Cathy A.
Cathy A.

Types of Plagiarism - Concept, Example, and Tips

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Published on: Nov 9, 2020

Last updated on: Dec 29, 2022

Types of Plagiarism

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Is plagiarism another word for cheating someone else's work?

Basically, it means that someone has copied your work. Every other student is assigned to write essays and papers during their academic life. These assignments are difficult when they lack originality, which can be caused by plagiarism.

To avoid complete plagiarism, you need to know the different types of it. That way, you will not do it again. It is a very bad thing to get someone an 'F' or be suspended from the institute.

This blog has some useful information for creating unique work without copying someone else’s content. Check out these types before submitting your assignment.

What is Plagiarism?

Do you know what plagiarism means? It can be applied to writing, but it does not refer to stealing intellectual property such as images, music, or videos. If a student is trying too hard and fails at their goal, they probably copied someone else's ideas without credit.

Plagiarism is an offense punishable by law which may lead to disciplinary actions in some cases depending on the severity.

Furthermore, plagiarism is taken from the Latin word ‘Plagiarius’ that means to kidnap. Plagiarizing is never the solution, and it takes away your credibility as a student. Avoid plagiarism to occur, either intentional or unintentional, to maintain your integrity in academia.

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If you must use someone else's ideas, make sure they are cited with quotation marks so that there will be no confusion about who said what!

What are Different Types of Plagiarism?

Following are types of plagiarism that must be avoided while writing any academic assignment:

  • Direct Plagiarism

    Direct plagiarism is a serious offense, but it's easily detectable. It involves copying someone else’s work word by word and claiming that it's your own.

    Most people commit this crime without realizing the consequences of their actions or being caught by teachers skilled at detecting these offenses in students' papers.

  • Hired Plagiarism

    In a hired plagiarism, it is considered academic dishonesty to hire someone else to write the essay that you claim is your own. In fact, some people might call this cheating!

    If you hired an essay writer from a legitimate website, it might not be considered plagiarism as they produce their own original papers.

  • Borrowed Plagiarism

    It is considered to be plagiarism when you use a paper written by your friend. You may have many friends who have taken the same course from different teachers, leading to concerns about it being copied without citation or with incorrect references.

  • Self Plagiarism

    Self-plagiarism is when you copy your work from a previous assignment or coursework for a new one without changing anything major. For example, if you wrote a high school English paper on Shakespearean drama and then turned it into an English college term paper on Hamlet, that would be self-plagiarism.

    Reusing old material isn’t always bad. In some cases, it might be helpful because people may not remember what they wrote previously. Especially if there was no deadline set beforehand, as these days, deadlines are often forgotten.

  • Mosaic Plagiarism

    Mosaic plagiarism is a particularly confusing type of plagiarism that involves using someone's writing and adding your own work to it. It can also be referred to as patchwork plagiarism or patchwriting, with the author replacing specific terms in their piece with those from the original text.

    This form of copying loses credibility because people can find out what you copied. And they can find out where on the page you copied it too!

  • Contributing Author Plagiarism

    An editor or author must be credited for contributing to the assignment to avoid contributing author plagiarism.

    Similarly, if someone edits a work by making significant changes, they cannot remain anonymous; that person should also be acknowledged to discourage any dishonest practices from occurring.

  • Collaboration Plagiarism

    This is a form of plagiarism in which the student falsely claims to have done all or part of their research by themselves. This type, called "collaboration plagiarism," seems popular because it's seen as an accomplishment and more original than simply copying information from another source without citation.

    Also, this type of plagiarism is difficult to detect.

  • Aggregated Plagiarism

    Aggregated plagiarism is when a writer copies or aggregates another person's work and passes it off as their own. This passing on someone else copied words is such unethical behavior.

    The paper needs to be exactly the same in order for this to happen. If you use someone else’s sources, ideas, or assignments that are similar enough, then your essay can still be considered plagiarized writing.

