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How to Avoid Plagiarism | Tips on Citing Sources

Published on October 10, 2021 by Tegan George . Revised on November 21, 2023.

Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas without properly crediting the original author. Sometimes plagiarism involves deliberately stealing someone’s work, but more often it happens accidentally, through carelessness or forgetfulness.When you write an academic paper, you build upon the work of others and use various credible sources for information and evidence. To avoid plagiarism, you need to correctly incorporate these sources into your text.

You can avoid plagiarism by :

• Keeping track of the sources you consult in your research
• Paraphrasing or quoting from your sources (by using a paraphrasing tool and adding your own ideas)
• Crediting the original author in an in-text citation and in your reference list
• Using a plagiarism checker before you submit
• Use generative AI tools responsibly (outputs may be detected by an   AI detector )

Even accidental plagiarism can have serious consequences , so take care with how you integrate sources into your writing.

Table of contents

Keeping track of your sources, avoiding plagiarism when quoting, avoiding plagiarism when paraphrasing, citing your sources correctly, using a plagiarism checker, using ai tools responsibly, checklist: plagiarism prevention, free lecture slides, frequently asked questions.

One of the most common ways that students commit plagiarism is by simply forgetting where an idea came from and unintentionally presenting it as their own. You can easily avoid this pitfall by keeping your notes organized and compiling a list of citations as you go.

Clearly label which thoughts are yours and which aren’t in your notes, highlight statements that need citations, and carefully mark any text copied directly from a source with quotation marks.

In the example below, red indicates a claim that requires a source, blue indicates information paraphrased or summarized from a source, and green indicates a direct quotation.

Notes for my paper on global warming

• Greenhouse gas emissions trap heat and raise global temperatures [cite details]
• Causes more severe weather: hurricanes, fires, water scarcity [cite examples]
• Animal habitats across the world are under threat from climate change [cite examples]
• Just this year, 23 species have been declared extinct (BBC News 2021)
• “Animals are changing shape… some are growing bigger wings, some are sprouting longer ears and others are growing larger bills” in order to cool off (Zeldovich 2021)

Managing sources with the Scribbr Citation Generator

To make your life easier later, make sure to write down the full details of every source you consult. That includes not only books and journal articles, but also things like websites, magazine articles, and videos. This makes it easy to go back and check where you found a phrase, fact, or idea that you want to use in your paper.

Scribbr’s Citation Generator allows you to start building and managing your reference list as you go, saving time later. When you’re ready to submit, simply download your reference list!

Generate accurate citations with Scribbr

Prevent plagiarism. run a free check..

Quoting means copying a piece of text word for word. The copied text must be introduced in your own words, enclosed in quotation marks , and correctly attributed to the original author.

In general, quote sparingly. Quotes are appropriate when:

• You’re using an exact definition, introduced by the original author
• It is impossible for you to rephrase the original text without losing its meaning
• You’re analyzing the use of language in the original text
• You want to maintain the authority and style of the author’s words

Long quotations should be formatted as block quotes . But for longer blocks of text, it’s usually better to paraphrase instead.

Paraphrasing means using your own words to explain something from a source.

Paraphrasing does not mean just switching out a few words from a copy-pasted text. To paraphrase properly, you should rewrite the author’s point in your own words to show that you have fully understood it.

Every time you quote or paraphrase, you must include an in-text or footnote citation clearly identifying the original author. Each citation must correspond to a full reference in the reference list or bibliography at the end of your paper.

This acknowledges the source of your information, avoiding plagiarism, and it helps your readers locate the source for themselves if they would like to learn more.

There are many different citation styles, each with its own rules. A few common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago . Your instructor may assign a particular style for you to use, or you may be able to choose. The most important thing is to apply one style consistently throughout the text.

The examples below follow APA Style.

Citing a single source

Citing multiple sources.

If you quote multiple sources in one sentence, make sure to cite them separately so that it’s clear which material came from which source.

To create correctly formatted source citations, you can use our free Citation Generator.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

And if you’re citing in APA Style, consider using Scribbr’s Citation Checker , a unique tool that scans your citations for errors. It can detect inconsistencies between your in-text citations and your reference list, as well as making sure your citations are flawlessly formatted.

Most universities use plagiarism checkers like Turnitin to detect potential plagiarism. Here’s how plagiarism checkers work : they scan your document, compare it to a database of webpages and publications, and highlight passages that appear similar to other texts.

Consider using a plagiarism checker yourself before submitting your paper. This allows you to identify issues that could constitute accidental plagiarism, such as:

• Forgotten or misplaced citations
• Missing quotation marks
• Paraphrased material that’s too similar to the original text

Then you can easily fix any instances of potential plagiarism.

There are differences in accuracy and safety between plagiarism checkers. To help students choose, we conducted extensive research comparing the best plagiarism checkers .

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT can be helpful at different stages of the writing and research process. However, these tools can also be used to plagiarize in various ways (whether intentionally or unintentionally). When using these tools, it’s important to avoid the following:

• AI-assisted plagiarism:   Passing off AI-generated text as your own work (e.g., research papers, homework assignments)
• Plagiarism :   Using the tool to paraphrase content from another source and passing it off as original work
• Self-plagiarism :   Using the tool to rewrite a paper you previously submitted

It’s important to use AI tools responsibly and to be aware that AI-generated outputs may be detected by your university’s AI detector .

When using someone else’s exact words, I have properly formatted them as a quote .

When using someone else’s ideas, I have properly paraphrased , expressing the idea completely in my own words.

I have included an in-text citation every time I use words, ideas, or information from a source.

Every source I cited is included in my reference list or bibliography .

I have consistently followed the rules of my required citation style .

I have not committed self-plagiarism by reusing any part of a previous paper.

I have used a reliable plagiarism checker as a final check.

Your document should be free from plagiarism!

Are you a teacher or professor who would like to educate your students about plagiarism? You can download our free lecture slides, available for Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint.

Open Google Slides Download PowerPoint

Accidental plagiarism is one of the most common examples of plagiarism . Perhaps you forgot to cite a source, or paraphrased something a bit too closely. Maybe you can’t remember where you got an idea from, and aren’t totally sure if it’s original or not.

These all count as plagiarism, even though you didn’t do it on purpose. When in doubt, make sure you’re citing your sources . Also consider running your work through a plagiarism checker tool prior to submission, which work by using advanced database software to scan for matches between your text and existing texts.

Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker takes less than 10 minutes and can help you turn in your paper with confidence.

To avoid plagiarism when summarizing an article or other source, follow these two rules:

• Write the summary entirely in your own words by paraphrasing the author’s ideas.
• Cite the source with an in-text citation and a full reference so your reader can easily find the original text.

Plagiarism can be detected by your professor or readers if the tone, formatting, or style of your text is different in different parts of your paper, or if they’re familiar with the plagiarized source.

Many universities also use plagiarism detection software like Turnitin’s, which compares your text to a large database of other sources, flagging any similarities that come up.

It can be easier than you think to commit plagiarism by accident. Consider using a plagiarism checker prior to submitting your paper to ensure you haven’t missed any citations.

Some examples of plagiarism include:

• Copying and pasting a Wikipedia article into the body of an assignment
• Quoting a source without including a citation
• Not paraphrasing a source properly, such as maintaining wording too close to the original
• Forgetting to cite the source of an idea

The most surefire way to avoid plagiarism is to always cite your sources . When in doubt, cite!

If you’re concerned about plagiarism, consider running your work through a plagiarism checker tool prior to submission. Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker takes less than 10 minutes and can help you turn in your paper with confidence.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2023, November 21). How to Avoid Plagiarism | Tips on Citing Sources. Scribbr. Retrieved April 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/plagiarism/how-to-avoid-plagiarism/

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Avoiding Plagiarism

• What is Plagiarism?

How to Not Plagiarize

Plagiarism checkers, writing & grammar help, plagiarism in the wider world.

• Academic Integrity in Research
• How to Cite Your Sources This link opens in a new window
• Citation Management Software This link opens in a new window

Cartoon by Nina Paley shared freely from Mimi and Eunice

To plagiarize means to use the work of another without crediting the source.

Merriam-Webster defines "plagiarizing" as

• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own ;
• to use (another's production) without crediting the source;
• to commit literary theft ; or
• to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.

Plagiarizing also violates the Stevens Honor Code .

• Stevens Honor Board Information for students and faculty about the Stevens Honor System and the board that oversees it (intranet site; log into Okta if prompted).

What's Considered Plagiarism?

Using the work of others.

• Word-for-word copying of someone else's work, without citation
• Copying pieces of one or more sources without citations
• Paraphrasing a small or large portion of another's work without citation
• Improper citation : Leaving out citation information or inaccurately citing a source

Reusing your own work

Copying one's own work from a previous publication or assignment without indicating that it was a previous work. That is, you can't use an essay you wrote for two different assignments. Should you want to reuse an article you published for your thesis or dissertation, you would need written permission from the journal publisher.

Adapted in part from The Common Types of Plagiarism (Bowdoin College)

All you have to do is cite your sources !

When you quote or paraphrase another person's idea in your research paper, provide a full and accurate citation to the source you used in the appropriate citation style. By doing so, you will not only avoid plagiarizing, but will also:

• Give proper credit to the author of the idea,
• Allow your readers to locate the source of that information, and
• Show the credibility of your own work.

Citing Other Authors

When incorporating the work of another author into your own writing, you may decide to do so in the following ways:

• Direct quotation
• Paraphrasing the findings, or
• Summarizing the work overall.

In general, you will best show your grasp of the information if you paraphrase or summarize .

