How To Avoid Plagiarism: 5 Easy Steps

Plagiarism can have serious consequences, but it can be easier to do than you realise.

When it comes to university coursework and essays, plagiarism is something you'll be taught about early on and what will happen if you're caught plagiarising. While the idea of copying someone else's work might seem appealing if you're really struggling, it seems pretty obvious that it will only backfire and your uni will catch you out.

However, accidentally plagiarising is a whole different story and is easier to do than you think. Universities will use software to scan your work to make sure there are no similarities between your work and anyone else's, including published authors and if there's even the slightest similarity this can get flagged up.

The consequences of plagiarism can be serious and can result in you being kicked out of uni or failing your entire degree so as scary as that is, it's really important to make sure the work you're submitting is 100% your own, even if you're cross-referencing someone else's ideas.

Here's how you can avoid plagiarism:

1. Check your university's policy

Each uni has different rules about plagiarism and what is and isn't ok. The penalties of plagiarism can also vary based on your uni too, so it's best to be super clear on this from the get-go. You'll be able to find the policy on your university website or online portal, or you could email a tutor to ask for advice on what is acceptable. Your lecturers are aware of the seriousness of plagiarism so should be happy to help you understand to avoid any mistakes from happening.

If you do get caught plagiarising your uni could conduct a performance review on you, fail you on an entire module, or even suspend your studies entirely based on the severity of the situation, so make sure you're super familiar with what could happen in case you're ever even slightly tempted to plagiarise. Your Students' Union should also have someone who you can talk to about plagiarising concerns if you are ever accused of plagiarism so make sure you get to know who to reach out to if you ever need it.

2. Get your referencing right

This is super important, as this is where the majority of people slip up and accidentally plagiarise. You will be referencing other people's work and research to support your coursework and this is an important part of producing a good university essay, so you will need to make sure your referencing is correct. If you fail to reference something you've found properly, it can get flagged as plagiarism and although penalties for messing up your references might be more lenient than if you've directly copied and pasted something, it can still be really serious.

Universities may also argue that if you're in your second or third year you should know by now how to reference properly and that there's no excuse for accidentally plagiarising by messing up your references compared to when you're in your first year, so don't assume that you can get off lightly with this.

Make sure you're super familiar with what referencing system you need to be using, there are plenty of online tools and websites that can help you to get your referencing right and to cross-check that you've done it properly- but don't always rely on this. You should know best on what is right or wrong, so before you're submitting your coursework make sure you do a final reference check and that you're completely happy with this, you won't be able to blame bad referencing on anyone else if you get caught out!

3. Don't copy

Seriously, don't copy. If you're reading an article online and it perfectly sums up your argument or what you want to say, you can't just lift it into your own work. Always make sure you're paraphrasing and rewriting what you've found in your own words, rather than directly copy and pasting it into your work. Even if you properly reference it, it is still plagiarism if you copy and paste something, unless it's a direct quote from someone, which brings us to our next point…

4. Use quotation marks

If you're directly quoting something that someone else has actually said, make sure that you use quotation marks to make it clear that this is a quote and not an original idea. However, using quotation marks alone isn't enough to avoid plagiarism and if you are using a direct quote you'll need to clearly reference this too. Try and only use direct quotes if they're really important and support your work- while quotes can be useful here and there, don't rely on them to fill out your essay as it takes away from original ideas.

5. Use a range of sources

Don't just rely on one or two sources for your entire piece of coursework. This will limit the amount of supporting material in your coursework, and before you've known it your entire essay is paraphrased from one or two other articles. Try and include a wide range of sources both from books and journals as well as online articles and digital sources. This shows your lecturers that you've done your research and you've been reading a lot about the topic, rather than just relying on one really informative article as this could be seen as plagiarising.

Plagiarising is not something to be taken lightly, and no one wants to have to be called out on it so make sure you're following these steps to make sure you never have to question if you plagiarised. Need help with your work? Check out when to start revising for university exams and the best revision techniques.