On the first place, if you do not understand what plagiarism is, you cannot avoid it. Plagiarisms are of different types. It is defined as copying ideas, words or work of someone else and clearing them off as owns. This could also mean clearly using material of others without his acknowledge. A wrong appropriation and publication of even expressions can be termed as Plagiarism. In simple terms, it is cheating oneself with knowledge.
Plagiarism is often unintentional, however students needs to ensure certain important points while they use internet as the source to pick up text and pictures.
Sometimes, plagiarisms are obvious. For example; Reports of a lab test cannot be different. Mathematical formulas and scientific calculations cannot be written differently. However, when you as student submit it to your professor, it could be presented in a better manner than your classmates. This way, your report would look unique, even if the report figure would be the same of the entire class.
Why is it bad?
For simple 3 reasons plagiarism is bad:
• A student does not learn
• It is illegal and against copyright laws
• Duplicate context does not portray actual authenticity of the user
Simply because it is illegal, it is bad. Any kind of theft is a crime. Moreover, you being a student are at the stage of learning. You would not learn if you do not take the pains to prepare your own context. Hence, copying does not help you learn. Stealing anyone’s context is not right unless you buy the copyrights of using it. It anyway does not help if you intend to publish it.
How to avoid? - Think before you write: It should all be in your mind. Before you frame your content material, always think and prepare a layout. Once you are clear, putting it on paper becomes easy and quick. A well thought off write up is always written well. - Write consciously and on your own: Best way to avoid plagiarism is to first understand what you want to write through