Plagiarism is the act of copying someone else's words or ideas without giving proper credit. It can damage your reputation, credibility, and SEO ranking as a content creator. To avoid plagiarism, you need to know how to identify it in your content and how to prevent it in the first place. Here are some tips to help you with that.
One of the easiest ways to check your content for plagiarism is to use online tools that scan your text and compare it with millions of sources on the web. Some of the popular tools are Copyscape, Grammarly, Quetext, and Turnitin. These tools can highlight the parts of your content that are similar or identical to other sources and show you the original links. You can then review the results and make the necessary changes to your content, such as paraphrasing, quoting, or citing the sources.
I use Copyscape and I trust the tool to its core. Be it any article on the web, it can easily identify plagiarism within a matter of seconds. And if not Copyscape, I compare the content from where it's sourced from and try to find out the plagiarised content as the free tools aren't of much use (not so accurate). It takes a lot of time with a naked eye but you cannot rely on free tools if not on Copyscape!
Another way to avoid plagiarism is to cite your sources properly whenever you use someone else's information, facts, opinions, or arguments in your content. Citing your sources means acknowledging the original author and providing the details of where you found the information, such as the title, date, publisher, and URL of the source. There are different citation styles that you can follow, such as APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard. Make sure you use the same style consistently throughout your content and include a reference list at the end.
It is easy for a piece of content to inspire your creativity. You may feel compelled to provide your take on the topic (or dance trend), give your reaction or even create a parody. In these cases, it is proper online etiquette to give attribution (a mention and/or a link) to the content and creator who inspired you. Just Google the 2021 Jimmy Fallon show fiasco with Addison Rae and Keara Wilson (the creator of the Savage dance challenge on TikTok) to learn why it’s important.
A third way to prevent plagiarism is to write in your own voice and express your own ideas, insights, and perspectives. Writing in your own voice means using your own words, tone, and style to convey your message and personality. It also means adding value to your content by providing original examples, anecdotes, stories, or data that support your points. Writing in your own voice can help you stand out from the crowd and showcase your expertise and creativity.
Sharing our own experience when writing will not throw any plagiarism error. It happens when we don't know about the topic, but have to refer other sources while writing. As a blogger or content creator, we must have to keep ourselves updated with latest trends. It helps to create original content avoiding plagiarism...
A fourth way to identify and avoid plagiarism is to use quotation marks whenever you copy someone else's exact words in your content. Quotation marks indicate that you are not claiming the words as your own and that you are giving credit to the original source. However, you should use quotation marks sparingly and only when the words are very important, memorable, or authoritative. Otherwise, you should paraphrase or summarize the source in your own words and cite it accordingly.
A fifth way to check your content for plagiarism is to compare it with your own previous works or with other content that you have used as inspiration or research. Sometimes, you may unintentionally plagiarize yourself or others by repeating the same phrases, sentences, or paragraphs that you have written or read before. To avoid this, you should review your content carefully and look for any similarities or overlaps with your own or other sources. You should then rewrite or delete any parts that are too similar or cite them if necessary.
Very few ideas genuinely deserve the distinction of earning the label “original.” Most of our knowledge, wisdom and thoughts are derived from previously existing ones and evolve when we add our perspective that has been informed by our unique combination of experiences. I believe the most important and responsible thing we can do when creating and sharing content in any form is to be transparent about and cite the people and ideas who are major influences on our thoughts.