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Self-Plagiarism in PhD thesis

I am a final year PhD in UK in a scientific discipline and I am writing my thesis. I have already published 2 journal papers and I have submitted 2 more papers for publications. My department does not allow a "publications-based" thesis so I need to write a thesis in the context of a book etc.

As I write my thesis in a couple of places, especially in the literature review, I tend to reuse sentences from my publications. I try to restate them a bit, maybe change some words for their synonyms etc. but it is practically me writing about what I wrote before. It goes without saying that I cite/quote me at the end of a passage if I say something non-obvious (I found that slightly funny. :) ). The problem is that occasionally I am just explaining for instance how a certain estimation technique works; in that case I cite the original authors and not myself. The syntax in those occasions though is practically the same as the original passage I used in my publication; as I have explained it once and was consider good, I find no reason to reinvent myself (I do a mild rewording as I mentioned but that is quite insignificant). Same things goes for listings. I do cite my paper in the beginning of a big list as the list's source but the list itself is almost identical as the one in "my" paper; in those cases I don't use quotations, just attribution "[]".

Is there an obvious guideline? The basic definition of plagiarism " reproducing the work of another person's as your own " is not (directly) applicable to me because I am the other person (almost *); if I am using other people's work I do cite them but I don't cite myself, citing them, in quotation marks!

I am a bit "fuzzy" about how not to plagiarize myself in my thesis (I have had no problem regarding my journal publications).

(* In all publications mentioned I am the first -but not sole- author.)

• self-plagiarism

• Did you look at the other question ? –  Nobody Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 4:30
• @scaaahu: This is a slightly different question, asking about how to use papers when a "stapler" or "sandwich" thesis is not allowed, although the answer is similar. –  aeismail Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 4:32
• 27 This is one reason why this entire "self-plagiarism" notion is ridiculous. The word has been usurped to mean something which it is not, stealing another's work. It should be called what it is, duplicate publication. There are issues with copyright when reusing ones own work, however the ethics should be clear, plagiarism is stealing another's work and presenting it as one's own, which is far worse than duplicate publication, or passing off past work as new. The latter is unethical, but it is not plagiarism! –  daaxix Commented Sep 3, 2015 at 22:40
• 9 Additionally, companies like iThenticate are now capitalizing on this trend. As a scientist, I want a concise, clear, and well worded paragraph describing some method, phenomenon, or mathematical model. For many scientists, such paragraphs are often reproduced over and over again since they work in narrow subfields, even when the meat of a publication is new, the introduction, methods, etc. may be refined to a point where it is about the best it can be. Should this then be re-worded just to avoid being flagged by iThenticate and clones? I don't think so, but it appears that we are headed there –  daaxix Commented Sep 3, 2015 at 22:47

7 Answers 7

Even if your department does not allow a "stapler" thesis, it is entirely reasonable to expect that you should be able to freely use this material in a thesis. In general, I would expect that you would have to include a copyright statement similar in form to hose that would be used were you to copy the entire paper outright.

To cover against charges of plagiarism, I would simply acknowledge something like "Some passages have been quoted verbatim from the following sources," and list them. Also, when you reuse figures, I'd include the "reprinted with permission" tag.

Finally, ask your advisor or other members of your department for guidance! Since you're not the only person subject to this restriction, they've gone through this situation before, and can provide you with information on how former students have handled this.

The letter of the copyright law is extremely weird in such cases (formally you may need to request a permission from the journal editor to reproduce something, especially a picture, you made and submitted there yourself a few years ago, if you have assigned copyrights-some journals require copyright transfer, some do not). However, the spirit of the law is that you are free to use your own work several times even if you assigned your copyright away as long as you clearly state that it is not the first time you present (this is not required if you both retain all the rights and no originality expected) it and that the previous publications are such and such. To be on the safe side, write to the editors and request a permission to reprint (it is automatic unless the editor is an evil villain having personal grudge against you). However anyone trying to accuse you of using your own work without his permission will make such a fool of himself in the scientific world that his reputation there will plummet to negative infinity, so I don't think the chances of trouble are above those that some crank will accuse you of plagiarizing his work or that the outcome of the accusation, if it occurs, will be essentially different.

