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Residual Income | Article #293 : PLAGIARISM – PART 2

In our last installment, we gave a broad definition of plagiarism and an example of what could be a very gray area in this matter. It’s certainly open to a lot of heated discussion. Well, in this final installment, I’m going to give you some tips that will hopefully keep you from plagiarizing any articles or books yourself. The consequences of which could be quite dire.

Write What You Know About – This is the easiest way to keep from being accused of plagiarism. If you write on topics that you are very knowledgeable about, it is quite unlikely that somebody else will be putting their words on your manuscript. When you write from your own knowledge, the words flow more quickly and therefore it is less likely that they will be taken from any one source.

Research Multiple Sources – If you’re going to write an article or book on a topic that you are unfamiliar with, don’t just read one article or book to write about it. You need to research a number of different sources. This means reading them and actually absorbing the information. You know, like you used to do when you went to school? That’s the only way to make sure that you don’t use somebody else’s words.

Wait Before Writing – After you have finished your research, don’t start writing right away. Give it a few hours at least before you start putting your words on paper. Why? This way, any actual sentences that have lodged in your brain from the things you’ve read will be long gone and you won’t be tempted to use them when writing your masterpiece.

Make An Outline – Instead of just sitting down to write, make an outline of what you’re going to write about.  This will discipline you to write in a formalized fashion. It may be a little different from what you’re used to doing, but this way you are more likely to express things in ways you never have before. Sometimes structure can greatly change how somebody writes.

Throw Your Sources Away – Well, unless they’re your own personal books. If you’ve downloaded articles from the Internet or did research from ebooks, get rid of them before you start writing. At the very least, put them somewhere hard to get to, like on a backup drive. You want to remove all temptation to look at these sources while you’re writing.

If the above seems a little extreme, plagiarism lawsuits are even more extreme. With the changes in the laws and cases having gone to court, that years ago wouldn’t have stood a chance, now being won, you really need to think twice before putting anybody else’s words on a piece of paper.

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