How Plagiarism Checkers Work: A Brief on Plagiarism

 

Plagiarism is a serious offense in the world of writing and will lower your marks when detected. But thankfully there are software and websites for you to detect plagiarism before your instructor does. This software is called plagiarism checkers. They are designed to detect unintentional and intentional plagiarism in your paper to help you avoid lowering your marks or face much worse consequences of plagiarism.

Why is plagiarism so important?

Plagiarism refers to the unintentional or intentional copying of someone's content fully or to some extent. Plagiarism is malpractice in today's world because writing is one of the things that you cannot copyright; it means that words or sentences cannot be claimed by one person and not ever be used by someone else, but it raises the concern of getting the credit for what you have originated. As words can't be claimed but your work can be. That's why plagiarism works! You are liable to get the credit for the work you have produced. In case, someone would like to use your work or expand on it, they need to first make the reader aware that you have originated this research or work of words! And only after acknowledging the original author can they use the work to create their work or words. That is why plagiarism is so important and is taken very seriously by teachers as well. You must avoid plagiarism at all costs. Here you can read on how to avoid plagiarism in your paper and how to give credit where it is due. (can add Hyperlink)

How does plagiarism checkers detect plagiarism?

Because it is so important to avoid plagiarism in your work, there is dedicated software to do that. But how does this software work and how do they detect plagiarism? Plagiarism checkers use some very complex algorithms to find plagiarism in your paper. They use search engine results to match your content to the web that is broken into multiple small sections for accuracy. They can match loads of content with your content in the time of a minute and help you keep the plagiarism percentage low.

Plagiarism checkers are very effective at what they do and can easily find faults in plagiarism. You should check your paper for any unintentional plagiarism before submitting it.

Plagiarism can be of many types and you should know about the types of plagiarism to be aware of what might be causing the plagiarism percentage to be high. Here are the basic types of plagiarism that are often seen everywhere.

1.      Accidental plagiarism

Accidental plagiarism refers to plagiarism when the writer neglects to cite the source or paraphrases a few words of the original work while keeping the same context as in the original. It is also called accidental plagiarism when the writer makes a mistake in citing the source.

2.     Mosaic plagiarism

Out of all the types of plagiarism, mosaic plagiarism is the most common and is often committed unintentionally. Mosaic plagiarism refers to the situation in which the writer borrows a set of words from the original work without using quote marks on it. it is also known as patchwork because these small sections of multiple sources are patched together to create a new work. This type of plagiarism is the hardest to detect but is detectable. The plagiarism checker tools look for phrase similarities in your paper with all the web results and ultimately find the matching spots.

3.     Paraphrasing plagiarism

Paraphrasing plagiarism refers to replacing a few words while using someone else's work or simply changing words with their synonyms while referring to the original research or work. Paraphrasing without citing or even incorrect paraphrasing and incorrect display of the original work is considered plagiarism and should be avoided. The golden point is to always cite the source. It is also important that you take complete and accurate notes of the original work. Display of wrong information or manipulation of data to fit your research while using someone's work is a serious offense and should be avoided at all costs.

4.     Self or auto plagiarism

Still a question in the world of the writing of whether it should be considered plagiarism to cite one's previous work without reference. Self or auto plagiarism refers to when the author uses his/her previous work in his/her current work without properly mentioning the source. You should avoid self or auto plagiarism in your paper.

5.     Complete plagiarism

As the name suggests it refers to the complete copying of the original content. This plagiarism is the easiest to detect and will get you into a lot of trouble. It is also referred to as complete plagiarism if you use full paragraphs from someone else’s work and fail to cite the author. The consequences of complete plagiarism are the worst, we have seen students get expelled from schools or fined a big amount.

6.     Source-based plagiarism

This type of plagiarism refers to the mistake of not citing the source correctly. It means that the student has failed to cite the right source for the original work when using it. Plagiarism checkers can help you avoid this plagiarism mistake by telling you the source of plagiarism in your paper.

7.     Direct plagiarism

Direct plagiarism refers to the direct use of the words written by someone in your paper and neither putting it quotes marks nor citing the source. It is also very common and is frowned upon. When the student unintentionally ends up writing the same sentences as the author had, it is still considered plagiarism. That is why it is so important to use plagiarism checkers to avoid unintentional plagiarism in your work.

 

Plagiarism in any form of writing has to be avoided. You must understand how to avoid it in the first place and if there is still plagiarism then how to combat it with the use of plagiarism checkers.