• Using Quotations (Stevens WCC) How to incorporate quotations into your paper from the Stevens Writing & Communication Center. (Note: intranet site; must be logged into myStevens for access.)
• Decide When to Quote, Paraphrase and Summarize (University of Houston-Victoria) A guide to how to decide whether quoting, paraphrasing or summarizing is the best way to integrate the work of others in your writing.

Determining the Right Citation Style for Your Discipline

Different disciplines have different expectations when it comes to documenting the work of others in your writing. One of the more popular citation styles used by college students is MLA, which is taught to Stevens' first-year undergraduates in the CAL 103/105 program. While MLA is standard in the humanities fields, the sciences tend to emphasize the currency of the research, so APA can be a useful style for students in other programs.

The list below includes the main styles of many academic disciplines so you can meet the requirements of the Stevens Honor System.

• Purdue OWL: Complete Discipline Listing The Purdue Online Writing Lab's list of disciplines and the citation styles they most commonly use.
• Citing Your Sources (Stevens Writing and Communications Center) Information on citing sources in MLA from the Stevens WCC.

If you want to make sure you're not inadvertently plagiarizing in your work, consider using a plagiarism checker.

Stevens students may have access to Turnitin through their Canvas shells and can scan assignments before submitting them. If your course doesn't have Turnitin enabled, ask your professor!

Online Tools

Adapted in part from Plagiarism Detection Tools (Science Integrity Digest).

• Google Scholar A simple way to check if your text is unique is running it through Google Scholar. Search for a paragraph to see if your words appeared anywhere else first.
• Small SEO Tools: Plagiarism Checker Free for the first 1000 words; fees accrue thereafter.
• Plagium Plagium, from Septet Systems Inc., offers limited plagiarism checking for free, using Septet Systems' text mining engine. Please note: "As long as you do not have too many searches, you will not be charged." Regular users will be prompted to create an account and purchase credits for further page searches and services. Also includes a Google Docs plug-in.
• PaperRater A proofreader and plagiarism checker available for free with more features available for a fee.

There are many reliable sources for grammar and writing help online, or go to the pros! Make an appointment with the Stevens Writing and Communications Center for 1:1 help.

• Stevens Writing & Communications Center (intranet) Writing help for Stevens students from writing and communications professionals. Check the website for semester hours and services.
• GrammarBook.com Grammar and punctuation guide, English usage rules, more.
• Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab): Avoiding Plagiarism Discusses intellectual challenges in American academic writing, how to avoid plagiarism, safe practices, and best practices for teachers.

A brief discussion of "patchwriting" in STEM master's programs

Patchwriting is a term coined to describe how students sometimes borrow from other authors who they feel can better describe or phrase a concept than they can in a sort of inadvertent plagiarism. This article from 2010 explains the issue and provides further reading.

• Plagiarism, Patchwriting, and the Engineering Master's Thesis Discusses the need for education to determine what is plagiarism and how to write well to avoid plagiarism.

Copying other people's work without crediting them is a violation of standard practice in a number of different fields.

Students and researchers work in the context of academic and research integrity rules and requirements. Artists and musicians may claim copyright infringement if they feel their creations have been reused without permission. Journalists follow ethical standards that forbid the uncredited use of a source. Writers don't want to see their text reused without credit.

In short, whatever field you're in, it is always important to accurately and fully cite your sources.

• NY Times Topics: Plagiarism News An ongoing list of stories from the NY Times on incidents and accusations of plagiarism in the US and internationally.
• Music Copyright Infringement Resource (George Washington University Law School) This really neat database, maintained in collaboration by GWU Law School and Columbia Law School, provides an ongoing list of court cases about plagiarism in music from the mid-19th century to the present. Issues of plagiarism in music are often litigated as copyright infringement; a creator's claims that another musician is copying their work can be seen as a violation of the creator's copyright, whether in regards to the music, lyrics, or both.
• Next: Academic Integrity in Research >>
• Last Updated: Mar 21, 2024 3:42 PM
• URL: https://library.stevens.edu/plagiarism

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Citing Sources

• How to Avoid Plagiarism
• Introduction
• Reading Citations

Best Practices for Avoiding Plagiarism

The entire section below came from a research guide from Iowa State University.  To avoid plagiarism, one must provide a reference to that source to indicate where the original information came from (see the "Source:" section below).

"There are many ways to avoid plagiarism, including developing good research habits, good time management, and taking responsibility for your own learning. Here are some specific tips:

• Don't procrastinate with your research and assignments. Good research takes time. Procrastinating makes it likely you'll run out of time or be unduly pressured to finish. This sort of pressure can often lead to sloppy research habits and bad decisions. Plan your research well in advance, and seek help when needed from your professor, from librarians and other campus support staff.
• Commit to doing your own work. If you don't understand an assignment, talk with your professor. Don't take the "easy way" out by asking your roommate or friends for copies of old assignments. A different aspect of this is group work. Group projects are very popular in some classes on campus, but not all. Make sure you clearly understand when your professor says it's okay to work with others on assignments and submit group work on assignments, versus when assignments and papers need to represent your own work.
•  Be 100% scrupulous in your note taking. As you prepare your paper or research, and as you begin drafting your paper. One good practice is to clearly label in your notes your own ideas (write "ME" in parentheses) and ideas and words from others (write "SMITH, 2005" or something to indicate author, source, source date). Keep good records of the sources you consult, and the ideas you take from them. If you're writing a paper, you'll need this information for your bibliographies or references cited list anyway, so you'll benefit from good organization from the beginning.
• Cite your sources scrupulously. Always cite other people's work, words, ideas and phrases that you use directly or indirectly in your paper. Regardless of whether you found the information in a book, article, or website, and whether it's text, a graphic, an illustration, chart or table, you need to cite it. When you use words or phrases from other sources, these need to be in quotes. Current style manuals are available at most reference desks and online. They may also give further advice on avoiding plagiarism.
• Understand good paraphrasing. Simply using synonyms or scrambling an author's words and phrases and then using these "rewrites" uncredited in your work is plagiarism, plain and simple. Good paraphrasing requires that you genuinely understand the original source, that you are genuinely using your own words to summarize a point or concept, and that you insert in quotes any unique words or phrases you use from the original source. Good paraphrasing also requires that you cite the original source. Anything less and you veer into the dangerous territory of plagiarism."

Source: Vega García, S.A. (2012). Understanding plagiarism: Information literacy guide. Iowa State University. Retrieved from  http://instr.iastate.libguides.com/content.php?pid=10314 . [Accessed January 3, 2017]

Plagiarism prevention.

• Plagiarism Prevention (onlinecolleges.net) This resource provides information about preventing plagiarism, understanding the various types of plagiarism, and learning how to cite properly to avoid plagiarism.

UCLA has a campuswide license to Turnitin.com. Faculty may turn in student papers electronically, where the text can be compared with a vast database of other student papers, online articles, general Web pages, and other sources. Turnitin.com then produces a report for the instructor indicating whether the paper was plagiarized and if so, how much.

For more information, go to Turnitin.com .

Plagiarism in the News

• << Previous: Plagiarism
• Next: Get Help >>
• Last Updated: Feb 2, 2024 12:38 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.ucla.edu/citing

How to Avoid Plagiarism in Research Papers (Part 1)

Writing a research paper poses challenges in gathering literature and providing evidence for making your paper stronger. Drawing upon previously established ideas and values and adding pertinent information in your paper are necessary steps, but these need to be done with caution without falling into the trap of plagiarism . In order to understand how to avoid plagiarism , it is important to know the different types of plagiarism that exist.

What is Plagiarism in Research?

Plagiarism is the unethical practice of using words or ideas (either planned or accidental) of another author/researcher or your own previous works without proper acknowledgment. Considered as a serious academic and intellectual offense, plagiarism can result in highly negative consequences such as paper retractions and loss of author credibility and reputation. It is currently a grave problem in academic publishing and a major reason for paper retractions .

It is thus imperative for researchers to increase their understanding about plagiarism. In some cultures, academic traditions and nuances may not insist on authentication by citing the source of words or ideas. However, this form of validation is a prerequisite in the global academic code of conduct. Non-native English speakers  face a higher challenge of communicating their technical content in English as well as complying with ethical rules. The digital age too affects plagiarism. Researchers have easy access to material and data on the internet which makes it easy to copy and paste information.

Related: Conducting literature survey and wish to learn more about scientific misconduct? Check out this resourceful infographic today!

How Can You Avoid Plagiarism in a Research Paper?

Guard yourself against plagiarism, however accidental it may be. Here are some guidelines to avoid plagiarism.

1. Paraphrase your content

• Do not copy–paste the text verbatim from the reference paper. Instead, restate the idea in your own words.
• Understand the idea(s) of the reference source well in order to paraphrase correctly.
• Examples on good paraphrasing can be found here ( https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase.html )

2. Use Quotations

Use quotes to indicate that the text has been taken from another paper. The quotes should be exactly the way they appear in the paper you take them from.

3. Cite your Sources – Identify what does and does not need to be cited

• The best way to avoid the misconduct of plagiarism is by self-checking your documents using plagiarism checker tools.
• Any words or ideas that are not your own but taken from another paper  need to be cited .
• Cite Your Own Material—If you are using content from your previous paper, you must cite yourself. Using material you have published before without citation is called self-plagiarism .
• The scientific evidence you gathered after performing your tests should not be cited.
• Facts or common knowledge need not be cited. If unsure, include a reference.

4. Maintain records of the sources you refer to

• Maintain records of the sources you refer to. Use citation software like EndNote or Reference Manager to manage the citations used for the paper
• Use multiple references for the background information/literature survey. For example, rather than referencing a review, the individual papers should be referred to and cited.

5. Use plagiarism checkers

You can use various plagiarism detection tools such as iThenticate or HelioBLAST (formerly eTBLAST) to see how much of your paper is plagiarised .

