Types of Plagiarism: Know Them to Avoid Them

Posted by Shaheen Shaikh on December 15th, 2020

Plagiarism made its way into the English language in the 1600s. Since then, the concept of lifting someone’s work and passing it off as your own has seen many evolutions. Authors can copy content unintentionally, rather than with purposeful intent. Further, students might not be fully aware of what constitutes plagiarism. In fact, many copy part of the content and expect to get away with it.

However, even the slightest amount of dishonesty is unacceptable and might lead to ugly disciplinary actions. So, it is important to outline and understand the forms of plagiarism. This way, you will be able to create genuine content and improve your research and writing skills. You will also be able to avoid the adverse consequences of copyright violation. Take a look at the common types of plagiarism to protect your originality and integrity.

Mosaic Plagiarism
This is commonly called patchwork plagiarism. Here, phrases and passages are copied from multiple areas and patched together to create the content. Certain sections might be replaced with paraphrased words, in order to make it appear genuine. Authors also substitute words with synonyms but keep the structure intact. Patch writing can be easily detected with AI-based plagiarism checkers.

Accidental Plagiarism
This mostly occurs due to carelessness, rather than due to unethical intent. When you forget to cite the original source, do not add quotation marks, neglect to change the sentence formation or misquote the source, it comprises accidental plagiarism. However, this does not mitigate the damage and the responsible person will be held accountable for their action. Therefore, try to be careful while writing and use plagiarism checker tool to be on the safe side.

Direct Plagiarism
Popularly known as “word for word” plagiarism, this involves direct copying of content without adding any credit to the source. The perpetrators might claim the work as their own and try to receive rewards and recognition for the same. This is a deliberate form of cheating and the author can be subjected to severe penalties.

Self-Plagiarism

Reusing your own work and trying to pass it off as new content is called self plagiarism. For example, submitting your high school work as a part of a college project. This is one of the most common types of plagiarism, since one feels it is acceptable to recycle their own previous work. Debunking the myth, you can only do so if you have the explicit permission for the same. However, you can cite your old work or make new contributions to it, so that it becomes unique.

Paraphrasing Plagiarism

This act is usually common in the academic circles. Students paraphrase a few parts of the content and add new examples in an attempt to produce “genuine” work. They keep the sentence structure or the tenses as it is. This plagiarism occurs not by accident but due to deliberate intent. Plagiarism checkers are able to pick such plagiarism quite easily.

Stitching sources, bibliography plagiarism and secondary source plagiarism are also a few other major types of copyright violation. Make sure to learn exactly what constitutes academic theft to be able to submit fresh and original work to your institution.