Plagiarism. It’s a word that can instill fear and confusion into the hearts of writers. In every industry, from entertainment to academia, plagiarism is a serious offense.
But what exactly constitutes plagiarism?
Most people are familiar with the basic definition: copying another’s work or borrowing (read: stealing) another’s ideas and passing them off as your own. However, this definition does little to clarify the varied nuances and gray areas that are just as important and, in our experience at WritersDomain, much more common.
Whether you have been hit with a plagiarism warning or not, review the following information so you can ensure all your work is on solid ground.
Self-Plagiarism
What is it?
Essentially, self-plagiarism is recycling your old content and passing it off as new. At WritersDomain, we also sometimes to refer to it as a type of form plagiarism, and it is one of the most common reasons we flag writers’ accounts.
How do I avoid it?
One of the most common examples we see of this type of plagiarism is when writers fail to vary their angles and information enough on the same keywords. The majority of our current writers here have been writing for us for over a year. By this point, you’ve likely rehashed many of the same keywords and topics.
While it is perfectly acceptable to pick up the same keywords from month to month, it is important that each article you submit takes an original approach. It is not enough to change one section or point but keep the rest of your information the same across articles.
Excessive Aggregation
What is it?
Another common form of plagiarism we see, and one that is sometimes tricky to identify, is excessive aggregation of others’ work (with or without credit).
For example, if an article has 3 main sections, and each section is a reworded paraphrase of a source (i.e., there are 3 different sources—one cited per section), without significant original insight, synthesis, or analysis from the writer, this would be considered excessive aggregation.
We absolutely want our writers to research their topics, and authoritative sources add credibility to a submission. However, articles should not simply be a reworded curation of other sources’ information.
You may be familiar with this type of plagiarism from school. Research papers traditionally include a lot of sourced information. However, essays have to include original work from the student, with their own thoughts about the research and information. If the majority of the paper is sourced info pieced together, this is considered aggregator plagiarism.
How do I avoid it?
As you write, make sure that you use research to support your ideas and claims, but don’t rely on your sources to write your article for you.
Consider approaching the topic from a different angle, tailor the info for a different audience, and/or include your own unique synthesis, analysis, and conclusions.
Ask yourself:
- What can I add to this information or topic?
- Is there a more unique approach I can take to put my research in a new light?
- Have I simply reworded the information without adding my own original thoughts?
What does aggregation look like?
Check out this short PDF on Excessive Aggregation for more examples and explanation. For some examples of aggregation done well, check out any of the Editors’ Choice Awards articles.
Rewording a Source
What is it?
Putting ideas into your own words is an important part of incorporating source material seamlessly (with credit) into your work. When done correctly, this is called paraphrasing. And it is an acceptable practice as long as the work is credited.
However, simply changing the words, but copying the sentence structure or language of the original source is a form of plagiarism (sometimes referred to as “patchwriting”). Even with credit, this is considered unoriginal work.
How do I avoid it?
Learn how to summarize and paraphrase correctly—always being sure to include the source you took the ideas from.
Purdue Online Writing Lab has a helpful tutorial on how to paraphrase, and the difference between an acceptable paraphrase and a plagiarized rewording.
Patchwriting and aggregator plagiarism often go hand-in-hand. Make sure that as you write, you are including original ideas, insights, and/or conclusions about the sources you choose to include in your articles.
And keep in mind that even partially plagiarized content is still plagiarized. If an article has two sections and one of those sections is plagiarized, it does not matter that another section might contain original content.
What does rewording look like?
Pop over to this PDF on Summarizing and Rewording we’ve prepared with some examples and additional explanation.
Direct Copying
What is it?
This is the most obvious and well-known form of plagiarism. Of course, taking a significant portion of another person’s work and passing it off as your own is a problem. However, the cut-off for what constitutes someone else’s words can be tricky.
The general rule of thumb is that it is considered plagiarism if there is a string of 7 or more words directly copied without credit.
How do I avoid it?
Always take careful notes if you pull direct quotes from a source. Be sure as you research that you notate the quotes you pull with the source material (with author, link, etc.) it originated from. That way, when you integrate the quoted language into your work, you can avoid accidentally misquoting or misattributing the source.
Keep in mind that for WritersDomain articles, direct quotes should be no longer than one sentence.
But, at the end of the day, sometimes the simplest solution is the best solution. Take advice from Bob Newhart and just “Stop it!” (We kid, but seriously.)
Idea Theft
What is it?
This is another version of form plagiarism we commonly run into. Idea theft is when an article rehashes another source with the same information, concepts, and research found in the original source. Often, the ideas are presented and organized in the same way, but reordering points or sections still counts as idea theft.
How do I avoid it?
During your research process, consult a variety of sources that approach your topic from different angles. This will help you to avoid mimicking the same form as any one source.
KidsHealth.org suggests,
“Ask yourself, ‘Would I know this if I hadn’t read it on that website or in that book?’ If the answer is no, list the source.”
However, be sure that you don’t fall into the trap of aggregator plagiarism in the process. Use the ideation phase of writing to hone in on a unique angle or different audience so that your article offers something different from other sources out there.
And always keep in mind that you need to include your own ideas (e.g., insights, synthesis, analysis) for the article to be considered an original piece of work—even if you give proper attribution to the ideas you pull from your research.
Other Resources
TurnItIn
TurnItIn is a company that offers students writing resources and services, including feedback and assessment. They created a helpful infographic on the types of plagiarism out there, with information on the frequency and severity of each kind.
They break it down into 10 types of plagiarism, which may be helpful for defining plagiarism issues on a more granular level than we have above. Click on the image to view the full infographic for the in-depth breakdown of each type listed here:
You can also sign up to receive the full white paper TurnItIn produced, which includes more information on the study used for these findings.
Plagiarism.org
This is an excellent source of information on what constitutes plagiarism, when materials are copyrighted or fair use, and how to cite and attribute sources properly. Their FAQ section is particularly helpful for clarifying some of the most common questions and nuances that go along with this topic.
Poynter
The Poynter Institute is a journalism foundation. They created this flowchart to illustrate types of plagiarism. Although these examples are applied to reporting, they also work well for other forms of content. Click on the image for the downloadable PDF version.
Purdue OWL
Purdue’s Online Writing Lab is one of the best resources for understanding plagiarism and source accreditation. Check out the following pages for more insight:
- How to paraphrase
- Compare: Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing
- Is it plagiarism?
- What is fair use?
WritersDomain’s Approach
At WritersDomain, we take plagiarism seriously. Not only do we want to uphold high ethical standards, but plagiarism and duplicate content, in its varied forms, can have severe consequences for our clients and partners. Additionally, we want to produce high quality content for our clients and our readers. If the ideas in the articles we publish are largely similar in scope and style to articles that already exist, then we aren’t adding value to the intended audience.
For more information, we have outlined our expectations and policies regarding plagiarism in the Writing Guidelines and Terms & Conditions.
Plagiarism is a complicated beast that can be difficult to decipher. Hopefully these guidelines will help you identify areas you can improve on, or better define the line between research and original ideas, and plagiarism. When in doubt, don’t be afraid to use resources like the ones listed above.
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