Tip: While it is perfectly fine to survey previously published work, it is not alright to paraphrase the same with extensive similarity. Most of the plagiarism occurs in the literature review section of any document (manuscript, thesis, etc.). Therefore, if you read the original work carefully, try to understand the context, take good notes, and then express it to your target audience in your own language (without forgetting to cite the original source), then you will never be accused with plagiarism (at least for the literature review section).

Caution: The above statement is valid only for the literature review section of your document. You should NEVER EVER use someone else’s original results and pass them off as yours!

What strategies do you adopt to maintain content originality? What advice would you share with your peers? Please feel free to comment in the section below.

If you would like to know more about patchwriting, quoting, paraphrasing and more, read the next article in this series!

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Home / Guides / Plagiarism Guide / How to Avoid Plagiarism

How to Avoid Plagiarism

Understanding plagiarism and how to avoid are crucial to being an ethical and productive student, professional, and member of society. Before you learn to avoid it, you must first know what it is.

Guide Overview

• What is plagiarism?

Why you should avoid it

• Pick a topic you’re interested in
• Leave yourself plenty of time
• Keep good research notes!
• Start citing sources from the start
• Use quotations properly
• In-text citations
• Include your own ideas
• Check your work
• Use a plagiarism checker

Key takeaways

What is plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s creative/intellectual as your own, whether that be writing, speech, image, illustration, video, graph, etc. (although this guide will focus on writing).

Plagiarism can be both accidental and on-purpose. Most think of plagiarism being an unethical, conscious decision — when someone purposely steals another’s work and lies about it creating that work. However, plagiarism can also be the result of poorly-used quotes and paraphrases, or taking information without giving proper credit to the author. Even if it wasn’t on purpose, accidental plagiarism is still plagiarism and can have consequences.

In school, plagiarism could lead to disciplinary action, such as a failing grade, suspension, or expulsion. In university, confirmed plagiarism might be noted in your permanent record, which could affect scholarships or financial aid.

In a professional setting, plagiarism is illegal because it is protected by author’s rights and/or copyright. A professional that plagiarizes could face legal charges for infringing on copyright. Copyright is the original author’s legal right to the work they created. Authors control who else can use their intellectual property. Aside from copyright, there are other reasons to avoid plagiarism.

Plagiarism is unethical at best, illegal at worst. That is bad enough. However, plagiarism also robs you of real learning. It keeps you from contributing to the construction of knowledge.

If that doesn’t convince you to avoid plagiarism, also consider this: technology is advancing at an incredible pace. Climate science, medicine, neuroscience, robotics, alternative energy… All of these disciplines have made tremendous strides in the last decades and will continue to advance and grow.

Who do you think advances and grows this knowledge?

It could be you. It could be anybody. Researchers, scientists, writers, and academics aren’t grown in Petri dishes or printed on a 3D printer. They are people who were students at one point, discovered a passion, learned everything they could about it, and then just kept going, making discoveries and breakthroughs, and contributing to the construction of knowledge.

Build new knowledge

Building new knowledge cannot happen without knowing and understanding existing knowledge. Think about building knowledge like building a house. You can’t get to the roof (new knowledge) until you’ve laid the foundation and put up the walls (existing knowledge), right?

When you do your research about your topic, you are seeing how others laid the foundation, how they built the walls. Then, the roof is all you: the roof is your contribution, but it lies on top walls, on top of a foundation. The sources you cite in your paper are the beams that support the roof. They hold it up, but they are not the roof. They only help keep the roof in place.

The idea of constructing knowledge has never been more relevant than now.

You may be saying, “I just want to write my sociology research paper on the rise of social activism.” What does that have to do with a researcher studying solar energy and building new knowledge in a growing field?

It’s about the skills you need to reach your goal.

In order to learn something, you need to invest yourself in the process of learning, whether you’re a freshman just trying to make it through Intro to Sociology, or an internationally-known researcher who presents at solar technology conferences is Stockholm.

Plagiarism is taking the easy way out: It can lead to little-to-no learning, as well as failing grades or expulsion when you’re discovered. Because the likelihood is that you will be discovered.

To summarize, you want to avoid plagiarizing because:

• you won’t learn much
• you will probably get caught
• you will fail the assignment or the class. Or worse.

How to avoid plagiarism

Now that you know what plagiarism is and why it’s bad, take a deep breath, because avoiding it is not that hard.

To use another person’s words or ideas in your writing, you will need to cite your original source. In some instances, you may even need to get permission from the original publisher before using someone else’s work. Also, if you have a strong research and writing process, you’ll reduce the likelihood of committing accidental plagiarism.

Here are some tips for how to avoid plagiarism:

1. Pick a topic you’re interested in

If you’re in school, you will have to do academic writing. It’s unavoidable. So if you’re going to have to write research papers anyway, pick a topic you’re interested in.

Even in classes you have to take (as opposed to those you chose to take), there must be something interesting you’d like to learn more about. A research paper takes time and dedication to complete, so it’s in your best interest to choose a topic that’s compelling to you.

If it’s something you want to learn about, you’re more likely to do the necessary research and focus on writing your paper. The topic you pick might be general and vague in the beginning. That’s okay.

2. Leave yourself plenty of time to complete your research and writing.

There is a reason you are given this assignment early on in the term. Research takes time. Writing takes time. Revising and proofreading take time. And, as you well know, this will not be your only assignment. You have other classes and other commitments. Time management is your friend.

Once you have a topic in mind, begin your general research. (*Here’s a secret: Many research papers started with Wikipedia – NOT because you use it as a source, but because it’s useful for background knowledge and it has tons of citations included. Use some of the sources listed at the end to continue your research!)

It’s possible you won’t have an angle for your research yet. That’s okay. As you begin to get some background knowledge, you will find yourself gravitating towards some ideas. Follow your curiosity, especially in the beginning.

However, keep in mind that you want to balance your sources. If you start reading a lot of research about the benefits of your topic, try reading a few about the drawbacks, to balance your research. Also, make sure you’re not reading only one or two authors. What do other people say? Especially people who disagree with your viewpoint.

3. Keep good research notes!

This cannot be overstated: your research notes can be the difference between a well-cited paper and accidental plagiarism, which you want to avoid.

If you’re making notes on a laptop, copy and paste the URL of where you found the information under the corresponding note.

It’s also a good idea to have some convention so you know whether something is a direct quote, or your own ideas, notes, interpretations of what you read. For direct quotes, you can use quotation marks (which you can then just transfer to your paper), or make the font a different color, or bold, or something. Whatever you choose, be consistent. That way you know if you see a section in red font, that’s always a direct quote.

If you get ideas and information from other sources, such as a TED Talk video, a PowerPoint online, or an editorial cartoon in the New York Times, you need to keep a record of those as well. They will also need to be cited in-text and places on your list of sources at the end.

4. Start citing sources from the start

Begin building your list of references from the start of researching your paper and taking notes. If you use a resource like EasyBib citing tools , it shouldn’t be too hard.

Even if you don’t end up using all of resources you record, it’s easier to delete sources from a list, than to hunt down missing sources later.

This will make it MUCH easier later when you have to complete your reference list or bibliography. Different styles call it different things:

• In MLA (the Modern Language Association), it’s called Works Cited.
• In APA (American Psychological Association), it’s called References.
• In CMS (Chicago Manual of Style), it’s called Bibliography.

Depending on what class your paper is for and what your teacher requires, you will use one of these styles for citations and your list of sources. Each style presents source information a little differently so make sure you know which style guide you need to use and refer to it often to make sure you cite correctly. Ask your teacher if you’re unsure which style to use.

5. Use quotations properly

Remember those excellent research notes of yours? Here’s where you use them. If there is a sentence, or a section, that you want to use to support your argument, you can use a direct quote.

As a general rule, keep direct quotations to a minimum. Remember that a research paper is about your ideas, not just repeating others’.

Make sure that all direct quotes have quotation marks around them. If you take any words out, indicate that with an ellipsis (…). Add the citation to the end of the quote.

Note: Depending on what citation style you are required to use, how you cite, both in-text and at the end of your paper, might be different. Make sure you know which you need to use and how to use it.

6. Paraphrase

Using a paraphrase, which is conveying the source writer’s idea using your own words, is also common practice in academic writing, and it’s acceptable when done properly.

So how do you do it properly?

Make sure you are conveying the writer’s original idea. Avoid making changes that will alter the meaning. When you paraphrase, you can change words using synonyms, you can change the order of the words in the sentence, you can change grammatical structures like verb tense, active and passive verbs, word forms, etc. The more you change it from the original, without changing its meaning, the better.

There are three reasons why you want to make sure your version isn’t too similar to the original:

• First, you don’t want your paraphrase to be tagged as plagiarism.
• Second, re-writing something in your own words helps you process and understand the information better.
• Third, you inject your own “voice” into your paper. This is what makes your paper “sound” like it was written by you.

Paraphrasing is more common in academic writing than using direct quotations, but again, remember that a research paper should be about your ideas. Other sources serve to bolster your argument. They are not the argument.

Note: Paraphrasing also needs attribution to the original writer. Make sure you cite correctly using the required style.

7. In-text citations

Any time you use ideas or information from another source, cite it in the text. Citations tell your reader exactly where your information came from.

Remember that citing your sources is the way to avoid plagiarism. It literally makes the difference between ethical and unethical writing.

Make sure you know which style you need to use, and refer back to the instructions regularly to make sure you’re citing correctly.

Tip: Bookmark an information page for the citation style you need to use and every time you cite, refer to it to make sure you’re citing correctly. Also, when you put together your list of sources, refer back to that bookmarked page.