• Thanks, given your answer and that of Peter's I guess I need to come in contact with an editor indeed. –  user8448 Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 17:48
• 1 Correction: you are mostly right about plagiarism issues, but not about copyright. Self-plagiarism is a real thing (and misconduct in some cases)—but reusing your papers in your thesis (with citation!) is completely fine. "The spirit of the law is that you are free to use your own work several times even if you assigned your copyright away" seems wrong about copyright. Publishers' copyright transfers can have specific provisions for theses (ACM has), but I strongly believe they're needed. –  Blaisorblade Commented Jul 11, 2017 at 6:23

I use sentences like "The results described in this chapter have been published as [xx]." or "This chapter gives the argumentation published in [yy]".

However, my primary reason for this is less concern about self-plagiarism (papes and thesis are in different languages) than pointing out that these findings/developments have passed peer-review during a publication process. But if you give the appropriate citations also to your paper, I think it is important to make it easy for the reader to see whether the citation is your contribution or not.

slightly off-topic: I even go one step further and at the very beginning (in a section about abbreviations, symbols and conventions) explain that papers [1 - x] were written in direct connection with the thesis, and are put to the front of the literature list to allow the reader to easily detect my contributions to the field. You could also solve this by giving reference lists "my contributions" and "other people's contributions" (similar to how some fields give primary literature lists and secondary literature lists).

• Interesting suggestion (about the literature lists), thank you. –  user8448 Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 17:46
• With regard to your slightly off-topic comment, that only works in fields where the norm is for the bibliography to be sorted in order of citation. In many fields (e.g., pure maths and computer science), the bibliography is normally sorted alphabetically by first author so this trick wouldn't work. –  David Richerby Commented Apr 23, 2014 at 9:29

The papers you have published and that my be under review in a journal require permission to rproduce. It is therefore necessary to write to the journals and ask for permission to reproduce the contents in a thesis. I have heard of journals that refuse but they are very few. What you should remember, however, is that the copyright usually covers the final product or versions of the manuscript that have been altered as a result of work done within the journal, in other words gone through or in some stage of review. It would therefore be safe to reproduce your original submitted manuscript. You will need to acknowledge the permissions in your thesis (e.g. if you include a list of published paers and manuscripts in prep.).

All this may seem complicated but I have not experienced any publisher that has refused reproduction (either of a reprint or the text itself) in a thesis. After all, publishers live off of scientists writing papers and a PhD candidate (and scientists involved with her/him) is another "customer" to put it bluntly. It would therefore potentially be pretty self-destructive to refuse use of materials for a thesis with very limited distrubution.

Under any circumstances, please contact publishersand tell them what you intend to do andaskfor permission. Also check on the copyrights (which you usually sign at some point during the publication process. It is "better safe that sorry" that applies. And, I repeat, I would be surprised if you are given a no.

EDIT: A good way to find out what "your" journal adheres to is ot use the SHERPA/RoMEO site classification for self-archiving. They use a four part classification as follows:

green - can archive pre-print and post-print or publisher's version/PDF blue - can archive post-print (i.e. final draft post-refereeing) or publisher's version/PDF yellow - can archive pre-print (i.e. pre-refereeing) white - archiving not formally supported

The level or archiving indcates what also falls under the copyright agreement of each journal and hence also what you may be free to reproduce in a thesis, and what you are not.

• 11 Most of the copyright transfer agreements I met so far explicitly say that you retain the right to reuse your paper for a thesis. Depending on the exact wording, you may not even need to ask for permission. –  cbeleites Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 13:44
• 6 and that my be under review — Huh? Transfer of copyright only happens after the paper is accepted. What am I missing? –  JeffE Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 15:24
• @JeffE The fact that one may easily sign the transfer without reading after all passages are reproduced but before the thesis appears in print, i.e., that human beings are forgetful and lazy by nature (I am, at least). However you are 100% right from the formal standpoint. –  fedja Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 16:07
• Also, many publishers have either explicitly posted policies stating exactly what is required or "clearance websites" where such permissions can be obtained. –  aeismail Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 17:27
• 1 Thank you for the SHERPA/RoMEO website, it was really helpful. (Apparently my currently submitted work is on "green" journals, my published one on a "yellow" and a "white" one...) I will look the copyright agreements in detail. –  user8448 Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 17:44

Are your papers really your own papers, or maybe you have some coauthors? That's when it becomes complicated. It will be hard to claim that the text you copied is exclusively your own work when the original paper is drafted and signed off by other people. On the other hand the thesis should be your own work exclusively.

