Types of Plagiarism
Plagiarizing involves using someone else's work without credit. Plagiarizing falls under the umbrella of academic dishonesty, which takes into account a larger set of academic activities deemed dishonest or ethical. Plagiarizing sometimes can be difficult to understand and to avoid.
Other People Are Reading
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Significance
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Western education deems unacceptable using other people's ideas without crediting them. Academia does find it acceptable and expected to use other people's ideas to form your own ideas and opinions. This practice, called an academic conversation, forms an important aspect of writing academic papers. The significant difference here involves crediting other thinkers in the body of your own work rather than plagiarizing or using their work without giving them credit.
Types: Copying
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Copying another person's work is one of the most obvious form of plagiarism. In this scenario, you copy someone's words from a book, webpage, journal or other source and take credit for that work as if you wrote it. This type of plagiarism, culturally frowned upon in the larger society, finds itself expressively prohibited by honor codes and student expectations in colleges and schools.
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Types: Failing to Credit
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Failing to credit a source is another version of plagiarism. Whether you quote another author or paraphrase an author--explaining their idea in your words--you must credit that author. This can be done in the form of parenthetical citations, end notes, footnotes or by introducing the author and the work in the body of your paper. Which method you use depends on the style guide you're using for your paper or article, which will be determined by your teacher or employer.
Misconceptions
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Reusing your own work, despite notions to the contrary, actually counts as plagiarism. This often applies to school situations. When you are assigned a paper in one course, you are expected to create new content for that course based on the knowledge you have gained since you wrote an older paper. So copying your own work or reusing it is also plagiarizing. However, you can use your work and credit that source, listing yourself as the author just as you would any other source.
Prevention/Solution
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Prevent yourself from plagiarizing by ensuring that you credit any author (including your previous papers) when you present ideas in your paper. When in doubt, it is always better to credit another author than to risk assuming credit was not necessary. Consult your style guide when you have questions or reach out to professors and writing center staff.
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