8. Include your own ideas

If there is one idea, above all others, that you should engrave in your brain, it’s this: make sure your research paper includes your own ideas. In fact, your ideas should be the bulk of the paper.

The research you do is to give you an idea of what is already known about your topic. It helps guide your thinking. The research can help narrow the focus of your topic, but research is meant to be the starting point for your own ideas.

Let’s go back to the analogy of knowledge as a house. Your research paper is the roof on top. Note that you are not responsible for building the whole house. Other people have already come in before you and done a lot of the work. They laid the foundation and built the walls. Your research is checking what they’ve already done: this is what is already known about your topic. Then, you get to build your roof: this is what you are contributing.

Any sources that you cite in your paper will be beams that support the roof. If all you do is put up a bunch of beams (only quote and/or paraphrase), do you actually have a roof? No, not at all. In fact, if all you have beams, that is also plagiarizing!

However, if you put up a roof without beams, what would happen? Your roof would be wobbly and likely collapse because it has no support.

In order to build a strong roof, you need to know the foundation and walls are there. Then, you need some beams to help hold your roof up.

But you still need to build the roof yourself.

9. Check your work

After you finish writing a draft of your research paper, set it aside for a while – anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Then, come back and re-read it, checking it objectively:

• Is your topic clearly understood?
• Do your direct quotes have quotation marks and correct citations?
• Are your paraphrases also cited correctly?
• Are you using outside sources only to support your own ideas?
• Is the majority of your paper your ideas (and not repeating others’ ideas?)
• Do you have a list of sources at the end?
• Are you following the correct style guide and are you using it correctly?

Checking your own work isn’t always easy. You wrote it – of course you think it’s amazing! But getting in the habit of checking your own work, and trying to be objective, is excellent practice.

It’s also a good idea to ask someone else to read your paper and give you their opinion. Another convenient options: An online checker like the EasyBib paper checker . It’s available anytime, 24/7.

10. Use a plagiarism checker

Running your work through a plagiarism checker is a good way to make sure that you’ve cited all of your sources. This is also a good habit to get into because it gets you familiar with plagiarism checkers, it helps you learn how to interpret the results, and it helps you avoid plagiarizing.

The EasyBib plagiarism checker is useful and available with an EasyBib Plus subscription.

• You want to avoid all forms of plagiarism because it is an unethical practice.
• Citing your sources correctly is one way to avoid plagiarism.
• Making sure you use outside sources only as support for your own ideas is the other way to avoid plagiarism.

Published October 28, 2020.

By Halina Stolar. Halina has a master’s degree in teaching and taught English as a Second Language and writing for almost 15 years overseas. She now works as a freelance writer, and geeks out over grammar for fun.

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University Libraries

• Welcome to the Plagiarism Guide
• Academic Integrity at UNT
• What is Plagiarism?
• Direct or Clone Plagiarism
• Self Plagiarism
• Mosaic Plagiarism or Patchwriting
• Accidental Plagiarism

Strategies to Avoid Plagiarism

• AI, Plagiarism, and Academic Integrity at UNT
• Ongoing Support & Resources

Outreach & Instruction Librarian | Political Science Librarian

Throughout your academic journey, you are likely to acquire a tip or two for avoiding plagiarism such as making sure you properly cite sources in your course assignments and research. Although very helpful, it still does not provide you with the key strategies needed to avoid plagiarism and produce original work. UNT Libraries understands how overwhelming it can be to tackle the nuances of plagiarism, so we have gathered very helpful tips to get you started.

If at any point you need support, please reach out to your subject librarian or the Ask Us Service .

Helpful Tips to Get You Started

Start your assignments and research early!

Assignments and research often take more time than you think and starting early ensures you won’t rush and make mistakes. It also allows you to plan your work allowing enough time to research and write on the topic.

Keep a research log of the databases , key words/subject terms, and limiters you use and record which ones have the most success. This research process will help you be strategic and systematic in your research.

List citations that you use in your paper.

Create a list of citations as you find useful articles. Using a citation manager, such as RefWorks , can make this step a breeze. When you are done writing, revise the list to only the sources you used and add it to the end of your research paper. Edit the citations to match the manual of style that you are using, and Voila!

Cite sources properly.

Whenever you use information, ideas, or direct quotes from external sources, make sure to cite them accurately and follow the citation style required by your instructor.

Familiarize yourself with the specific rules and formats of citation styles for referencing various sources, such as books, journals, websites, and multimedia.

Use direct quotations sparingly.

Properly quote sources by using quotation marks around word-for-word content AND cite the source.

Paraphrase information.

Rephrase specific content in your own words while maintaining the original meaning AND still cite the source.

Summarize information.

Summarize the main points or key ideas from a source by condensing the content AND citing the source.

Consult others for help.

If you have any doubts about citing sources or using external material, seek guidance from your subject librarian , Ask Us , instructors, or the Writing Center .

If you select "no," please send me an email so I can improve this guide.

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• Next: AI, Plagiarism, and Academic Integrity at UNT >>

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• How it works

Tips to Avoid Plagiarism in a Dissertation

Published by Jamie Walker at August 16th, 2021 , Revised On August 24, 2023

Introduction – What is Plagiarism?

Before we learn how to avoid plagiarism in the dissertation, let’s understand what plagiarism is. Plagiarism can be defined as “copying someone else’s work and ideas, and passing them as your own work, without giving due credit to the original author.” This can include copying quotes and text from journals, books, magazines, or any other text material.

It is vitally important for students to learn to avoid plagiarism in a dissertation to avoid penalties. When writing your dissertation, you need to make sure that your research is 100% plagiarism-free, and the concepts and ideas expressed throughout are solely yours. Always make sure that you  cite any academic sources  used in your research.

For instance, if you’re writing about a specific model, provide details of that in your own words and give due credit to the author. When using direct quotations in your dissertation, make sure you are enclosing them in quotation marks and clearly indicating the academic source the material was taken from.

Doing so will help you avoid dissertation plagiarism and the resulting consequences. Dissertation plagiarism is a serious crime and could result in  serious consequences . To help you, here are some guidelines and tips to avoid plagiarism in the dissertation.

Here is a  step by step guide on how to write a First Class dissertation paper. 

Paraphrasing to Avoid Plagiarism in Dissertation

Paraphrasing refers to using the same idea as explained by someone else but explaining it in different words. However, this does not always work, and is generally considered dissertation plagiarism among academic communities, and might land you in trouble.

Thus, while  paraphrasing , make sure that you read the complete content and start writing with what you’ve learnt. In this manner, your learning will also be reflected, and you will avoid plagiarism in the dissertation.

Also Read:  How to Paraphrase Academic Sources?

Improve the language, structure, style, and overall quality of your work. Get help from our experienced dissertation editors to improve the quality of your paper to First Class Standard. Click here to learn more about our Dissertation, Editing and Improvement Service .“

Writing in your Own Style

Many students copy other authors’ styles to make their research stand out from the rest and achieve high academic grades. However, this is not a recommended practice. Always write in your own unique style. You can achieve a good grade with your own way of understanding concepts, theories and models, and copying someone else’s writing style.

What matters the most is the depth of your research and the accuracy of the data presented. Your academic tutor is likely to be completely aware of your own unique writing style, thus using vocabulary that doesn’t suit your style or following a different writing approach, or even using resources that you don’t usually refer to might make him suspicious.

Keeping your own style is one of the best ways to avoid plagiarism in the dissertation.

Why not take advantage of our UK-based dissertation writing service? Your dissertation is the most important part of your degree, and for that reason, you cannot risk failing it. With our custom writing service, you are guaranteed to have all your dissertation paper elements put into the right place. Our expert academics can help you with your full dissertation paper or a part of it.

Click here to learn more about our dissertation services.

ResearchProspect Plagiarism Checker

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Using Dissertation Plagiarism Checker

This is one of the safest ways to avoid plagiarism in the dissertation. There are  various plagiarism detection software  (also referred to as dissertation plagiarism checkers) that help students determine if any part of their dissertation is plagiarised. One of the best-known plagiarism checkers is Turnitin, but before you can use it to detect plagiarism in your dissertation, you will first need to  learn how Turnitin works .

Did you know that the ResearchProspect plagiarism checker is as good as Turnitin and it costs only a fraction of what Turnitin might cost?

Submit your paper in Turnitin plagiarism checker or ResearchProspect plagiarism checker and the software will start to scan your content for plagiarism. Within a few minutes, the software will create a plagiarism report – highlighting all  sentences  and paragraphs that are plagiarised. The report will even provide links to the pages where similar content has already been published.

What you can do is remove plagiarism to make your dissertation unique. To do so, try  paraphrasing  the plagiarised content (remember to use your own writing style). Paraphrasing will eliminate plagiarism from your paper.

On the other hand, if there are certain definitions in your dissertations, they will also show up in the plagiarism report. Still, they won’t cause a problem if you’ve cited and referenced them accurately and enclosed them in quotation marks.

Dissertation Plagiarism Example – Turnitin

Stay Away from Free Plagiarism Removing Tools

While searching for techniques on ‘how to write a plagiarism-free dissertation’, you might come across  various free plagiarism removing tools (spinners, rewrites, etc.) that are usually very tempting. However, saving a little bit of time and effort here could cause you to suffer heavily in the future.

These tools aren’t authentic and do not remove dissertation plagiarism accurately. Some of them might obliterate dissertation plagiarism but will compromise the quality of the content.

As a result, there will be no coherence in your paper, and the quality of your dissertation paper will suffer due to poor vocabulary and poor grammar.  Thus, make it a point to stay away from these nasty tools.