• 1 That is the primary difference between "stapler thesis" style and the reuse discussed here -- in the stapler method the thesis will contain contributions of coauthors. But repeating one's own contributions is still perfectly fine, and the automatic assumption will be that the parts so used are the portions which the thesis author was responsible in the earlier work; only the coauthors themselves will have any basis for thinking otherwise. So it's worth noting that one shouldn't claim the work of coauthors as one's own, but that possibility hardly disqualifies use of prior published work. –  Ben Voigt Commented Dec 12, 2014 at 14:58

If you quote from your own paper, you may have to justify to the degrees committee how much of the paper was your work. If you are first author, it should be no problem, otherwise can you put a figure on what percentage was your own work ? Even if not all your own work, if the actual research was done by you, it should be possible to put a different slant on it. Having your ideas published already helps with the defence, as you can demonstrate successful peer review

Talk to your advisor/sponsor of your thesis!!!

Read your school's and department's policy of plagiarism. Some will include "self-pgagiarism" some don't.

It is all up to the advisor and school. If they accept it, then it is fine. If they do not accept it, it is not fine.

If you are the copyright holder (or have rights), then there is no legal issue. Even if you aren't the holder, there are provisions in the law for academic references.

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What is plagiarism.

Plagiarism is usually defined as a discrete offense, a specific failure to give credit to a particular source. But it actually raises a much more fundamental question for writers: “Where is my voice in this project?” Seen in this light, the strategies that help you avoid plagiarism can also be strategies that help you gain power as a writer. Once your guiding question about your relationship to sources is “Where is my voice?” you are well on your way to using sources in an effective and legitimate way.

Plagiarism is the use of another’s work, words, or ideas without attribution. The word “plagiarism” comes from the Latin word for “kidnapper” and is considered a form of theft, a breach of honesty in the academic community. Plagiarizers suffer serious consequences in Yale College—including suspension or expulsion from school. (See the Yale College Undergraduate Regulations for more information.)

But beyond the risk of penalties, there are urgent moral and intellectual reasons to avoid plagiarism. When you write for an academic audience, you’re joining an ongoing conversation. When you plagiarize, you join that conversation on false grounds, representing yourself as someone you are not. What is more, the act of stealing another’s words or ideas erases your voice. It may be difficult to think of yourself as making an original contribution in the context of a class taught by an expert. But every assignment is an invitation to add something new to the conversation sparked by the course. You cannot make an original contribution if you are not the owner of the words and ideas that you present.

Plagiarism takes many forms, but it falls into three main categories: using a source’s language without quoting, using information from a source without attribution, and paraphrasing a source in a form that stays too close to the original. There are variations on these categories that you may not be familiar with, so see the Warning section for a fuller discussion of the rules and see the Fair Paraphrase section for a discussion of how to use a source’s idea in your own argument.

You must always make clear in your written work where you have borrowed from others—whether data, opinions, questions, ideas, or specific language. This obligation holds whether the sources are published or unpublished and whether they are in print or on the Internet. When in doubt, be sure to check with your instructor about how to acknowledge sources in your papers, especially since every academic discipline has its own conventions.

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How can i access paperpal’s online plagiarism checker, how many pages or words can i check per month, will my unused quota transfer to next month, if i check the same document twice, will it deduct from my monthly 7,000 words the second time, what software is being used to detect similarity, what database is my writing checked against, how do i interpret the similarity score, why did i get a high similarity score after polishing language with ai-generated text on paperpal, can paperpal ensure that my content is not flagged by plagiarism or ai detection tools, my paper is completely original. why is my similarity score so high, what types of documents can i upload, are my documents stored and added to turnitin’s database, understand plagiarism and ethical writing.

Want to master the basics of ethical academic writing and avoid accidental plagiarism when using AI tools? Check out these curated articles on plagiarism and ethical academic writing guidelines!

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Check for unintentional plagiarism

Easily check your paper for missing citations and accidental plagiarism with the EasyBib plagiarism checker. The EasyBib plagiarism checker:

• Scans your paper against billions of sources.
• Identifies text that may be flagged for plagiarism.
• Provides you with a plagiarism score.

You can submit your paper at any hour of the day and quickly receive a plagiarism report.

What is the EasyBib plagiarism checker? 

