When it comes to writing essays, you are always encouraged to write original pieces. On the other hand, you also have to consult other sources because you have to prove that there are other writers and established critics who agree with your opinions. You have to provide multiple perspectives and bring up a lot of other works, yet create a paper that’s completely original – feels like a dichotomy there, doesn’t it?
Well, you might think that if you believe that in order to avoid plagiarism, you can’t mention any other works or authors in your paper. The moment you believe this, you’ve lost the plot. So, if your fundamental concept about what plagiarism constitutes isn’t clear, it’s best to just hire a plagiarism-free essay writing service like MyAssignmenthelp instead of writing mid-tier content that’s not going to fetch your top grades.
What Constitutes Plagiarism & How to Avoid It?
You’re plagiarizing if you use someone else’s works or ideas without crediting them. In fact, you’re not even exempt from this rule yourself. In other words, even quoting your published work, you must include yourself in the credits. This second instance is where many students feel awkward. Citing one’s own work? Isn’t that too pretentious? Absolutely not! Most experts from essay editing services follow a simple saying – if it’s good enough to get published, it’s good enough to get cited.
So, isn’t the solution to writing plagiarism-free essays simple enough? Just cite your sources! It’s not like you have to write an entire essay filled with your original thoughts only. You can freely refer to other scholars and borrow ideas from them as long as you give them the due credit.
Now, let’s get to the crux of the matter. How do you write essays that are completely free of plagiarism? Is it enough to cite sources? Not really. Your entire essay can’t be entirely composed of “he said, she said” arguments with a list of citations as long as the actual paper is at the end. You have to add something original to the content. Let’s find out how you can achieve this goal while keeping your writing free of plagiarism –
Figure out how your idea differs from others
It’s easy to include opposing opinions in your writings because at least you get a chance to explain why you do not agree with the views. You add something of value to the discussion. But problems can arise when you include similar opinions. Yes, you’re doing it to prove that your ideas hold weight. That’s how you add more credibility to your argument. However, you can’t be a parrot repeating the exact same things that other scholars have already covered. There have to be subtle differences.
For example, you might have chosen an unconventional methodology to reach your conclusion. Or, you have a unique idea that adds more value to the previous theories that have already been published. It’s important to determine how your opinion is unique. Only then can you present an original thought instead of turning your essay into a summarization of other’s works.
Master the art of paraphrasing ideas
There’s a very common misconception about paraphrasing that’s rampant everywhere. Most students believe that it only consists of changing a few words here and there. That’s completely untrue! If only paraphrasing were so easy, students wouldn’t be worrying about trying to figure out how to avoid plagiarism.
First, understand the source. You can’t paraphrase a complex philosophical idea like existentialism unless you actually understand the topic yourself. Paraphrasing is all about taking everything in about the source material, understanding the basic essentials, and then letting it out in a completely new form.
You can try out these simple paraphrasing tips if you’re stuck:
- Make a list of the major points of the source material and rewrite the idea in your own words.
- Use synonyms to express the same idea while making sure to keep the context intact.
- Rearrange the sentence structure and phrasing.
- Add something new or subtract some information to give it a new spin.
Before moving on, remember to cite your sources even if you’re not directly citing something but are only paraphrasing. You’re still borrowing someone else’s ideas. So, you can’t be excused if you don’t add the proper citations, even if you don’t quote someone verbatim.
Keep a list of the details of sources consulted
It’s natural to be forgetful as a student. You can get so immersed when researching a topic that keeping track of the author’s name or publication details is probably the last thing on your mind. However, such simple carelessness can cause unintentional plagiarism.
Now, how does someone plagiarize something unintentionally? Isn’t all plagiarism intentional? Well, when you’re stressed, you might completely forget to take down the citation details. In such cases, you have two options –
- Use a citation generator to identify the source details
- Hire a professional to help you out
There are many citation generator tools that use high-end AI technology to scan millions of sources to identify a particular source. However, such tools don’t work as efficiently if you do not include the author’s name in your notes or if you provide paraphrased content.
In that case, turning to a professional scholar might be your best option. An expert who is well-versed in a particular subject will be able to immediately help you identify a source by going through the content.
Crafting original essays doesn’t automatically mean that you don’t have to mention another writer’s works or explore ideas that others have introduced. After all, the whole point of academic writing is to situate your work within the literature and establish how your content adds more value to the existing knowledge. You can’t achieve this goal without actually mentioning other scholars and their works. So, go through the suggestions explored in this blog, and you can forget about compromising your academic integrity.
