8 types of plagiarism (and how to avoid them)

You’ve probably heard of plagiarism as a practice that’s sternly frowned upon by both the academic world and the publishing industry. But what exactly are the different types, and how do you avoid stumbling into them by mistake?

It can happen accidentally, intentionally, or somewhere in between. We want to show you how to avoid it in your work, as well as how to borrow thoughts from other writers ethically and responsibly.  

What Is Plagiarism?

Quick plagiarism definition: It is the act of taking another’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own. This can happen through both deliberate dishonesty or everyday carelessness. 

It might look like copying someone else’s text and pretending you came up with it yourself, paraphrasing outside material without using a proper citation, or borrowing a general thought and presenting it as something new and original. 

At its worst, deliberate plagiarism is a form of literary theft. At its best, it can be an honest mistake that comes from a lack of understanding. Unfortunately, both can land you in serious trouble and have a lasting impact on your academic career. 

Why Is Plagiarism Such a Problem?

So we know that it's dishonest and lazy, but is plagiarism illegal? Somewhat surprisingly, yes. In the United States, original ideas are considered “intellectual property.” It doesn’t even matter if they’ve been professionally published or not; they just need to have been written down on paper or recorded in a computer file. This means that yes, copying off your friend’s assignment and pretending you wrote it is illegal, plain and simple.

More than that, it impacts the academic integrity of the school or institution that you’re representing. Imagine that a university awarded a degree to a student who plagiarized their thesis. If this becomes known, that university is suddenly no longer considered a trustworthy source, and their degrees no longer carry as much weight in the industry. 

It’s the same if you’re producing a written work, such as a novel or nonfiction book. If a substantial amount of it was plagiarized, the publisher—as well as book shops stocking your book—will have sacrificed their integrity and the trust of their readers. They’ll take steps to regain that trust by pulling your book off the shelves and from production, doing irreparable damage to your career as a writer.

The final reason why plagiarizing is so bad is incredibly simple, yet arguably the most important one of all: You don’t learn anything. Academia teaches you important knowledge, certainly, but also how to use that knowledge to form new ideas. When you take the work of others and present it as your own, you end up exactly where you started. If avoiding plagiarism for the sake of others isn’t enough, at least avoid it for the sake of your own potential. 

Is It Okay to Borrow Other Writers’ Ideas?

All of that said, every great thought was informed by the legacy of great ideas that came before it. This is especially true in nonfiction, such as essays, where you’ll inevitably draw on the theories and discoveries of others to inform your work. So is it alright to use those ideas in your writing to get a message across to your reader?

It is absolutely okay to show the thinking of writers who came before you, as long as you are very clear about where those ideas came from and use proper citations. Once you show your reader what other writers have said, introduce them to your own unique take on it. Answer any questions that arose for you and share the perspective your readers might approach it from today. It's also worth noting that once ideas become common knowledge, they no longer require citation.

In short, you should take the literary torch from these writers and carry it forward in a new direction. 

Types of Plagiarism  

1. Global Plagiarism  

Also called “complete plagiarism,” this occurs when every single word of an entire work is falsely represented as your own. This might be something like an assignment, a thesis, a manuscript, or even marketing copy. This is the type of intentional plagiarism we usually see dramatized in film and TV. One character steals another’s life’s work, passes it off as their own, and the scorned writer has to fight to reclaim their honor.

2. Direct Plagiarism

Also called “verbatim plagiarism,” this follows the same thread as global in that it’s misrepresenting someone else’s words as your own. The difference is that while global plagiarism takes an entire completed work, direct or verbatim refers to smaller pieces—certain sentences, paragraphs, or sections of plagiarized writing. This happens commonly if you forget to include quotation marks or properly cite your different sources.

3. Mosaic Plagiarism 

Also called “patchwork plagiarism,” this occurs when you take pieces of various outside sources and compile them into a single piece. Sometimes it’s done intentionally, but it can also be done by accident—for example, if you’re reading through a lot of original source material and can’t quite remember what came from where. Mosaic plagiarism can also be the result of interspersing sections of another's words throughout your own writing, making it harder to detect. This is why it’s so essential to keep careful track of your sources. 

