Plagiarism: Definition & Plagiarism Checker

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism can be defined as copying words or ideas from another person and making them your own. This is a form of plagiarism in academic writing. It means paraphrasing or quoting words from someone else without proper citation.

Plagiarism can also be a concern in other settings than academia. High-profile cases of plagiarism have been reported in art, politics, music, and other fields. Plagiarization can not only affect text, but also creative works such as music and images.

Is plagiarism bad?

Plagiarism is bad because it does not give credit where credit is due – to the original author of the work.

Plagiarism is an example of academic dishonesty . You must submit your work whether you are a student writing a paper for class or a researcher writing a journal article. You can’t get credit for work that you haven’t done. This will impact your learning and lead to misinformation.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be able to use other people’s work. Drawing from existing ideas and researching is an important part of academic Writing. It is important to distinguish your words and ideas from the ones of others.

This gives credit to the authors you cited, and helps your readers find the source of your ideas so they can verify it for themselves.

These are the reasons our proofreading services are so popular with students

How can plagiarism be detected?

Many academic institutions have a plagiarism checker to ensure that submitted assignments are original. You could be accused of plagiarism if your text is too similar or identical to the checked text.

You can run your content through a commercial plagiarism scanner before you submit if you are concerned about accidental plagiarism. The checker scans your document, and then uploads it.

There are many plagiarism checking tools available on the market. They vary in their quality and service delivery. There is a big difference between paid and free services.

• Many free checkers won’t detect copied content. These checkers won’t likely detect plagiarized content if it has been modified in any way.
• Paid-checkers have access to more extensive databases. Paraphrased content is often similar to what they can detect. While some paid checkers require a subscription, there are also pay per-use options.

You can also view our detailed comparisons of paid and free plagiarism checkers. Or, you can try the Scribe Plagiarism Tester by clicking the buttons below.

Different types of plagiarism

There are many types of plagiarism that you may encounter in academic writing.

• Global plagiarism means plagiarizing an entire text. This can include buying an essay or turning in a completed assignment to someone else.
• Verbatim Plagiarism is directly copying words from another person without using quotation marks and without citing the source.
• Paraphrasing plagiarism is rephrasing ideas from others and presenting them in your own words.
• Patchwork Plagiarism is copying passages, ideas, and phrases from various sources and compiling them in a new text.
• Self plagiarism refers to reusing work you have already submitted or published.

While most plagiarism is related to text, you can also plagiarize images, data and music. You must credit the source if you use something created by someone else.

Global plagiarism is not the only type of plagiarism. These types can also occur by accident or intentional, if you aren’t familiar with how to properly cite and incorporate sources. Even accidental plagiarism can have grave consequences.

Plagiarism: The consequences

The consequences of plagiarism can range from failing to complete an assignment to severe legal trouble, depending on the context.

Plagiarism is not a legal offense if you are submitting work you do not intend to publish. It can lead to a failing grade, academic probation, or expulsion.

Plagiarism can harm your reputation and put you in serious legal trouble if you want to publish your work. You could lose your income, or have financial consequences if you don’t give credit to the creator. If the intellectual property is copyrighted, it is illegal. This can have legal consequences even if it’s not.

Avoid plagiarism: Paraphrase, quote, cite

The best way to avoid plagiarism cite all sources. You must also ensure that you properly incorporate them into your text, by paraphrasing or quoting.

Paraphrase information or ideas from a source. You must ensure that you have understood the original text before you can modify it to your liking (not just substituting a few words for synonyms).

it is used to specify a phrase, sentence or passage that you wish to use from a source. This means that you should place quotation marks around any text taken directly from the source. Each quote should be written in your own words. Avoid using single quotations that are not complete sentences.

Some information is common and does not need to be cited. Common knowledge refers to information that is well-known and can be easily verified. To prove that Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest in the world, one doesn’t even need to cite.

Slides of lectures available for free

Do you teach or are you a professor and would like to help your students understand plagiarism? Download our free PowerPoint slides for Google Slides or Microsoft PowerPoint.