Most basic plagiarism checkers review your work and calculate a percentage, meaning how much of your writing is indicative of original work. But, the EasyBib plagiarism checker goes way beyond a simple percentage. Any text that could be categorized as potential plagiarism is highlighted, allowing you time to review each warning and determine how to adjust it or how to cite it correctly.

You’ll even see the sources against which your writing is compared and the actual word for word breakdown. If you determine that a warning is unnecessary, you can waive the plagiarism check suggestion.

Plagiarism is unethical because it doesn’t credit those who created the original work; it violates intellectual property and serves to benefit the perpetrator. It is a severe enough academic offense, that many faculty members use their own plagiarism checking tool for their students’ work. With the EasyBib Plagiarism checker, you can stay one step ahead of your professors and catch citation mistakes and accidental plagiarism before you submit your work for grading.

Why use a plagiarism checker? 

Imagine – it’s finals week and the final research paper of the semester is due in two days. You, being quite familiar with this high-stakes situation, hit the books, and pull together a ten-page, last-minute masterpiece using articles and materials from dozens of different sources.

However, in those late, coffee-fueled hours, are you fully confident that you correctly cited all the different sources you used? Are you sure you didn’t accidentally forget any? Are you confident that your teacher’s plagiarism tool will give your paper a 0% plagiarism score?

That’s where the EasyBib plagiarism checker comes in to save the day. One quick check can help you address all the above questions and put your mind at ease.

What exactly is plagiarism? 

Plagiarism has a number of possible definitions; it involves more than just copying someone else’s work. Improper citing, patchworking, and paraphrasing could all lead to plagiarism in one of your college assignments. Below are some common examples of accidental plagiarism that commonly occur.

Quoting or paraphrasing without citations

Not including in-text citations is another common type of accidental plagiarism. Quoting is taking verbatim text from a source. Paraphrasing is when you’re using another source to take the same idea but put it in your own words. In both cases, it’s important to always cite where those ideas are coming from. The EasyBib plagiarism checker can help alert you to when you need to accurately cite the sources you used.

Patchwork plagiarism

When writing a paper, you’re often sifting through multiple sources and tabs from different search engines. It’s easy to accidentally string together pieces of sentences and phrases into your own paragraphs. You may change a few words here and there, but it’s similar to the original text. Even though it’s accidental, it is still considered plagiarism. It’s important to clearly state when you’re using someone else’s words and work.

Improper citations

Depending on the class, professor, subject, or teacher, there are multiple correct citation styles and preferences. Some examples of common style guides that are followed for citations include MLA, APA, and Chicago style. When citing resources, it’s important to cite them accurately. Incorrect citations could make it impossible for a reader to track down a source and it’s considered plagiarism. There are EasyBib citation tools to help you do this.

Don’t fall victim to plagiarism pitfalls. Most of the time, you don’t even mean to commit plagiarism; rather, you’ve read so many sources from different search engines that it gets difficult to determine an original thought or well-stated fact versus someone else’s work. Or worse, you assume a statement is common knowledge, when in fact, it should be attributed to another author.

When in doubt, cite your source!

Time for a quick plagiarism quiz! 

Which of the following requires a citation?

• A chart or graph from another source
• A paraphrase of an original source
• Several sources’ ideas summarized into your own paragraph
• A direct quote
• All of the above

If you guessed option E than you’d be correct. Correct punctuation and citation of another individual’s ideas, quotes, and graphics are a pillar of good academic writing.

What if you copy your own previous writing?

Resubmitting your own original work for another class’s assignment is a form of self-plagiarism, so don’t cut corners in your writing. Draft an original piece for each class or ask your professor if you can incorporate your previous research.

What features are available with the EasyBib plagiarism checker? 

Along with providing warnings and sources for possible plagiarism, the EasyBib  plagiarism checker works alongside the other EasyBib tools, including a grammar checker  and a spell checker . You’ll receive personalized feedback on your thesis and writing structure too!

The  plagiarism checker compares your writing sample with billions of available sources online so that it detects plagiarism at every level. You’ll be notified of which phrases are too similar to current research and literature, prompting a possible rewrite or additional citation. You’ll also get feedback on your paper’s inconsistencies, such as changes in text, formatting, or style. These small details could suggest possible plagiarism within your assignment.

And speaking of citations, there are also  EasyBib citation tools  available. They help you quickly build your bibliography and avoid accidental plagiarism. Make sure you know which citation format your professor prefers!

Great! How do I start? 