4. Paraphrasing Plagiarism 

Paraphrasing plagiarism happens when you take another writer’s ideas and put them into your own words—so far so good—but don’t give them any credit—not so good. Even if you’re not copying it word for word, you still need to properly cite the source of the information you’re using. You can do this right in the text (“Harry J. Stuffington, in his groundbreaking essay, Why Copying is a Fast Track to Obscurity, explores the premise that...”), or you can include your citation at the end of your writing. 

5. Source-based Plagiarism

This occurs when your sources are cited inaccurately or incompletely. It might be when you only cite a few main sources but not everything that you used, or if you accidentally miscredit the original author. For example, if you use an article that had been written by two people, but you only list the first author in your citations, that’s source-based plagiarism. Another example is if you create artificial sources to give validity to your writing—for instance, if you claim the New York Times published a similar idea to yours when they didn’t. This can also be easy to do by mistake if you don’t keep careful track of your resources. 

6. Inaccurate Authorship

Inaccurate authorship can overlap with some of these other types, but it comes down to misleading attribution, or misrepresenting the people responsible for the writing. Sometimes called “collaboration plagiarism,” this most commonly happens when two or more people collaborate on a paper but only one person is given credit. This might be a friend, a tutor, or a parent who ends up writing sections. While it’s always helpful to have a third party look over your work for typos and areas with awkward sentence structure, it’s essential that the final product be entirely your own. 

7. Self-plagiarism 

This occurs when you reuse your own writing and submit it as something original. This can be something like repurposing your previous work, such as a research paper written in high school for a college assignment or using the same essay twice for two different classes. While this type isn’t strictly illegal—the “intellectual property” is your own—it is dishonest and often against a school’s academic policies. It can also cause you legal problems if you’re submitting an original work for publication and claiming it to be “previously unpublished,” when in fact it contains very similar content to other published work. 

8. Accidental Plagiarism 

Accidental plagiarism happens when you don’t realize how closely you’ve imitated another person's words or you make a mistake when compiling your cited sources. When you’re up late and sprawled across a stack of books, articles, and hyperlinks, it’s easy to forget where you found every detail you’re writing about; you might even forget that you didn’t come up with it yourself! While plagiarism gets a lot of flack in the academic world, the truth is that the majority is unintentional. This is why it’s so important to make notes and keep track of everything as you go.

3 Ways To Avoid Plagiarism

As you can see, plagiarism comes in many forms, some of them sneakier than others. It’s essential to have a clear, thorough understanding of what the different types are so that you have a better chance of avoiding it. Here are a few tips and tricks to avoid it in your writing. 

1. Write Down Everything

One more time for the people in the back: Keep track of everything that you read. Use page markers to remind yourself where ideas came from. Whenever anything seems like it will be useful, make a quick note along with the source (book, article title, website) and the page number if applicable. Something like, “That cool thing about Elizabeth Bathory’s mom: Witches, Woodwives, and Other 16th Century Women You Wouldn’t Want to Meet in a Dark Alley, page 78.” This way when you cite sources at the end of your work, you won’t miss any of your references (and you’ll be able to find everything again). 

2. Compare Ideas

While doing research for your writing, you’ll inevitably look at several different perspectives on your topic. Not only will doing so provide a broader scope from which to write down important key points, it will also offer a deeper understanding of the topic so you can begin forming your own ideas. When you’re able to look at contradictory perspectives on a subject and ask yourself questions like, “Do I agree with what this person is saying? Why or why not? What do I think?,” you’ll be able to start building thoughts that come from you, not just from other people.

3. Use Your Own Voice

Your written voice is as unique as your speaking one, and embracing it is a huge part of avoiding plagiarizing the voices of others. During your research, try to develop a thorough understanding of the theses presented. Once you feel you know them comfortably and intimately, you can take a step back and summarize those ideas in your own words. Not only will this improve the quality of your submission, it will also improve the way you learn about the subject. As we saw above in, however, you still need to make sure to accurately credit these ideas.

Never Plagiarize Again

These types of plagiarism are a serious offense in the academic and professional world, but most of the time they’re completely avoidable. If you're still nervous about it, try a plagiarism checker (a quick Google search should turn up some free options!). As long as you stay organized during your writing process, absorb the information and examine it from your own perspective, and accurately record your source material, you’ll be safe from plagiarism and you’ll get a better learning experience out of it, too.