Academic life, especially in the modern age, is not associated merely with reading books. It is also about creative self-expression and having fun. Yet, there is one thing that makes every student feel slightly intimidated – an approaching deadline. If you do not meet the specified deadline, it can seriously influence your grade, if not the overall rating. Paradoxically, students often run out of time, as they are involved in a variety of activities. Every undergrad’s nightmare is to realize that an important project remains unfinished right before the submission day. If you fail to meet the deadline of a regular essay, the situation can be still saved. But what to do when the deadline of such a major oeuvre as a dissertation is approaching? Surely, you need much time and energy to produce an extensive research piece. When lacking time to create diligent work, students cannot stand the temptation to search against various academic archives and copy and paste a similar work of a graduate. Some students copy only parts of another scholar’s project, while others commit horrible malpractice by copying everything verbatim. The truth is, no matter the reason, you willingly commit dissertation plagiarism. If a professor reveals your misdeed, it will result in an instant expulsion or an unpleasant academic trial. Even when given a second chance, you will be blamed for a highly unethical endeavor.

Our professional writers and editors would like to teach you to detect different forms of plagiarism in dissertation writing and ways to eliminate it.

Plagiarism in a Dissertation: Revealing Academic Negligence

When you choose to study a particular discipline, it means you want to become an expert in the desired sphere. Therefore, every course aims to teach you something important on the necessary subject, as well as nurture your critical thinking and creative potential. Although creativity is original at its core, research should also be based on authentic approaches. Of course, when investigating various topics, you process an abundance of sources, which encompass works by other scholars. Thus, the majority of ideas in your research papers do not belong to you, so you should never present them as your own concepts and statements. If you fail to cite your sources, pretending that the original author is you, you are responsible for the act of academic dishonesty. Moreover, it is not only indecent but also irrational to commit plagiarism in dissertation and any other research project, as all the educational establishments in the world have come up with strict policies regarding this disciplinary negligence. If the authoritative person reveals your misconduct, not only will it significantly reduce your final grade, but it will likely cause academic suspension.

To understand once and for all the roots of the negative attitude to plagiarism in academia, let us delve into the common reasons:

• • Plagiarism is intellectual theft. If you fail to cite the authors of every source you use for your research, it means you appropriate their works deliberately. Such an act is unethical and unacceptable in the academic world.
• • You may commit dissertation plagiarism unintentionally by using the wrong citation format. In any case, it does not provide an exception from liability for the plagiarized content. Your professors have to estimate your level of comprehension of the topic along with its applicability in a certain context. If you simply copy the words of another author, it will be impossible to track the progress of your individual research.
• • It is important to understand that a student applies his or her creative skills to produce original content. Your assessors need to analyze your findings and conclusions, but not poorly paraphrased paragraphs of reputable scholars.

Types of Plagiarism to Remember

A broad definition of plagiarism is deliberate or unintentional copying the oeuvre of others: scholars, writers, artists – basically, you can plagiarize a creator of any idea. Still, this concept does not only imply appropriation, as it can be accidental. There are different types of plagiarism, and the most common ones are listed below:

Direct Plagiarism is the most low-minded type of academic dishonesty where a person steals the intellectual works of others knowingly. Fully plagiarized work is copied word for word. Of course, a perpetrator may conceal the misdeed if the original work was unpopular or unpublished. However, when such a plagiarist is exposed, it leads to immediate expulsion from work or educational establishment.

Patchwork plagiarism, which is also known as Mosaic Plagiarism, entails replicating content from miscellaneous sources, partial rewording of the found material, as well as adding original sentences. This is a sly way of plagiarizing typical of modern students. Fortunately, advanced plagiary detectors are able to “catch” such content mischief owing to the ability to scan against offline databases and university archives.

Purchased ghostwriting content. Buying academic essays and even dissertations from custom writing agencies is still a common practice. Although such a project is frequently originally researched and written, it still does reflect your authorship. If your professor finds out that someone else produced your dissertation, you will get into trouble.

Self-Plagiarism. What is self-plagiarism? Some individuals perceive it as an absurd concept because your own ideas are indeed original. However, if you previously published your content, the first date of publication reveals the initial source. It means if you want to use information from your previous academic work in your new dissertation, you still have to cite yourself as the author of the idea.

Paraphrasing Plagiarism. Scrupulously paraphrased content is difficult to detect. If you rewrite the original content word by word, it will be almost impossible to discern similarities. Only eagle-eyed scholars will notice analogies with previous researches, tracking the same ideas. Besides, the stream of words, although synonyms, may suspiciously remind of another well-known work.

Accidental Plagiarism. An unintentional plagiarizing may occur due to negligence or even ignorance. You may accidentally copy some excerpts of other scholars’ works, failing to provide proper referencing. Usually, it does not reveal a distinct intention to cheat. The most peculiar and definitely innocent type of accidental plagiarism stems from “cryptomnesia” – a subconscious phenomenon, which makes you believe that you came up with an original idea while, in fact, you interpret a forgotten memory about some concept anew.

Tips to Make Your Dissertation Plagiarism-Free

It is not complicated to protect yourself from academic dishonesty in your intellectual projects. If you understand how to give credit to other authors and how to express your original ideas, there should not be any risk to indulge in plagiarizing malpractice. The following tips may help you avoid dissertation plagiarism:

1. Begin in advance

Dedicate enough time to your dissertation. This is an extensive project and you surely want to start early not to rush later. Researching is time-consuming, so you have to start scrutinizing the topic the moment you get the instructions. Divide your work into proportional clusters of time not to be under pressure when the deadline approaches.

2. Provide references correctly

Even if you know how important it is to cite sources, you may confuse writing formats and apply the unnecessary one to your work. Failure to adhere to the rules of the required writing style will automatically make your citing approach erroneous.

3. Proofread your written content

After you finish the first draft, have some rest, and then return to your paper as a proofreader. Painstaking editing and proofreading of the written content will help you make sure that you did not make grammar and stylistic mistakes, as well as cited every single source you used. It is also a wise step to turn to professional proofreading and editing services. Expert writers who work there will help every student to make sure there is no plagiarism in their texts, and the academic papers are free from mistakes and typos.

4. Quote all the researchers

Besides citing the material, it is essential to use the proper format for the quotations in case you need to quote the original author’s direct speech. A decent plagiarism-detecting tool allows you to discern quotations from the authentic content only if you format the quoted text correctly.

5. Paraphrase and give credit

Even when you paraphrase some content, it is advisable to mention all the authors of those ideas. Besides, keep in mind that a sentence should be reworded accurately, so the original meaning is retained.

6. Include insights

It is tedious and not favorable at all for a young scholar to rely only on the experience of other researchers. Your dissertation should be a work of independent thinking. Therefore, besides quoting and citing others, do your best to generate compelling insights on the topic.

7. Use plagiarism-checking tools

A variety of multifunctional plagiary detectors can be found online. Yet, you should scrutinize the most reliable ones to get a detailed plagiarism report with a low percentage of coincidences.

Concluding Thoughts

A dissertation is a sophisticated composition, and it is quite challenging to make a research work based on a range of sources fully original. Anyway, it is possible to produce a creative authentic work if you follow the above-mentioned guidelines on plagiarism prevention.

If there are still doubts regarding the originality of your dissertation or problems with self-plagiarism, you can rely on our professional proofreaders, who know what to do to improve your content. After our meticulous editing, your masterpiece will be insightful and plagiarism-free.