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What it is, how to avoid it
- PLAGIARISM
- DEFINITION #1: Plagiarism is copying something without crediting the source.
- DEFINITION #2: Plagiarism is stealing.
The difference between quoting and paraphrasing
When you write a paper, you read a lot of material about the topic. This helps you to examine the various aspects of a topic to understand it. By the time you have thoroughly researched what has been written, you will start to form ideas of your own, see patterns, and be able to think about the topic in your own words.
Along the way, you probably took a lot of notes, copied articles, and searched the Web looking for information. The material you find and include in your paper is what you have to list (or reference) in your bibliography.
Quoting
What is quoting? To state what someone else has written, word for word, using their words.
Sometimes something you read is exactly the point you want to make, and is written so well you want to use it directly. You can do so legally by quoting. Anything you directly quote must be put in quotation marks and referenced.
Paraphrasing
What is paraphrasing? To paraphrase is to say the same thing, but in your own words.
Sometimes you like the content of a paragraph or section of something you read, and want to paraphrase, or restate it in your own words for your paper. Although it is not illegal, paraphrasing in scholarly papers must be cited as a professional courtesy. You need not use quotation marks unless the statement is word-for-word as it appears in your source, but if you paraphrase in papers required for school, you must acknowledge you are doing so with a footnote/endnote or parenthetical (see page 8 of this unit for more information on how to do these).
How do you avoid plagiarizing?
- Give the author of the material credit by " documenting" or " citing" your sources (terms which mean you credit your source).
- Give credit whenever you use a direct quote by placing it in quotation marks and giving the author credit.
- Give credit whenever you paraphrase (state/write in a different way) a thought, idea, or words within the research paper and at the end of the paper in the bibliography
- Give credit within a research paper through footnotes or parenthetical remarks.
- Give credit at the end of a research paper in the bibliography.
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FAQs
The rule of thumb in universities which use Turnitin plagiarism software (98% of the UK listed academic institutions such as schools, colleges and/or universities) is that 15% is the cap in terms of what academic institutions deem to be an acceptable level of plagiarism in essay and report submissions.
Is 20% plagiarism ok? ›
Mostly, no more than 20% of text coincidence can be tolerated, while more means the text is not original. Although, even if that 20% is just a single copy-pasted piece of text, it's considered borrowed.
Is 1% similarity on Turnitin bad? ›
There is no ideal percentage to aim for as percentages are dependent on the subject and requirements of the assignment. This 'at a glance' guide should not be used as a measure of plagiarism as even a 1% score could potentially indicate plagiarism.
Is 30% plagiarism okay? ›
The acceptable level of similarity on a Turnitin similarity report can vary depending on the institution or department, but generally, a similarity index of 30% is considered high.
Is 40% on Turnitin bad? ›
Turnitin Originality Checks
You should mark the assessment as seen taking account of poor academic practice if appropriate. 20 – 40% with less than 10% from one source This score would suggest poor academic practice and would require some further consideration.
Is 10% a high Turnitin score? ›
As a guide a returned percentage of below 15% would probably indicate that plagiarism has not occurred. However, if the 15% of matching text is one continuous block this could still be considered plagiarism. A high percentage would probably be anything over 25% (Yellow, orange or red).
Is a 25 Turnitin score bad? ›
Turnitin may highlight these correctly cited passages. For the report to be useful, you have to check what is highlighted. Too high? A score above 25% could indicate plagiarism, or it might just mean that the assignment has a long bibliography and a number of direct quotes.
Is 10% plagiarism accepted? ›
When it is an original paper, the author should aim at zero plagiarism. However, in many journals, a similarity of up to 15% is allowed. For a chapter in a book, this limit is about 5% and in a thesis, less than 10% is accepted.
Is a Turnitin score of 17 good? ›
In academic settings, similarity scores below a certain threshold (e.g., 10–20%) may be considered acceptable, as they may reflect common phrases, quotations, or properly cited material. Higher similarity scores may indicate potential plagiarism or insufficient citation.
Is a 0% Turnitin score good? ›
A high Similarity Score means that very little of your paper is your own writing. Zero similarity means that you aren't including any source-based evidence, a requirement for many assignments. Some similarity is usually expected.
Turnitin does not check for plagiarism in writing. We do check all submissions against our database. If any text in a submission is similar to one of our sources, these matches are highlighted for you to review. It is perfectly natural for a submission to match against some of our database.
Does Turnitin detect paraphrasing? ›
Turnitin's AI writing detection capabilities are fully integrated into the Similarity Report, providing our users with a seamless experience. When AI writing detection is enabled, which also includes AI paraphrasing detection, it automatically checks every submission for both AI writing and AI paraphrasing.
Is 2% plagiarism fine? ›
Going by the convention, usually a text similarity below 15% is acceptable by the journals and a similarity of >25% is considered as high percentage of plagiarism.
Does Turnitin detect AI? ›
Turnitin's AI writing detection capability is designed to help educators identify text that might be prepared by a generative AI tool such as large-language models, chatbots, and word spinners.
Is 3% plagiarism ok? ›
Your work should not contain any plagiarism. Even if your score is 1%, you will need to review each similarity and decide whether it's necessary to revise your work.
Is 20 an acceptable Turnitin score? ›
In academic settings, similarity scores below a certain threshold (e.g., 10–20%) may be considered acceptable, as they may reflect common phrases, quotations, or properly cited material. Higher similarity scores may indicate potential plagiarism or insufficient citation.
What percentage of AI is acceptable on Turnitin? ›
To avoid potential incidence of false positives, no score or highlights are attributed for AI detection scores in the 1% to 19% range.
How do I lower my Turnitin score? ›
Now, let's explore actionable steps to reduce that similarity score.
- Cite Your Sources Appropriately. Citation is vital in academic works. ...
- Implement Double Quotation Marks. ...
- Minimize Overquotation. ...
- Master the Art of Paraphrasing. ...
- Refrain from Word-to-Word Copying.
You don't have to be afraid of Turnitin, but what If your similarity score is indeed very high (for example 25% or 55%). What should you do? Every case is individual, but the high chance is that your draft has issues with the use of other people's material.
