Plagiarism is using somebody else’s words or ideas without mentioning their credits. Duplication or plagiarism is considered fraud and can ruin your academic and professional career.
Most writers or students believe it’s okay to mention someone else’s words and phrases in your written work as credible material. But it will result in permanent expulsion or failure.
Whereas marketing professionals may think duplicating content from ranking sites would give them an edge in SERP rankings. But it can get them penalized for submitting anything online.
It seems nearly impossible to compare your work with other online sources. But with the help of an online tool, you can figure it out in a matter of seconds.
This article will guide you in finding plagiarized text in your content. We will also discuss why it is essential to check plagiarism and suggest some valuable tools for your assistance.
What is Plagiarism in Academic and Professional Fields?
Plagiarism is considered copying someone else’s work without their consent and claiming it as your original piece of writing. The definition of plagiarism may vary depending on the area of work.
But stealing and passing off ideas or words is not permissible in any field. Plagiarism can be committed intentionally or unintentionally.
Intentional plagiarism is obvious, while unintentional plagiarism can result if a writer repeatedly writes material on similar topics.
As a student, you may become a victim of self-plagiarism if you don’t know how to cite a source correctly or if you improperly add quotations in your written work. In any case, carelessness in adequately meeting the deadlines can lead to duplication.
Steps to Find Out Plagiarized Text
You don’t have to spend hours reading web pages to compare if they are similar to your content. You can take assistance from an online tool like plagiarism checker to instantly identify duplication in your written content. Let’s discuss finding plagiarized text in content using a plagiarism checker.
- Upload a file containing text or directly paste the text into the input box.
- Select the language that matches your text.
- Click the “Check Plagiarism” button, and the tool will scan your text for plagiarism within a minute.
- A plagiarism checker will also provide you with a plagiarism score in a detailed report.
It is preferable to use a plagiarism checker for various reasons mentioned below.
Checks Content Efficiently
A plagiarism checker is much more efficient in detecting any similarity between your content and what’s already published online. It checks duplication from billions of web pages and presents results within a minute. The duration of scanning can vary depending on the word count.
Plagiarism Report
Once the tool has scanned the content for plagiarism, it will provide a detailed report with highlighted sections and the plagiarism score of your content. This score will denote the duplication in your content with a summary of links matching your content.
You can attach a plagiarism report with your academic paper or article submission as supporting evidence of your content’s uniqueness.
Limitations of Plagiarism Checkers
Plagiarism checkers are very efficient and precise tools to evaluate your content’s uniqueness level. But numerous tools are available online, which may vary depending on some limitations on usage. The following restrictions are mentioned below.
- A plagiarism checker may limit each scan’s word or character count. Some tools may impose limitations on checks per day or per month.
- Various plagiarism checkers do not allow downloading reports offline in the form of word or PDF files. It’s a concern if you are bound to attach the proof of uniqueness with your content.
- If the word count becomes extensive, it may affect the scanning duration to check duplication.
- Some tools may provide invalid sources matching your content, or they may not highlight the duplicate text for finding distinction.
- Some plagiarism checkers may ignore poorly paraphrased text which is considered plagiarism.
Tips to Avoid Plagiarism
Since we have discussed finding plagiarism in your text, let’s talk about how you can avoid it in the first place to write unique content.
1. Learn to Paraphrase
Paraphrasing is the most effective technique to avoid plagiarism in your content. Every writer should be familiar with this technique. It allows you to write unique content by presenting an idea from a source to mentioning it in your own words.
Paraphrasing is not about simply rearranging the sentences. You have to change the meanings of specific words and phrases that fit best for your written work’s context. But make sure to use fluent yet common words for replacement as it may affect the readability score.
With paraphrasing, you have to be precise and accurate as it turns into plagiarism if you are unfamiliar with the correct vocabulary or synonyms. Try to avoid using too many similar phrases to the original text in your content to keep the similarity factor minimum.
2. Cite the Source
If you don’t know how to paraphrase content properly, you can simply use the original wording by citing its source. This practice is recommended for academic writers who have to feature actual quotations from famous personalities.
You can copy a passage or quotation and place it between double quotes to indicate it as a quotation. Moreover, you can add a reference by mentioning the author’s name and the date when they penned this quotation. However, copying large blocks of text as reference content is not suitable.
Conclusion
Checking plagiarism is essential before every submission as it saves your reputation. For academic writers, it’s a matter of grades. Plagiarized content can ruin the whole academic career of a student.
On the other hand, digital marketers have to maintain plagiarism to avoid search engine penalties. Moreover, the uniqueness element defines how well a site will rank against competitors in search engine page results.
The online tools have made it easier for us to check plagiarism in minutes. By following the tips and guidelines mentioned in our article, you can avoid plagiarism in your written content to ensure integrity and uniqueness in your work.
Nikola
Latest posts by Nikola (see all)
- 5 Ways Lifelong Learning Is an Investment That Keeps on Going - September 2, 2022
- Tips for Training Millennials: Useful Approaches for a Whole Generation - July 25, 2022
- How to Find Out Plagiarized Text in Your Content? - July 6, 2022