What is self plagiarism? Your teacher gives you an assignment, and it’s based on topic you don’t like, but the good news is you have written about it before. So you take your previous work and submit it; after all, it’s your original work. A few days after submitting it, the teacher accuses you of self plagiarism.
So how could you be accused of plagiarism when it’s your own work? Is it possible to plagiarize yourself? Read on to learn about self plagiarism and how to avoid it.
Self plagiarism is when you’re trying to pass off your older piece of written work as new and original. Misquoting or paraphrasing your material or content without citing the original text it counts as self-plagiarism. The pressure to publish new, interesting and original content can cause a person to cut corners and reuse their old work.
When the individual is not caught, they might be tempted to do the act several times. This misleads the reader and gives you an unfair advantage over others. In some cases, you can publish the same work in a different language, and it won’t be considered self-plagiarism as long as the papers don’t count as separate.
If you’re a student you might be asking what is self plagiarism? In academia, self plagiarism is when a student reuses specific wording or ideas from previously submitted assignments. It’s also known as auto copy and is often seen when students are doing several subjects with similar topics.
At face value, self plagiarism can look harmless since you’re the author and don’t need permission to use your own work. But you’re recycling your work when the essence of homework is to gauge whether or not you’ve understood the subject or topic. Furthermore, publication manuals have a standard on what is self plagiarism. When you publish a paper, you have to guarantee that your work is original and no part has been published elsewhere.
After answering what is self plagiarism the next step is knowing how to avoid it. The American Psychological Association 7th edition suggests the following regarding reusing one’s text: “An exception to the prohibition against self-plagiarism is publishing a work of limited circulation in a venue of wider circulation.
For example, authors may publish their doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis in whole or in part in one or more journal articles. In such cases, authors would not cite their dissertation or thesis in the article text but rather acknowledge in the author note that the work was based on their dissertation or thesis”.
A good example of self plagiarism is when you submit an assignment, essay, or research paper that you had already handed in, even if it’s for a different class or to a different professor/teacher. Other examples of self plagiarism include:
• Reusing the same data or facts you used in a previous submission without acknowledging it.
• Citing yourself incorrectly.
• Recycling some of your key ideas from your thesis, dissertation, or academic project without properly referencing them.
• Paraphrasing sentences from older submitted work and passing them off as original.
If you’re still having trouble understanding what is self plagiarism look at examples or ask an expert writer.
Plagiarism is a serious offense that carries hefty penalties and can result in expulsion from school. That is why it is discouraged from the early stages of learning. When it comes to self plagiarism, a student shouldn’t repurpose content in a subsequent paper. It’s considered academic dishonesty and proves that you put little to no effort into the assignment and are not contributing to the subject or field of study.
Resubmitting your previously published work without informing the teacher or seeking permission is then considered plagiarism. Self plagiarism is not illegal, but a violation of honor or ethics codes and can result in disciplinary action.
When answering what is self plagiarism it’s important to also consider its penalties. Other consequences of plagiarism include course failure, getting a low grade, and suspension. The penalty given depends on how mild or severe a professor considers self plagiarism. If they find it mild, they give you a fail on that assignment, but if they don’t tolerate any form of plagiarism, the likely consequence is expulsion or academic probation.
Want to know what is self plagiarism and ways to avoid it. Paraphrased or edited content should be properly cited and referenced. Students should follow general guidelines applied to sources when citing their previous papers. This means that you should follow the guidelines of your documentation style, be it MLA, Chicago, APA, Harvard, or any other format. Make sure every paper adds something to the field of study.
Considering that your academic journey might be cut short, it’s best to understand what is self plagiarism and different ways to avoid it. So, before you submit an assignment, use highly sophisticated text similarity software to help you catch potential plagiarism in your work. It’s also important to keep a tab on published work, so you don’t reuse ideas in another paper.
Finally, don’t reuse big blocks of data, text, or ideas in the same way as written before. Instead, write original text. But if you need to quote previously written or published work, use quoted text as sparingly as possible and reference the original.
If you’re still wondering whether you can plagiarize your work, check if you’ve done the following:
• Cite any of your previously published work.
• Don’t try to pass off any previously published or submitted assignments as new.
• Ask for permission from a teacher before using previously published or written material.
• Ask for help if you’re finding it difficult to decide whether your assignment has self-plagiarism.
• Reframe your ideas and start writing every assignment from scratch. Make sure to use new information and cite it correctly
Cite your work just like you would any other source. If the previously submitted work had more than one author, make sure to get the agreement of everyone that contributed to the original work, be it editors, coauthors, or publishers. Also, for a published journal, it’s best to tell the publication that you will be reusing some of your work and don’t claim credit more than once for the same work.
By reading this post you will understand what is self plagiarism. Overall, self plagiarism is academic dishonesty and carries a hefty penalty. Even if your teacher doesn’t notice that you’re passing off old, already submitted work as new and original, you might get away with it, but you’ll be contributing less to your field of study. So don’t recycle assignments as a whole or in parts. If you want to build on some of the same ideas from some of your old writing, ask your teacher for permission.
If you’re still having trouble understanding what is self plagiarism and need an expert to check your work contact us. We have competent writers who write papers from scratch and have gained a reputation for submitting original work.