Cite and Reference Accurately

Citing and referencing are the two important factors that are often overlooked when writing a plagiarism-free dissertation. It is important to realise that plagiarised content in your dissertation can put a damper on your spirits if you get caught.

Always properly cite the ideas, models, theories, and concepts used in your dissertation paper. This will help you avoid plagiarism in your dissertation at all times. Your academic supervisor, being highly experienced, is likely to be aware of whether or not you have conducted research and written your dissertation paper on your own.

An example of in-text citation (in APA style):

Research shows that there is a great need for … (Reynolds & Thomas, 2014)

Example of reference list entry (in APA style):

Reynolds, R.S., & Thomas, A.H. (1998). Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Free Press

Avoiding plagiarism in a dissertation is a challenging yet manageable task. You can work on the steps mentioned above and make sure that your dissertation is free from plagiarism. If you’re still finding it hard to complete your plagiarism-free dissertation, get in touch with us.

Our dissertation writers are highly qualified and can improve your dissertation paper to make it 100% plagiarism-free. Whether you need  help with a full dissertation  or just a  part of it , we can promptly satisfy your requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the consequences of plagiarism online.

Consequences of online plagiarism include damaged reputation, academic penalties, legal actions, and loss of credibility. It undermines originality, hampers learning, and violates ethical standards in both educational and professional settings.

You May Also Like

What is plagiarism – Here is students’ complete guide to the different forms of plagiarism, consequences and strategies to avoid plagiarism.

Not sure what to cite and what not to cite? This post aims at exploring what common knowledge is and how to decide what and what not needs to be referenced.

Paraphrasing is a legitimate way of rephrasing someone’s original work. It conveys the same message of the original text in your words by crediting the source.

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Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism

Failure to document source material in a research paper, or doing so improperly, is plagiarism: a wrongful use of someone else's work. All educational and research institutions have strict rules against it and all publish clear guidelines regarding the policies by which you will be expected to live. This guide is intended to clear up any questions you may have regarding Plagiarism.

Overview: What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is the unauthorized or unacknowledged use of another person's academic or scholarly work. Done on purpose, it is cheating. Done accidentally, it is no less serious. Regardless of how it occurs, plagiarism is a theft of intellectual property and a violation of an ironclad rule demanding "credit be given where credit is due".

Quite often, carelessness, procrastination and inexperience are contributing factors behind a charge of plagiarism. Developing good research habits and learning how to properly cite and document your sources will keep you above suspicion and protect you from such charges.

If you intend on pursuing an academic career, your scholarship will undergo constant examination by your peers and colleagues. Your reputation will be earned when you earn their respect; how you will be judged will be based, in part, on how you treat the intellectual property of others.

Acknowledging those from whom you have learned assigns credibility to your work and creates a record that other researchers can refer to and build upon. More importantly, your own skill and talent as a scholar will begin to take shape.

As respect for your scholarship grows, so too will your inclusion in the ongoing conversation among experts, past and present, within your specific field of study. Your own body of intellectual property will not be far behind.

Today, when you turn an assignment in online through your University’s EdTech company (BlackBoard, Canvas, etc.) it is checked for plagiarism via an AI scanner (like Turnitin). So if you plagiarize for school, you will be caught and punished. In order to avoid being kicked out of your University or punished legally, it’s crucial for you to understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid doing it.

What is Research?

In every field of study, there are those who have blazed a trail of inquiry and, in so doing, advanced the general knowledge of the world in which we live. Research is an active process of learning from these trailblazers. Look upon your own project as an exploration of what they thought, discovered, created or, in any way added to the body of knowledge prior to your entry into the same field of study.

Look at your research project as a quest for answers to a central question, or set of related questions, that will further your own understanding of the world. Look at it also as an opportunity to contribute something of value to the already existing body of knowledge or the ongoing conversation among other individuals investigating the same topic.

It should be fun. Pick a topic in which you are particularly interested or curious and the journey will be that much more interesting. As you read, study, and absorb ideas and facts from others, write them down. Keep detailed notes on your sources. Who said what? In which journal was it published? Why, when, where, who, etc.(See our guides on ‘ Developing a Research Question ’ and ‘ Choosing and Refining Topics ’ for more information.)

As a researcher and a writer you must credit these sources. Whenever you incorporate a general concept, idea, quotation, statistic, fact, illustration, graph or data that is not your own, it must be acknowledged. Failure to do so is plagiarism.

Common Forms of Plagiarism

The most common forms of plagiarism are committed by students; the most offensive are deliberate attempts to "pull one over" on the instructor. The reasons for doing this vary but laziness and procrastination are high on the list.

Once discovered—and they are seldom not—deliberate incidences of plagiarism are handed over to a governing body for review and prosecution. Here is a list of the most common:

• Purchasing an essay or paper from a Web site (or anywhere else) and calling it your own.
• Borrowing another student's paper from a previous semester and calling it your own.
• Having someone else do your work, for free or for hire. Agreeing to do someone else's work is equally wrong.
• Claiming originality regarding material copied directly from outside sources. In other words, deliberately failing to cite sources.
• Improperly documenting quoted, paraphrased or summarized source material.
• Extending the length of a bibliography to meet project requirements by including sources not used in your research or making them up all together.
• Killing two birds with one stone. Recycling an essay or paper written for one class by using it in another class studying the same or similar material.
• Receiving help from other students on an essay or paper and turning it in under your own name as individual work.
• Collectively researching and writing a paper with other students and each turning copies into different class sections claiming it as individual work.

As you can see, most of these involve lying, cheating and stealing. The last two forms of plagiarism, however, are a bit more complicated. They involve collaboration and sometimes the line between it and plagiarizing can be a little blurry. After all, working, studying and sharing information is encouraged in most educational institutions.

Collaboration

Collaborative learning is an important educational process in which a group of students work together to achieve a common learning goal. As new ideas and information are discussed and shared, individual critical thinking skills are strengthened.

In the sciences, research projects and lab work are regularly intermingled. Problem solving is often worked on in a group setting. In the liberal arts, although individual work is more often the norm, writing instruction is often provided in classes with a "workshop" format.

At Colorado State University, for instance, COCC150, the composition course required of all undergraduates for graduation, is workshop oriented. Instructors plan for and expect collaboration in the classroom.

If you are a CSU student, your writing assignments will be read and commented upon by your peers. Expect to participate with your fellow classmates in an active exchange of ideas and suggestions. The Writing Center is also available, free of charge, for individualized tutoring assistance and you will be encouraged to take advantage of the help provided.

Any class requiring peer review, draft sharing, brainstorming, information swapping, outside tutoring, etc., is an approved collaborative learning program and your participation is not plagiarism. Keep in mind, however, that individual effort is no less important than collaborative teamwork.

The issues that arise around collaboration involve authorized and unauthorized boundaries. What is acceptable and what is not? If the parameters for collaboration are unclear and not addressed in your class syllabus, ask your instructor.

If you are receiving help from a tutor or a friend outside of class, discuss the situation with your instructor to avoid any misunderstanding. Everything will be fine if you stay within the guidelines he or she provides.

Avoiding Plagiarism

First, do your own work - Begin your research project as early as possible. Keep up in class, do your library work and start your drafts in a timely fashion. Writing your paper will be so much easier if you don't put it off to the last minute. Procrastination is not a credible excuse; it's simply a bad choice. Performing under deadline pressures often pushes a student into cheating.

Second, establish your own voice - Easier said than done, but this is a key ingredient to your success and a primary difficulty all experienced writers have had to face and overcome. Learn as much as you can about your topic: it will help you develop a point-of-view from which to speak. The more you know, the easier it will be to avoid plagiarism.

Third, do your research carefully. Read the material closely. Knowing your topic well includes knowing what others have said. Strive for a mastery of your topic by introducing yourself intellectually to those who have already made a contribution, or are presently adding to the ongoing conversation. Keep an annotated bibliography of the source material you intend to use in your paper.

Fourth, keep copies of all your drafts - In review, you will notice your own point-of-view developing, changing and growing; a voice of authority all your own, emerging. It will stand in contrast to those of your sources. The difference between yours and their voices will go a long way toward helping you avoid plagiarism.

Finally, make sure that your document is properly constructed and your sources correctly cited. Remember, if the general concept, idea, quotation, statistic, fact, illustration, graph or data you intend to include is not common knowledge in the field of your investigation, a source must be cited. Not doing so will damage your credibility.

Share copies of "work-in-progress" with your instructor. As you move toward completion, invite—and be receptive—to constructive suggestions. It can only make your paper better. This is where errors, especially citation errors, get pointed out and corrected. After a paper is handed in, such mistakes can be grounds for plagiarism charges.

Here is a checklist of questions to ask yourself before handing in your work:

• Are all quotations surrounded by quotation marks?
• Are single and double quotation marks properly used in quotations within quotations?
• Are ellipses and brackets included in quotations where words have been deleted or comments added?
• Are any quotations, paraphrases or summaries attributed to the wrong author? Are any missing an attribution completely?
• Are your paraphrases worded significantly different than the original?
• Are your summaries written in your own voice?
• Are all your source citations included in your bibliography or sources cited page?
• Are the titles, page numbers and dates in your documentation correct?

Warning: On Copying Unique Phrasing or Terminology

When paraphrasing or summarizing, avoid copying the unique phrasing or terminology found in your source material. Many students have been charged with plagiarism for using words that are clearly too sophisticated or well-crafted to be their own.

For instance, you would not want to refer to "the textual resistant narrative that counteracts the narrative supremacy of the dominant social text" (1) when writing an essay about the novel Wide Sargasso Sea unless your instructor is aware that you are at an advanced stage of thinking in the field of literary criticism and is familiar with and used to seeing that kind of writing style from you.