  • Outline Plagiarism

    Outline plagiarism is the use of another person's ideas, words, and structure to create a new but still unoriginal work. It has been called retweeting because it just takes someone else’s material and puts their own spin on it in order to make themselves look good.

    When someone copies someone else's work without changing it, that is called the act of plagiarism. For example, when people go online and find an essay or article, they can copy it without making any changes. They might even change a few words.

  • Bibliographic Plagiarism

    The act of plagiarizing in a paper is not just about the use of other people's words and ideas. It also extends to bibliography-related issues such as adding sources that were never used or neglecting to cite those that are present.

  • Accidental Plagiarism

    It's likely that you might accidentally plagiarize someone else’s work during the process of researching for an assignment. You may come across different ideas and forget where they came from as if it was your own idea in the first place but don't worry!

    Sometimes writers get so impressed with a language used by another writer, and this can result in unintentional paraphrasing. It is hard to avoid these types of accidents, through taking notes of what we read really helps reduce instances like this one!

  • Secondary Source Plagiarism

    There are cases when the writer mentions and cites primary sources properly. However, then he uses information from secondary sources without citing them. This is called secondary source plagiarism.

    It is a serious offense that can lead to punishment such as suspension or expulsion for students in school settings or termination of employment for professionals.

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Additional Types of Plagiarism

Besides all the major types of plagiarism of research methodology, some additional types like verbatim plagiarism. These types are not very common, but they can be severe in cases.

Have a look at additional types of plagiarisms and their severity:

Types of Plagiarism with Examples

Look at the example of self-plagiarism and others to better understand the concepts and types of plagiarism for better understanding.

Tips to Avoid Plagiarism

Here are some tips on how to avoid plagiarism while drafting an essay or research paper:

  • Start early so that there is enough time left for editing
  • Paraphrase/rewrite original ideas into your own words without changing the meaning
  • Add quotation marks if text from another source will be used in the final draft
  • Cite sources accurately following required formats
  • Draft your idea in your own word instead of copying someone else
  • Adding references will make your essays and papers worthy and also avoid plagiarism
  • Run a plagiarism checker on your assignment to make sure it is plagiarism-free

Understanding the different types of plagiarism is crucial to avoid being accused of it. There are many kinds of plagiarism, and every type is explained in detail above.

However, if you are still unsure about proceeding with your work, then hiring an essay writer at FreeEssayWriter.net will get you 100% original papers written from scratch!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most common form of plagiarism?

The most common form of plagiarism is cloning or Blatant Plagiarism. It is copying someone else's work word-to-word. It is also the most problematic form of plagiarism.

What are the signs of plagiarism?

Following are the two major signs of plagiarism that can be evident in any content:

  1. Big changes in audience, tone, vocabulary, sentence structure, and level of understanding. 
  2. Writing seems more grown-up than you would expect for someone at this grade level. 

What are the main causes of plagiarism?

Following are some main causes of plagiarism: 

  • Wish to get high grades 
  • Fear of failing in a grade 
  • Poor time management/ Procrastination 
  • Not getting the assignment of own interest 
  • The belief of not getting caught 
  • Confusion about current university plagiarism policies 

Is plagiarism a crime?

Plagiarism is not a crime in general, but it can be punished for some crimes. For example, people get in trouble when they violate copyrights, moral rights or when they commit torts. When people make these mistakes in academia and industry, it is a serious ethical offense.

Cathy A.

WRITTEN BY

Cathy A. (Marketing, Literature)

Cathy has been been working as an author on our platform for over five years now. She has a Masters degree in mass communication and is well-versed in the art of writing. Cathy is a professional who takes her work seriously and is widely appreciated by clients for her excellent writing skills.

Cathy has been been working as an author on our platform for over five years now. She has a Masters degree in mass communication and is well-versed in the art of writing. Cathy is a professional who takes her work seriously and is widely appreciated by clients for her excellent writing skills.

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