Precautions to Prevent Plagiarism
At the most basic level, to commit plagiarism is to commit a fraudulent act, whether it is done intentionally or not. Plagiarism can occur when a source of information isn't properly cited, when one person takes credit for someone else's ideas or words, when information is used without giving credit to its originator or when trying to reintroduce an old idea without giving credit to its creator. Because even the most ethical writers can accidentally commit plagiarism, everybody needs to take precautions to prevent it.
Other People Are Reading
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Be Original
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The most basic precaution that you can take to prevent plagiarism is to try to be as original as possible. This means writing using your own words and not depending on the source of your information to write your work for you. It means not to use forms or any cut or pasted material that is not properly cited.
Take Notes and Make Proper References
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Another precaution that can be used to prevent or at least limit plagiarism is to put source material away before you actually begin to write. Many people will subconsciously copy another's writing if they can see it or if they are reading from it at the same time that they are writing. Instead, take detailed notes on the material you are researching. Detailed notes should not be written verbatim from the source (unless you are quoting it), but the main idea of what the author is saying with citing references included next to any ideas or words taken directly from an original text (such as page numbers and the source name). Writing from your own notes will prevent any inadvertent plagiarism.
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Give Credit For Any Unoriginal Ideas
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Any quotes, ideas or concepts that are included in your work that did not come from your own thinking and development need to be cited. Credit needs to be given to the originator. It is better to have more citations than you think you need than to have passed on adding a reference and being flagged as a plagiarist. Your writing does not have to have so many citations that it seems like your writing is nothing more than a compilation of other writers' material (unless your writing is supposed to be a compilation) -- just enough to cover your information trail.
Use a Plagiarism Checker
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A plagiarism checker is a computer program allowing you can upload your work. It will review it to see if any of the material that you wrote was plagiarized. If any plagiarized material is detected, most checkers will tell you where the material originates from. This way, you can cite any information that you had previously been published elsewhere by someone else or rewrite what you have to say. Plagiarism checkers pick up common phrases and word sequences, but they usually flag those as things you can look over.
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