Such language includes terminology bound to raise the proverbial "red flag" when your instructor reads your work. He or she is more likely than not to be familiar with your source and, if not, will discover in short order the critical work of Fiona Barnes.

When struck by particularly impressive or compelling phrasing, it is better to quote and document it rather than represent it as your own in a paraphrase or summary.

(1) Fiona R. Barnes, "Dismantling the Master's Houses: Jean Rhys and West Indian Identity," in International Women's Writing, ed. Anne E. Brown and Manjarme E. Gooze (Westport Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1995), 150-61.

Penalties for Plagiarism and Your Legal Rights

Plagiarism constitutes academic dishonesty and is both prosecuted and punished at every credible institution in the world. At Colorado State University, failure to do your own work in COCC150, or any other course for that matter—or to plagiarize in any way—is a failure to meet course requirements and is a violation of long established CSU policy regarding Academic Integrity.

The penalties for plagiarism depend upon the degree of gravity. Should you be found guilty, the least is an "F" on a paper. Failing an entire course is also possible and, in cases where the charges are graver, expulsion from the university.

It's important for you to know that fair and impartial treatment is your right and that due process is guaranteed. Regardless of the outcome, your case will be held in strict confidence in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.

Additional Resources

NYU Libraries - ‘ Plagiarism and How to Avoid it ’

Purdue OWL - ‘ Avoiding Plagiarism ’

Purdue OWL - ‘ Plagiarism Overview ’

UAGC Writing Center - ‘ Plagiarism Guide ’

University of Michigan Libraries - ‘ Introduction to Academic Integrity ’

Connor, Peter, Luann Barnes, & Andrea Bennett. (2022). Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University.  https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/guide.cfm?guideid=17

The Sheridan Libraries

• Avoiding Plagiarism
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Minimizing Your Plagiarism Risk

• What is Plagiarism?
• School Plagiarism Policies
• Common Knowledge
• Paraphrasing & Summarizing
• Student Help
• Helping Prevent Plagiarism in Your Classroom
• Avoiding Plagiarism Course
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Recognizing when you need support is crucial. Most instances of plagiarism occur when students are stressed and desperate, or simply don’t know what support is available. Outside factors (like stress and pressure) can increase your risk of plagiarism, even if you know how to avoid it in your writing. JHU offers many sources of support that can help you reduce your risk.

Many factors can change your risk of plagiarism, including those inside and outside of the classroom. Review the lists below to see how your risk can be increased or decreased.

Elements That Increase Your Risk of Plagiarism

• Reusing a paper written for a previous class without the approval of your instructor
• Working with a group, without the instructor’s permission
• Deciding to paraphrase and summarize instead of quoting, since you don’t have all the source information
• Skipping adding citations in the text because you will just add the references at the end
• Quoting, even though you are unsure of the original source  

Elements That Decrease Your Risk of Plagiarism

• Documenting your research and taking notes with quotations and citations
• Meeting with your instructor as soon as possible to discuss ways in which you could get the assignment done
• Talking to a librarian about your project -- visit the  library home page  and select the "Chat with a Librarian" tab (usually at the bottom right of the page), to begin an initial  conversation.
• Creating a study plan  

Cheat Sheet

• Risks and Supports Download this helpful cheat sheet covering "Risks and Supports."
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How to Avoid Plagiarism in Your PhD Thesis?

The unethical practice to represent or publish someone else’s work as your own is considered in the plagiarised content or known as plagiarism. 

Or we can say, 

Activities of stealing third party intellectual work or its use without their prior permission is known as plagiarism.

A PhD thesis or dissertation is one of the most important elements of your entire PhD which is a written draft of your research and related work. You have to quote other researchers’ work to justify yours! And that is obvious that it might be matched. 

Unfortunately, the copied or matched content with other research is considered in the plagiarised piece of content. You can’t submit it, eventually because universities are strict towards uncited and plagiarised content. 

The plagiarism in the field of academics is considered as unethical activities or improper practices. Aiming towards quality research and knowledge, universities across the world apply various acts to avoid and stop plagiarism. 

In recent times, there are so many  softwares available that detect and reduce the level of plagiarism of your thesis. But in my opinion it is better to avoid it, instead of correcting it. 

So how to avoid plagiarism? What is it and what is the software we can use to avoid it? All these topics we are going to cover in this article. 

Talk of the topics: What is plagiarism? definition and etymology, types of plagiarism, how to avoid plagiarism and software to check it. 

What is plagiarism? 

Simply put, when you copy some piece of content from others like the written draft, sentences, original findings, articles, figures, graphs, images, videos, titles or even the ideas are considered under the plagiarism material.

In terms of PhD thesis, article writing or dissertation, when you copy some sentences- partially or fully or even use any scientist’s work without giving them credit, it is known as plagiarism. 

When we are writing a thesis for a PhD or dissertation , it is common practice that we have to compare our work with others to support our findings, definitely and to give weightage to the work of the original researcher. 

But most of the students, copies things, sentences, paragraphs, protocols, methods and even images and represents it that those are their own!

How you feel, when someone stole your hardwork and showed it as your own! You feel bad, obviously. 

Plagiarism is an unethical practice commonly noticed in various fields, especially, in journalism and academics. Though it is a question of privilege in case of academic research. 

That is why universities have tightened their hands on PhD students to stop plagiarism. 

Definition of plagiarism: 

“Representing or stealing other’s work like writeup, article, thesis or picture and representing it as your own is referred to as plagiarism.”

“Using third party literature without their consent, prior permission or without giving them credit is known as plagiarism.”

The word plagiarism was derived from the Latin word ‘ plagiarius ’ means ‘ kidnapped ’. The word plagiarism as the “stealing of literature” was accepted in English during 1620. Afterwards, it was used to define literature theft. 

What does plagiarism mean? 

A thumb rule to express your PhD work or thesis is to use other literature and to make a comparative evaluation. Unfortunately, students actually don’t know how to write a PhD thesis free of plagiarism. 

Let me tell you that plagiarism is against the law. The original researcher can file a lawsuit case against you as well. So it is safe to stay away from it. 

In a simple language we can say plagiarism means you have stolen some intellectual work from others. 

Plagiarism means, 

• Stealing intellectual properties of other 
• Using other’s work without their prior permission
• Unethical use of copyrighted material 
• Using other’s work without giving them a fair credit 
• Stealing or unethical use of someone else’s idea 
• Unethical reconstruction or refurbishing of third party ideas, products or work. 
• Using, modifying, copying or stealing sentences, title or entire paragraph of others’. 
• Representing other’s  work as your own. 
• Unethical use of images or using pictures or images without prior permission. 
• Use of videos without prior permission. 
• Scanning or converting text or images unethically. 
• Recreating some portion of original researchers’ work. 

All these activities are considered in plagiarism and trust me, it is a serious offense. You will have to pay a high price for it, if you do so. 

So what does it mean? 

It means “stay away from plagiarism.” 

Read more: How long does it take to get a PhD?

Plagiarism and a PhD thesis: 

The PhD thesis or the dissertation is a write up of your PhD work, divided into introduction, review of literature, material and methods, results and discussion and conclusion. 

It is a huge write up and you have to give so much information in it. So it is obvious that you have to use other sources to make your thesis trustworth. 

But as we said, if using someone else’s work is an act of plagiarism then how to use it? 

Knowingly or unknowingly students copy things, and at the end of the thesis, it becomes huge and they don’t know how to solve it. 

So it is a wise decision to stay away copying or reconstructing things from the first day of your thesis writing. 

Here in this section I have mentioned several tips you can use to avoid plagiarism in your PhD dissertation. But before that let us understand types of plagiarism. 

Tips: Cite sentences and material correctly to avoid plagiarism.  

Types of plagiarism: 

Accidental plagiarism: .

When a person accidentally steals others’ work or unknowing use their material it is considered as accidental plagiarism. 

Activities like, avoiding citation, forgetting citing sentences, accidentally matching sentences or title or use of similar words are considered in it. 

This type of plagiarism is so common in PhD students because they actually don’t know how to write a thesis in their initial time of PhD. 

Self plagiarism: 

Using our own literature is also an act of plagiarism? Yet it is. 

To use your own article, or work you also have to take permission from other authors or researchers or your guide to use it. Also you have to cite it correctly with your name. 

Using your own literature without the citation is also considered self plagiarism. 

Direct plagiarism: 

When you copy the whole portion of someone else’s work even without citing them it is considered in direct plagiarism. Usually direct plagiarism is so common in academics. 

How to avoid plagiarism in PhD thesis? 

People often ask me how to remove, avoid or correct plagiarism of their thesis? Well it is not that hard, if you take care of some point while writing your PhD dissertation. 

No copy past: 

The thumb rule to encounter plagiarism is to stop copying things! Usually students are copying and pasting things from the internet and other related sources. It is not ethically accepted, at least in academics. 

One thing is good in it, you are searching something but you are taking the whole piece of information as it is, for your own purpose that is wrong. 

The third party source should be written in your own language in your thesis, even though you are using it for reference. Write what you gain or understand from that source. 

Cite the source correctly: 

Why to use someone else’s finding without giving them credit!

When you are using external information or third party literature, cite it with the name, date, year and other information. There are several ways to do so. 

For example, 

Tushar Chauhan et al., had reported two cases of Down syndrome from the prenatal samples with translocations. 

Translocations in down syndrome were reported previously (T chauhan et al., 2018). 

Both sentences are the same, but the representation is different with different styles of citation. And it is also not copied. 

Use quotations: 

You can also use quotations while including some other work. It is one of the simplest ways to cope up plagiarism issues while writing the thesis. 

A proper quote or quotations around the word or sentence indicate that it is not of your own. Note that the complete reference of the quote should be included in the end to navigate. 