Simply copy and paste or upload your essay into the checker at the top of this page. You’ll receive the first five grammar suggestions for free! To try the plagiarism checker for free, start your EasyBib Plus three-day free trial.* If you love the product and decide to opt for premium services, you’ll have access to unlimited writing suggestions and personalized feedback.

The EasyBib plagiarism checker is conveniently available 24 hours a day and seven days a week. You can cancel anytime.  Check your paper for free today!.

*See Terms and Conditions

Visit www.easybib.com for more information on helpful EasyBib writing and citing tools.

For informational guides and on writing and citing, visit the EasyBib guides homepage .

Scribbr Plagiarism Checker

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• Used by 881 students in the last 24 hours.
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How it works.

Upload a Microsoft Word, PDF or ODT file of your paper, enter your details and pay.

2. Wait a few minutes

Your document is compared to billions of web pages, books, articles and more. This may take a few minutes.

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Similarities are highlighted and matched to the source. You also receive a plagiarism score.

4. Fix plagiarism

Add missing citations or rewrite your text. Our award-winning Knowledge Base can help you.

Frequently asked questions

No, the Self-Plagiarism Checker does not store your document in any public database.

In addition, you can delete all your personal information and documents from the Scribbr server as soon as you’ve received your plagiarism report.

Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker is powered by elements of Turnitin’s Similarity Checker , namely the plagiarism detection software and the Internet Archive and Premium Scholarly Publications content databases .

The add-on AI detector is powered by Scribbr’s proprietary software.

Extensive testing proves that Scribbr’s plagiarism checker is one of the most accurate plagiarism checkers on the market in 2022.

The software detects everything from exact word matches to synonym swapping. It also has access to a full range of source types, including open- and restricted-access journal articles, theses and dissertations, websites, PDFs, and news articles.

At the moment we do not offer a monthly subscription for the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker . This means you won’t be charged on a recurring basis – you only pay for what you use. We believe this provides you with the flexibility to use our service as frequently or infrequently as you need, without being tied to a contract or recurring fee structure.

You can find an overview of the prices per document here:

Please note that we can’t give refunds if you bought the plagiarism check thinking it was a subscription service as communication around this policy is clear throughout the order process.

Your document will be compared to the world’s largest and fastest-growing content database , containing over:

• 99.3 billion current and historical webpages.
• 8 million publications from more than 1,700 publishers such as Springer, IEEE, Elsevier, Wiley-Blackwell, and Taylor & Francis.

Note: Scribbr does not have access to Turnitin’s global database with student papers. Only your university can add and compare submissions to this database.

Scribbr’s plagiarism checker offers complete support for 20 languages, including English, Spanish, German, Arabic, and Dutch.

The add-on AI Detector and AI Proofreader are only available in English.

The complete list of supported languages:

If your university uses Turnitin, the result will be very similar to what you see at Scribbr.

The only possible difference is that your university may compare your submission to a private database containing previously submitted student papers. Scribbr does not have access to these private databases (and neither do other plagiarism checkers).

To cater to this, we have the Self-Plagiarism Checker at Scribbr. Just upload any document you used and start the check. You can repeat this as often as you like with all your sources. With your Plagiarism Check order, you get a free pass to use the Self-Plagiarism Checker. Simply upload them to your similarity report and let us do the rest!

Your writing stays private. Your submissions to Scribbr are not published in any public database, so no other plagiarism checker (including those used by universities) will see them.

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A publication of the harvard college writing program.

Harvard Guide to Using Sources 

• The Honor Code

How to Avoid Plagiarism

It's not enough to know why plagiarism is taken so seriously in the academic world or to know how to recognize it. You also need to know how to avoid it. The simplest cases of plagiarism to avoid are the intentional ones: If you copy a paper from a classmate, buy a paper from the Internet, copy whole passages from a book, article, or Web site without citing the author, you are plagiarizing. Here's the best advice you'll ever receive about avoiding intentional plagiarism: If you're tempted to borrow someone else's ideas or plagiarize in any way because you're pressed for time, nervous about how you're doing in a class, or confused about the assignment, don't do it . The problems you think you're solving by plagiarizing are really minor compared to the problems you will create for yourself by plagiarizing. In every case, the consequences of plagiarism are much more serious than the consequences of turning in a paper late or turning in a paper you're not satisfied to have written.

"...the consequences of plagiarism are much more serious than the consequences of turning in a paper late..."

