Most plagiarism is not deliberate: a note copied without its source, a paraphrase too close to the original, a forgotten quotation mark. A few habits while writing, and a check before submitting, remove nearly all of it.
What needs a citation
Any idea, figure, image or sentence that comes from someone else needs a source, whether you quote it or restate it. Common knowledge — dates, widely known facts — does not. When unsure, cite: an extra reference is never a problem, a missing one is.
Quoting and paraphrasing
A quotation reproduces the words exactly, between quotation marks, with the source. A paraphrase restates the idea in your own words and structure, with the source too. Changing a few words of a sentence is neither: it is the most common form of accidental plagiarism.
Keeping track while you write
Record the source the moment you take a note, with the page or URL. A note without a source becomes a quote without a source three weeks later. Keep your own thoughts visibly separate from what you collected.
Checking before you submit
Run the text through the plagiarism checker and read the highlighted passages, not just the percentage: properly quoted material is highlighted too. Fix the passages with no source, rewrite paraphrases that stay too close, then check once more.
Checklist
- Source every note the moment you take it
- Quotation marks for exact words, always with a reference
- Paraphrase the idea, not the sentence
- Use one citation style consistently
- Read the highlighted passages of the report, not only the score
Good citation is a habit of note-taking more than a last-minute task. Build it while you write, and the final check becomes a formality.