plagiarism

Accidental plagiarism happens due to the unintentional failure of individuals to cite sources, misquote, or paraphrase without proper referencing. Even though unintentional in nature, it can lead to serious consequences, such as failure from a course or damage to academic reputation.

Example:

A student compiles information for a project but forgets to document the sources, resulting in their work lacking proper citations.

Facing the Consequences of Plagiarism

In both academic and professional realms, plagiarism causes significant consequences. The potential outcomes include:

1. Academic Consequences:

• Academic probation
• Failure of the assignment
• Mid-course termination
• Expulsion

2. Professional Repercussions:

• Damaged professional reputation
• Limited career opportunities
• Barred from working in educational institutions

3. Legal and Financial Fallbacks

• Copyright infringement lawsuits
• Potential criminal charges, leading to legal consequences, including prison sentences
• Penalties imposed by educational institutions or employers

Plagiarism is unethical and compromises the integrity of knowledge. Along with emotional damage it also discourages novelty in research. In essence, plagiarism has significant, wide-ranging consequences on individuals and academic/ professional communities.

Ways to Avoid Unintentional Plagiarism

To avoid plagiarism that could be unintentionally committed one must stay vigilant and get accustomed to all the rules of academic writing. Especially for a student or early career researcher, it becomes quintessential to learn the correct methods to cite and include external sources in their work. Following are some strategies to avoid unintentional plagiarism:

1. Proper Reference Citation

Familiarize yourself with different referencing styles, use reference management software, and check for missing citations by using citation checker.

2. Accurate Paraphrasing

Paraphrase ideas by understanding the original text and rewriting it without changing its meaning. Always cite the original source.

3. Organized Note-taking

Keep track of the information sources, use quotation marks, and be careful with data and images, ensuring compliance with copyright guidelines.

4. Maintain collaboration boundaries

Be mindful in collaborative environment and ensure that your final submission reflects your work.

5. Plan with sufficient time

Keep ample amount of time for conducting checks to minimize unintentional plagiarism.

Tools to Combat Plagiarism

Accountability for any plagiarized content falls on the shoulder of the author. Hence, one must ensure to that their work does not compromises academic integrity on the grounds of plagiarism. Here are some tools to avoid plagiarism:

1. Trinka

• An AI-powered plagiarism checker tool with grammar-correction assistance
• Scans online sources and pay walled content for in-depth examination of the entered texts
• Tailored for academic and technical writing, introducing a consistency check specifically for scientific writing
• Generates a detailed report that highlights instances of plagiarized content, with precise percentage indicating the extent of plagiarism and pinpoints the original sources
• Preferred choice of researchers, academic writers, journalists, and students due to its unique publication readiness check feature

2. Grammarly

• Features a plagiarism checker that automates the process of identifying the plagiarized content
• Provides an originality score indicating the level of plagiarism, although it might slow down when checking for large texts
• Offers writing suggestions through its grammar assistance feature
• Used by students, professors, and content writers as a versatile tool

3. Quetext

• Facilitates in checking plagiarism across diverse online sources
• Enables users to cite directly within the tool
• Provides a comprehensive score for plagiarism
• Enables users to generate citations directly within the tool

4. Duplichecker

• An online tool designed to check the originality of the written content
• Eases the comparison of two pieces of text, identifying similarities and differences
• Employs artificial technology to check plagiarism, paraphrased content, and grammatical errors

With the increasing reliance on AI tools in academic writing, the importance of utilizing credible plagiarism checkers has become more necessary. To effectively contribute to scholarly conversation researchers must avoid plagiarism.

In the world of knowledge, integrity isn’t just about adhering to guidelines set by the ethical committees, but is more about personal growth as an individual with strong ethical responsibility.