Achievement 3 by@gamma21 Task: Content Etiquette

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If you have carefully observed, you will agree with me that people mostly like to be thanked for the little things they do or help you with. No matter how simple you think a "thank you" is, it always seems to warm the heart and propel people to do even more for us. Just as we like to be thanked, which is more like an acknowledgement, it is important for us to acknowledge the works or ideas of others when we use them. Referencing is our little way of saying thank you to the sources that help us complete an assignment, research or projects. This brings us to the subject of Plagiarism.
Plagiarism means using other people's ideas or works without acknowledging them or presenting the works of others as yours. Books, journals, articles, and pictures are works that are highly plagiarized.

Plagiarism can take different forms and are grouped into four main types.
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The types of Plagiarism will be elaborated below.

1. Direct Plagiarism
   This is the most harmful of all the types. Under this type, the person copying either uses the author's words without changing a single word or replaces some of the words with his or her own ideas.
2. Mosaic Plagiarism
   This type of plagiarism is considered unintentional. Under this type, the plagiarist picks different ideas from different sources and combines them as one piece of work without necessarily referencing the original authors or owners of the individual pieces.
3. Self Plagiarism
   This type of plagiarism is very common. This type of plagiarism is committed when the plagiarist copies and pastes the results of previous assignment done by him or herself without notifying the person you're submitting it to. Self plagiarism is usually done by high school students and does not often attract serious legal actions.
4. Accidental Plagiarism
   This type of plagiarism occurs when the plagiarist either misquotes parts of the text he or she has taken, cites a wrong source for his or her work or does not adequately cite the source material.

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Just as any other offense you can think of, plagiarism comes with consequences:

• When you plagiarize, you lose your respect as a writer or researcher and its also indicative of lack of creativity.

• When you fail to reference, you are discouraging the owner from further works. It is only right of a person to reference wherever he or she had her information from.

• When you plagiarize and you are found out, your work can be rejected and you are likely to lose your position and reputation.

• Plagiarism is considered as an illegal act.

An author has the right to sue a plagiarist. Some plagiarism may also be deemed a criminal offense, possibly leading to a prison sentence. Those who write for a living, such as journalists or authors, are particularly susceptible to plagiarism issues. Those who write frequently must be ever-vigilant not to err. Writers are well-aware of copyright laws and ways to avoid plagiarism. As a professional writer, to plagiarize is a serious ethical and perhaps legal issue.Source

The Big question now is how then do I prevent or avoid plagiarism?
Let's look some few points.

1. Reference every information you obtain that is neither yours or general.

2. When paraphrasing, make sure to go straight to the point and add more of your ideas and words

3. Do well to pass your work through a Plagiarism Checker before submission.

I have read and understood the steemit Etiquette on steemit community and will do my best to embrace them.