You can use direct quotes and modify the original sentence without changing its meaning to explain your point. 

T Chauhan et al., reported that, “two cases of Down syndrome with translocation.” however in our case though we have reported the Down syndrome but not the translocation. 

Here we have quoted the statement of T chauhan et al, and also compared with to prove our point. 

Use paraphrasing

Paraphrasing means to restructure the original work or idea or piece of information. Therefore ultimately you are changing the structure of the sentences of the original researcher. It is also valid to some extent if you restructure it correctly and cite it. 

Remember, the original sense and meaning of the sentence shouldn’t be altered. 

Develop your own writing sense: 

To cope up with all these problems, try to develop your own sense of writing and learn correct English writing and grammar. 

Grammerly will help you in this. You can read our article on Grammarly to learn more: 

But remember, while writing things, don’t forget to cite it and indicate it in the reference section, that is the correct method to avoid plagiarism. Also I recommend avoiding rephrasing the sentence.

It is also against the policy of plagiarism, even though it is not considered in the plagiarism. 

Use plagiarism checker: 

One of the finest ways to solve your problem while writing a PhD thesis is to use a plagiarism checker. 

The plagiarism checker is an online software in which you can check our write up whether it is free of plagiarism or not. 

Grammarly’s plagiarism checker software is one of the most trusted PhD thesis plagiarism checkers on the internet. 

It checks out text against the possible material or text available on the internet to find whether your text is copied or not. 

It also suggests to you what to do with the plagiarised sentences and how to restructure it. It also checks spellings and grammar during the check as well. 

And guess what! It is free. 

Check your document here: 

Why is plagiarism so important? 

Students are always worried about what they are writing, they know once it will be covered in the plagiarised material, it will be hard for them to come out. 

In academics, especially while awarding some of the prestigious awards or degrees like doctorate or PhD, it is essential for universities to protect researchers’ work. 

There are so many legal problems knocking on the desk of universities regarding copying the whole PhD project, stealing the idea of research, copying or stealing PhD titles or even stealing the whole PhD thesis content. 

It happens, people are doing this. So it is very important to teach students in the initial phase not to steal work as well as to protect their own work. 

For some common PhD topics, it is fine, for those who only want a degree. But for some million dollar ideas, it is the question for value. There are thousands of PhD students whose copyrights are stolen by big giant companies. 

These are the reason, universities across the globe are very strict in maintaining the dignity of research and protecting the researcher’s intellectual properties. 

Intellectual property right, copyright and trademark helps not only the PhD students but also others to protect their ideas, intellectual views and findings by stamping it as copyright material. 

A recent trend of protectly the PhD title with the copyright stamp is most popular among the students. 

The plagiarism matter is also a big problem in the new media but that is a whole different thing that we are not discussing here. 

Moreover, universities have opted for an additional level of PhD degree difficulty by introducing plagiarism checking. 

A candidate willing to submit their PhD thesis must have to check their thesis for plagiarism in university and university gives a certificate of original work for the next step of submission. 

Without the certification of your thesis you can’t submit it to check. 

“Shodhganga” , a huge database of PhD thesis of the university grant commission of India, checks and collects PhD theses in order to protect findings and provide quality in the research.

Related article: What is PhD?- History, Definition, Origin, Requirement, Fees, Duration and Process . 

My suggestion to avoid plagiarism: 

Getting rid of plagiarism is not that hard, you have to take care of several things. You are in the PhD- doctor of philosophy, people expect a high-end precision from you. 

Frankly speaking, I never had faced a problem of plagiarism during my PhD, unlike other student’s experience. So i think my style of writing and keeping things up to date will definitely help you. 

Read articles thoroughly and make rough notes in your diary or in a computer file. Read as much as you can and make files, like a small summary of the whole article with the title of the article, name of researchers, date and year of publishing and name of journal. 

It is obvious that you have to make summaries of more than 200 articles. When you start writing your PhD research paper or thesis, use the summaries of your article instead of re-reading the whole article and wasting time. 

 Try to summarize the summary note even more elaborate and cite it immediately. Simultaneously make another file of bibliography and enlisted the references with your writing. 

 Now what happens? 

You had summarised the article in your own language and then whilst writing the dissertation you are using some portion of it. Trust me your text or any portion of your thesis never matches with the original research article.

Don’t forget to cite it! Citation and quotations make it trustworthy. This method will help you to cope up with plagiarism and also save time. 

You can even use the mandely online software which is the citation management system. We will discuss mandalay in some other article. 

As per my personal opinion, during your PhD, you should have to remember the content, methods, authors name of your main 10 to 20 research papers on which your entire PhD work relies. 

Further read: A Complete Roadmap for Degree to PhD .

Conclusion: 

Plagiarism either knowingly or unknowingly is the biggest problem in PhD. Students actually don’t want to do it, but they don’t know how to write a thesis. Notably, universities teach research methodology during the coursework period of one year. 

Still, PhD guides should have to care about it and teach them how to write plagiarism free literature in their own language. 

I think this will definitely help you and don’t forget to check out the grammarly plagiarism checker.

What is plagiarism? 

Unethical use of intellectual works like articles, sentences, images or video, or use of third party work without their permission is known as plagiarism.

Is plagiarism illegal? 

Yes. Stealing ideas of intellectual work is against the law in every country. The original researcher may file a case against you.

How much plagiarism is allowed in PhD thesis? 

Even though we follow the health practice, some text can’t be avoided in the thesis, usually up to 20% plagiarism content is considered fair practice.

How to cite PhD literature? 

You can use the name, date and year of the original researcher at the end of the portion you have used for your document. also, don’t forgot to add their full citation in the reference section. That is the correct method of citing literature.

How to check plagiarism? 

There are so many free plagiarism checker softwares now available on internet, You can use it. go and paste you text and check it. Grammerly is one of the most accurate and trusted plagiarism checker software, i personally recommended.

How to avoid plagiarism? 

By citing the literature, using paraphrasing, using quotations, and by developing your own writing style, you can avoid plagiarism.

Dr. Tushar Chauhan is a Scientist, Blogger and Scientific-writer. He has completed PhD in Genetics. Dr. Chauhan is a PhD coach and tutor.

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How to Avoid Plagiarism in Thesis and Research Paper?

Table of contents

1. cite a sources for quotation to avoid plagiarism, 2. don’t recycle internet content, 3. cite pictures from another source, 4. source citation for statistical data, 5. don’t ask someone to write your paper, common ideas to avoid plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the most common issue that every academic writer faces  while writing their research paper or dissertation . The famous plagiarism checking tool Turnitin classifying the plagiarisms into 10 common types before generating the report. But avoiding plagiarism and effective paraphrasing of own ideas will reduce the similarity score in the report. In this article, ilovephd provides 5 tips to avoid plagiarism while writing your manuscript and thesis.

In order to fix plagiarism in general sayings and quotes the most common phrases and definitions are need to be quoted and cited without any modification.

In the era of internet , high similarities in the Turnitin plagiarism report is from internet sources, so do not copy any word or sentence from the original internet sources.

In case of citing online sources, Include the accessed date and appropriate URL in the reference.

Even though the plagiarism reports can not identify similarities in images and formulas (Equations), it is a good practice to give proper citation to all the multimedia sources (Copyrighted Images, Books, Journal, Website, Video, and so on).

In the case of Creative Common(CC) images, give proper credits to the author of the source.

Statistical data is more sensitive information which needs to be cited with appropriate study, survey, or research results.

Citing statistical data will improve the reliability and authenticity of the edited research content.

The most common mistake done by many researchers in recent time is, hiring a writer to write a thesis or research manuscript .

Though your research results are significant and methodologies are unique if other parts of the content are copied or rewritten from various sources which can be identified by Turnitin Report.

Writing your own article by your own effort may increase your confidence level in writing as well as avoid the plagiarism.

• Read and understand the original document several times before start explaining about it.
• Make a practice to include the “references” section whenever write an academic document.
• Cross verify all your citations before submitting your document.
• Finally, take a plagiarism report from any one of the famous plagiarism software to ensure the originality of the  written  document .

Hope, this article will help researchers to know how to avoid plagiarism with these 5 easy tips.

Also Read: 10 Types of Plagiarism – Every Academic Writer Should Know

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How to Avoid Plagiarism

It's not enough to know why plagiarism is taken so seriously in the academic world or to know how to recognize it. You also need to know how to avoid it. The simplest cases of plagiarism to avoid are the intentional ones: If you copy a paper from a classmate, buy a paper from the Internet, copy whole passages from a book, article, or Web site without citing the author, you are plagiarizing. Here's the best advice you'll ever receive about avoiding intentional plagiarism: If you're tempted to borrow someone else's ideas or plagiarize in any way because you're pressed for time, nervous about how you're doing in a class, or confused about the assignment, don't do it . The problems you think you're solving by plagiarizing are really minor compared to the problems you will create for yourself by plagiarizing. In every case, the consequences of plagiarism are much more serious than the consequences of turning in a paper late or turning in a paper you're not satisfied to have written.

"...the consequences of plagiarism are much more serious than the consequences of turning in a paper late..."

The consequences of accidental plagiarism are equally daunting and should be avoided at all costs. Whether or not you intended to plagiarize, you will still be held responsible. As a member of an intellectual community you are expected to respect the ideas of others in the same way that you would respect any other property that didn't belong to you, and this is true whether you plagiarize on purpose or by accident. The best way to make sure you don't plagiarize due to confusion or carelessness is to 1) understand what you're doing when you write a paper and 2) follow a method that is systematic and careful as you do your research . In other words, if you have a clear sense of what question you're trying to answer and what knowledge you're building on, and if you keep careful, clear notes along the way, it's much easier to use sources effectively and responsibly and, most of all, to write a successful paper. If you have questions about plagiarism at any point in your research or writing process, ask. It's always better to ask questions than it is to wait for an instructor to respond to work that you have turned in for a grade. Once you have turned in your final work, you will be held responsible for misuse of sources.

