Look, let’s be honest: There is hardly any idea left in the internet age that is truly 100% original.
With so many papers, blogs, books written on every possible subject, it is impossible to write something that is fully original. You read an interesting idea on the internet and you want to borrow it without plagiarizing, I get it.
Let me help you out with three ways on how you can do that.
1. Rework The Text
Write by reordering the words, by changing the sentence structure, or by presenting the idea freshly from your own perspective. Avoid using similar phrases too much. Change active voice to passive voice. Add more adjectives and adverbs. Try to find synonyms for the keywords.
Tweaking the text can help you immensely in copy-pasting without plagiarizing. But this does not mean you claim the idea as yours. You still need to cite the original resource.
2. Personalize The Idea By Your Own Experience
I recently read about a self-care tip that I thoroughly enjoyed. I wanted to quote it in my own article. I did that by applying the idea personally and adding a customized experience to it. It also took a few days, so I had forgotten the phrasing but the idea stuck.
If this applies to the type of writing you do, it is a wonderful method for helping your content stand out and still lending someone else’s idea.
3. Quote Directly
Avoid all the hassle and quote on the source directly. Use quotation marks or quotation blocks with proper citing and you can copy the text word-to-word.
Lastly, Use Plagiarism Checkers To Your Advantage!
You can use a plagiarism checker to avoid copying-and-pasting, even accidentally. Whenever you finish writing a piece of content, use a plagiarism checker to ensure that none of the work is copy-pasted directly (unless as a quotation).
There are many plagiarism checkers available in the market like Copyscape, Duplichecker, and Grammarly. I personally like to run a final Grammarly check on everything I write before publishing.
If there’s any work that is highlighted as similar by the software, I rework it. This ensures that everything I write steers clear of plagiarism.
Here is a list of the best plagiarism checkers you can use in 2021.
Final Thoughts
You have to be smart when you are copy-pasting someone else’s work. The simple three steps mentioned in this article can help you lend someone else’s idea without worrying about plagiarizing.
As a precautionary measure, always run your content through plagiarism checkers to ensure you haven’t pasted anything word-to-word (unless it’s quoted).
