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Although research paper writing isn’t an everyday task, every student should know how to compose it. A research paper is an essay in which a writer explains what they have learned after exploring the topic. Such documents are usually extended and can have up to ten pages.
Students should include various authoritative sources, such as textbooks, articles, reviews, and online websites in their works. Because of such an abundance of sources, learners often have issues with plagiarism.
Academic institutions have severe penalties against manifestations of plagiarism. For instance, some students might automatically fail the course, whereas others can be expelled from college.
Moreover, many learners who face plagiarism issues don’t know their papers have signs of copying. And to be on the safe side, they tend to turn to academic writing services, saying, “I’d better pay someone to write my paper than get an F because of plagiarism.” Without a shade of a doubt, writing a clean research paper is challenging. But possible. Let’s look at the most effective ways to avoid plagiarism when working on a research paper.
Understand your topic
Understanding the topic before delving into writing is a win-win for you. First, it helps you eschew plagiarism in your essay. By understanding your subject, you may also find elements that might be interesting to you. This will help you come up with your own ideas and rely less on sources. Second, it accelerates the entire writing process. When you know what to write about, the writing process as a whole won’t be long-lasting.
Find relevant sources
When you research the topic and look for sources, try to find the most relevant materials. Accurate sources will help you build a logical and coherent essay without committing plagiarism.
Once you find textbooks or articles, skim the text and indicate crucial information. That is, suppose a piece has one chapter pertinent to your paper. In that case, make sure to note down the range of pages and their authors. This will significantly help you when referring to sources and when creating a correct bibliography.
Besides, remember to carefully read the chapter or any excerpt you find valuable. The more you understand, the easier it will be to build a correct citation. You can also try highlighting essential concepts to make yourself aware of what information you might want to add to your research essay.
Plagiarism is a notion that appears in various forms. Students often commit plagiarism when paraphrasing, borrowing ideas or examples, or even when quoting an author directly. Indicating a source is not enough. It still requires following an appropriate formatting style and structure. Remember to refer to scholars and other experts every time you borrow their intellectual property.
Review your citations
Of all taxing elements of essay writing, reviewing citations is the most nerve-racking. Not only do you have to double-check in-text citations, but you also should pay close attention to the page with all the references. Even a missing comma may lower your mark.
Of course, many depend on an educator; some check plagiarism manually and decide whether a student copied ideas. Others, in turn, entirely rely on checkers and grade works based on reports. Either way, ensure your citations are polished. You can even use a citation generator to check whether your references are correct.
Employ plagiarism checkers
As a writer, you might commit plagiarism without knowing it. You can develop an idea and include it in your paper and get a lower grade because of plagiarized content. It may sound absurd, indeed. By screening your text with plagiarism software, you can prevent such occurrences. Numerous checkers exist these days. We can only recommend employing several apps to make sure your text is transparent and original.
The entire research paper writing process isn’t complicated; it is way more demanding to avoid plagiarism because of using plenty of sources. Writing plagiarism-free content is crucial, as it often guarantees a high mark. Make sure your essay doesn’t have traces of plagiarism and don’t forget to double-check your citations before submitting your work.