The consequences of accidental plagiarism are equally daunting and should be avoided at all costs. Whether or not you intended to plagiarize, you will still be held responsible. As a member of an intellectual community you are expected to respect the ideas of others in the same way that you would respect any other property that didn't belong to you, and this is true whether you plagiarize on purpose or by accident. The best way to make sure you don't plagiarize due to confusion or carelessness is to 1) understand what you're doing when you write a paper and 2) follow a method that is systematic and careful as you do your research . In other words, if you have a clear sense of what question you're trying to answer and what knowledge you're building on, and if you keep careful, clear notes along the way, it's much easier to use sources effectively and responsibly and, most of all, to write a successful paper. If you have questions about plagiarism at any point in your research or writing process, ask. It's always better to ask questions than it is to wait for an instructor to respond to work that you have turned in for a grade. Once you have turned in your final work, you will be held responsible for misuse of sources.

With these principles in mind, here are some guidelines for conducting research responsibly:

Keep track of your sources; print electronic sources

While it's easy enough to keep a stack of books or journal articles on your desk where you can easily refer back to them, it's just as important to keep track of electronic sources. When you save a PDF of a journal article, make sure you put it into a folder on your computer where you'll be able to find it. When you consult a Web site, log the Web address in a separate document from the paper you're writing so that you'll be able to return to the Web site and cite it correctly. You should also print the relevant pages from any Web sites you use, making sure you note the complete URL and the date on which you printed the material. Because electronic sources aren't stable and Web pages can be deleted without notice, beware of directing your readers to sources that might have disappeared. Check when the Web site you're using was last updated and update the URLs as you work and once again right before you submit your essay. If an electronic source disappears before you submit your work, you will need to decide whether or not to keep the source in your paper. If you have printed the source and can turn it in with your paper, you should do so. If you have not printed the source, you should consult your instructor about whether or not to use that source in your paper.

The library has several helpful resources for managing your sources, including RefWorks .

Keep sources in correct context

Whenever you consult a source, you should make sure you understand the context, both of the ideas within a source and of the source itself. You should also be careful to consider the context in which a source was written. For example, a book of essays published by an organization with a political bias might not present an issue with adequate complexity for your project.

The question of context can be more complicated when you're working with Internet sources than with print sources because you may see one Web page as separate from an entire Web site and use or interpret that page without fully understanding or representing its context. For example, a definition of "communism" taken from a Web site with a particular political agenda might provide one interpretation of the meaning of the word—but if you neglect to mention the context for that definition you might use it as though it's unbiased when it isn't. Likewise, some Internet searches will take you to a URL that's just one Web page within a larger Web site; be sure to investigate and take notes on the context of the information you're citing.

Research can often turn out to be more time-consuming that you anticipate. Budget enough time to search for sources, to take notes, and to think about how to use the sources in your essay. Moments of carelessness are more common when you leave your essay until the last minute and are tired or stressed. Honest mistakes can lead to charges of plagiarism just as dishonesty can; be careful when note-taking and when incorporating ideas and language from electronic sources so you always know what language and ideas are yours and what belongs to a source.

Don't cut and paste: File and label your sources

Never cut and paste information from an electronic source straight into your own essay, and never type verbatim sentences from a print source straight into your essay. Instead, open a separate document on your computer for each source so you can file research information carefully. When you type or cut and paste into that document, make sure to include the full citation information for the print source or the full URL and the date you copied the page(s). For Web sources, make sure to cite the page from which you're taking information, which may not necessarily be the home page of the site you're using. Use logical and precise names for the files you create, and add citation information and dates. This allows you to retrieve the files easily, deters you from accidentally deleting files, and helps you keep a log of the order in which your research was conducted. It's a good idea to add a note to each file that describes how you might use the information in that file. Remember: you're entering a conversation with your sources, and accurate file names and notes can help you understand and engage that conversation. And, of course, always remember to back up your files.

Keep your own writing and your sources separate

Work with either the printed copy of your source(s) or (in the case of online sources), the copy you pasted into a separate document—not the online version—as you draft your essay. This precaution not only decreases the risk of plagiarism but also enables you to annotate your sources in various ways that will help you understand and use them most effectively in your essay.

Keep your notes and your draft separate

Be careful to keep your research notes separate from your actual draft at all stages of your writing process. This will ensure that you don't cut language from a source and paste it into your paper without proper attribution. If you work from your notes, you're more likely to keep track of the boundaries between your own ideas and those in a source.

