Finding information about your research project is easy from other materials. Isn’t it? Now have you ever realized it is hard to extract that information from those sources and integrate it in your research paper? The answer is yes! Writing a perfect research requires you to escape the plagiarism trap. Many students, however, don’t know this and end up being expelled prematurely from school since this is a serious offense. The article will thus give a detailed guide on tips on how to avoid plagiarism.
- Avoiding plagiarism begins by understanding how to paraphrase
Since you have information that is relevant to your research paper, the next thing is to read it carefully and then put it in your own words. It is only wisdom that you don’t copy more than two words in a row from the text where you are gathering your information. In case you have to use more than three words, it is important you make use of citations too. Citing remains one of the effective ways of showing you acknowledge the source of your information. In such an instance, make sure you adhere to the formatting guidelines given by your professor. Make sure you are conversant with the format requirement recommended by the institution you are in since this will be the measure of whether you satisfied your course rubric or not. Details like publication date and authors name plus the title of the book you are reading are some of the vital components of citation. Know that, if your work is not properly cited, that will be plagiarism.
- Avoiding plagiarism is ensured by having citations and corresponding references
When you are quoting sources, it is important that you use the quote in exact words as it appears in the text you have sourced your information from. Even in real life situations, no one has ever wanted to be misquoted, and in the academic arena, this is not different. It is healthy you maintain quotes of less than 40 words. This will show that you are a great scholar who has the vast ability of paraphrasing most of the content in the material. Note that, using the information you have used before in a different research is self-plagiarism and this is also not acceptable. On references, this remains a critical section. It should be a page of itself with a list of materials used in the study. Ensure it also meets the formatting guidelines too. With the information above, you have every reason to be classified among the most prolific research writers in that class.