With these principles in mind, here are some guidelines for conducting research responsibly:

Keep track of your sources; print electronic sources

While it's easy enough to keep a stack of books or journal articles on your desk where you can easily refer back to them, it's just as important to keep track of electronic sources. When you save a PDF of a journal article, make sure you put it into a folder on your computer where you'll be able to find it. When you consult a Web site, log the Web address in a separate document from the paper you're writing so that you'll be able to return to the Web site and cite it correctly. You should also print the relevant pages from any Web sites you use, making sure you note the complete URL and the date on which you printed the material. Because electronic sources aren't stable and Web pages can be deleted without notice, beware of directing your readers to sources that might have disappeared. Check when the Web site you're using was last updated and update the URLs as you work and once again right before you submit your essay. If an electronic source disappears before you submit your work, you will need to decide whether or not to keep the source in your paper. If you have printed the source and can turn it in with your paper, you should do so. If you have not printed the source, you should consult your instructor about whether or not to use that source in your paper.

The library has several helpful resources for managing your sources, including RefWorks .

Keep sources in correct context

Whenever you consult a source, you should make sure you understand the context, both of the ideas within a source and of the source itself. You should also be careful to consider the context in which a source was written. For example, a book of essays published by an organization with a political bias might not present an issue with adequate complexity for your project.

The question of context can be more complicated when you're working with Internet sources than with print sources because you may see one Web page as separate from an entire Web site and use or interpret that page without fully understanding or representing its context. For example, a definition of "communism" taken from a Web site with a particular political agenda might provide one interpretation of the meaning of the word—but if you neglect to mention the context for that definition you might use it as though it's unbiased when it isn't. Likewise, some Internet searches will take you to a URL that's just one Web page within a larger Web site; be sure to investigate and take notes on the context of the information you're citing.

Research can often turn out to be more time-consuming that you anticipate. Budget enough time to search for sources, to take notes, and to think about how to use the sources in your essay. Moments of carelessness are more common when you leave your essay until the last minute and are tired or stressed. Honest mistakes can lead to charges of plagiarism just as dishonesty can; be careful when note-taking and when incorporating ideas and language from electronic sources so you always know what language and ideas are yours and what belongs to a source.

Don't cut and paste: File and label your sources

Never cut and paste information from an electronic source straight into your own essay, and never type verbatim sentences from a print source straight into your essay. Instead, open a separate document on your computer for each source so you can file research information carefully. When you type or cut and paste into that document, make sure to include the full citation information for the print source or the full URL and the date you copied the page(s). For Web sources, make sure to cite the page from which you're taking information, which may not necessarily be the home page of the site you're using. Use logical and precise names for the files you create, and add citation information and dates. This allows you to retrieve the files easily, deters you from accidentally deleting files, and helps you keep a log of the order in which your research was conducted. It's a good idea to add a note to each file that describes how you might use the information in that file. Remember: you're entering a conversation with your sources, and accurate file names and notes can help you understand and engage that conversation. And, of course, always remember to back up your files.

Keep your own writing and your sources separate

Work with either the printed copy of your source(s) or (in the case of online sources), the copy you pasted into a separate document—not the online version—as you draft your essay. This precaution not only decreases the risk of plagiarism but also enables you to annotate your sources in various ways that will help you understand and use them most effectively in your essay.

Keep your notes and your draft separate

Be careful to keep your research notes separate from your actual draft at all stages of your writing process. This will ensure that you don't cut language from a source and paste it into your paper without proper attribution. If you work from your notes, you're more likely to keep track of the boundaries between your own ideas and those in a source.

Paraphrase carefully in your notes; acknowledge your sources explicitly when paraphrasing

When you want to paraphrase material, it's a good idea first to paste the actual quotation into your notes (not directly into your draft) and then to paraphrase it (still in your notes). Putting the information in your own words will help you make sure that you've thought about what the source is saying and that you have a good reason for using it in your paper. Remember to use some form of notation in your notes to indicate what you've paraphrased and mention the author's name within the material you paraphrase. You should also include all citation information in your notes.

When you decide to use paraphrased material in your essay, make sure that you avoid gradually rewording the paraphrased material from draft to draft until you lose sight of the fact that it's still a paraphrase. Also, avoid excessive paraphrasing in which your essay simply strings together a series of paraphrases. When the ideas taken from your sources start to blend in deceptively with your own thinking, you will have a more difficult time maintaining the boundaries between your ideas and those drawn from sources. Finally, whenever you paraphrase, make sure you indicate, at each logical progression, that the ideas are taken from an authored source.

Avoid reading a classmate's paper for inspiration

If you're in a course that requires peer review or workshops of student drafts, you are going to read your classmates' work and discuss it. This is a productive way of exchanging ideas and getting feedback on your work. If you find, in the course of this work, that you wish to use someone else's idea at some point in your paper (you should never use someone else's idea as your thesis, but there may be times when a classmate's idea would work as a counterargument or other point in your paper), you must credit that person the same way you would credit any other source. On the other hand, if you find yourself reading someone else's paper because you're stuck on an assignment and don't know how to proceed, you may end up creating a problem for yourself because you might unconsciously copy that person's ideas. When you're stuck, make an appointment with your instructor or go to the Writing Center for advice on how to develop your own ideas.

Don't save your citations for later

Never paraphrase or quote from a source without immediately adding a citation. You should add citations in your notes, in your response papers, in your drafts, and in your revisions. Without them, it's too easy to lose track of where you got a quotation or an idea and to end up inadvertently taking credit for material that's not your own.

Quote your sources properly

Always use quotation marks for directly quoted material, even for short phrases and key terms.

Keep a source trail

As you write and revise your essay, make sure that you keep track of your sources in your notes and in each successive draft of your essay. You should begin this process early, even before you start writing your draft. Even after you've handed in your essay, keep all of your research notes and drafts. You ought to be able to reconstruct the path you took from your sources to your notes and from your notes to your drafts and revision. These careful records and clear boundaries between your writing and your sources will help you avoid plagiarism. And if you are called upon to explain your process to your instructor, you'll be able to retrace the path you took when thinking, researching, and writing, from the essay you submitted back through your drafts and to your sources.

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Avoiding Plagiarism: Dissertation / Thesis FAQ re: Copyright

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What is INDIGO?  

• INDIGO is UIC's institutional repository for research & scholarship produced at UIC.  
• The electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) produced by UIC's Master and PhD students are uploaded into INDIGO each semester, once final approval has been received for all submissions.
• Open Access: thesis is available immediately after date of degree conferral 
• Restricted Access: thesis is closed to the UIC community only, for a period of 2 years after which it becomes publicly available
• Closed Access: closed to all for a period of two years, after which it becomes publicly available. 

Can I use the copyrighted materials of others in my thesis or dissertation?

• The fair use section of copyright law allows for the limited use of copyright materials without the owner's permission.   If your use would not fall within fair use , then you need to seek permission from the copyright owner to use the material.   

How can I demonstrate I have permission to reuse already published materials in my thesis/dissertation?

• A reproduction of the publisher’s or journal’s webpage giving global  permission and outlining requirements for reuse (which you must follow) 
• A formal request to the journal or publisher with a written affirmative  response indicating their agreement for you to reuse the previously  published material for which they hold the copyright. (For more information see seek permission from the copyright owner .)

      Note: Videos or recordings included in your thesis/dissertation may require you to obtain permission from performers.

Can I include materials that I have already published in my thesis/dissertation?

• Check your departmental policies and thesis/  dissertation format and make sure your thesis/dissertation committee  agrees. 
• Next, you must determine whether the journal/publisher allows reuse  of these items in your thesis/dissertation.  If so, provide proof that this is  acceptable in an appendix to your thesis/dissertation.
• EXAMPLE: American Chemical Society Journals  (from the American Chemical Society Policy on Theses and Dissertations) “Copyright permission for published and submitted material from theses and dissertations ACS extends blanket permission to students to include in their theses and dissertations their own articles, or portions thereof, that have been published in ACS journals or submitted to ACS journals for publication, provided that the ACS copyright credit line is noted on the appropriate page(s).”

What if I cannot obtain permission to include materials that I have already published in my thesis/dissertation?

• Copyright law does not protect ideas but rather the expression of ideas (the word by word expression).   You can paraphrase the materials and express the content in a different way in order to avoid copyright infringement.

Can I later publish materials that I have included in my thesis/dissertation?  I that eventually my thesis/ dissertation will be available online. 

• Students in the humanities frequently rework their theses/dissertations into books that they publish early in their independent academic careers.
• Students in the sciences many times have figures/charts/images that have  been included in their theses/dissertations that are later published in  journal articles. 

“Publishing implications of electronic publication of theses and dissertation material:  Students and their mentors should be aware that posting of theses and dissertation material on the Web prior to submission of material from that thesis or dissertation to an ACS journal may affect publication in that journal. Whether Web posting is considered prior publication may be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the journal’s editor. If an ACS journal editor considers Web posting to be “prior publication”, the paper will not be accepted for publication in that journal. If you intend to submit your unpublished paper to ACS for publication, check with the appropriate editor prior to posting your manuscript electronically.”

Some of the FAQ based on content from UIC Graduate College Guide on Copyright .

• Next: Copyright Vs. Plagiarism >>
• Last Updated: Dec 12, 2023 3:39 PM
• URL: https://researchguides.uic.edu/etds