Paraphrase carefully in your notes; acknowledge your sources explicitly when paraphrasing

When you want to paraphrase material, it's a good idea first to paste the actual quotation into your notes (not directly into your draft) and then to paraphrase it (still in your notes). Putting the information in your own words will help you make sure that you've thought about what the source is saying and that you have a good reason for using it in your paper. Remember to use some form of notation in your notes to indicate what you've paraphrased and mention the author's name within the material you paraphrase. You should also include all citation information in your notes.

When you decide to use paraphrased material in your essay, make sure that you avoid gradually rewording the paraphrased material from draft to draft until you lose sight of the fact that it's still a paraphrase. Also, avoid excessive paraphrasing in which your essay simply strings together a series of paraphrases. When the ideas taken from your sources start to blend in deceptively with your own thinking, you will have a more difficult time maintaining the boundaries between your ideas and those drawn from sources. Finally, whenever you paraphrase, make sure you indicate, at each logical progression, that the ideas are taken from an authored source.

Avoid reading a classmate's paper for inspiration

If you're in a course that requires peer review or workshops of student drafts, you are going to read your classmates' work and discuss it. This is a productive way of exchanging ideas and getting feedback on your work. If you find, in the course of this work, that you wish to use someone else's idea at some point in your paper (you should never use someone else's idea as your thesis, but there may be times when a classmate's idea would work as a counterargument or other point in your paper), you must credit that person the same way you would credit any other source. On the other hand, if you find yourself reading someone else's paper because you're stuck on an assignment and don't know how to proceed, you may end up creating a problem for yourself because you might unconsciously copy that person's ideas. When you're stuck, make an appointment with your instructor or go to the Writing Center for advice on how to develop your own ideas.

Don't save your citations for later

Never paraphrase or quote from a source without immediately adding a citation. You should add citations in your notes, in your response papers, in your drafts, and in your revisions. Without them, it's too easy to lose track of where you got a quotation or an idea and to end up inadvertently taking credit for material that's not your own.

Quote your sources properly

Always use quotation marks for directly quoted material, even for short phrases and key terms.

Keep a source trail

As you write and revise your essay, make sure that you keep track of your sources in your notes and in each successive draft of your essay. You should begin this process early, even before you start writing your draft. Even after you've handed in your essay, keep all of your research notes and drafts. You ought to be able to reconstruct the path you took from your sources to your notes and from your notes to your drafts and revision. These careful records and clear boundaries between your writing and your sources will help you avoid plagiarism. And if you are called upon to explain your process to your instructor, you'll be able to retrace the path you took when thinking, researching, and writing, from the essay you submitted back through your drafts and to your sources.

Free Plagiarism Checker by Quetext

Online plagiarism checker: how it works, enter text into plagiarism detector.

Our plagiarism detection tool, featuring DeepSearch™ Technology, provides a simple and effective method for checking plagiarism. Just copy and paste your content into the tool, then click the 'Check Plagiarism' button.

Check for plagiarism

Quetext’s online tool identifies any potentially plagiarized content throughout your document by running the text through three steps:

• 1. Contextual Analysis
• 2. Fuzzy Matching
• 3. Conditional Scoring

Evaluate plagiarism report

After evaluating the text against billions of internet sources, our plagiarism software will share your plagiarism results, including a score showing the percentage of text that is an exact or near-match to existing text online. (The higher the score, the more plagiarism found in your content!)

Resolve plagiarism risk and add citations

Our ColorGrade™ feature color-codes exact and near matches, letting you address plagiarism by modifying or citing the source. The "Cite Source" tool generates citations in MLA, APA, and Chicago formats for direct insertion into your document.

Plagiarism Checker Chrome Extension

Check the originality of webpage copy directly from your Google Chrome browser with our free plagiarism checker Chrome extension.

Benefits of Doing a Plagiarism Check

Whether producing original content or verifying that of others, there’s a lot to gain from using a plagiarism checker. An accurate, user-friendly plagiarism scanner provides real-time, automatic detection of duplicate content, facilitating the copy-checking process for teachers, students, content writers, and more. Results showing the exact percentage of plagiarized content allow users to see exactly how much text has been copied and where they need to re-word, thus helping to avoid unintentional plagiarism.

For Teachers

Our tool ensures academic integrity by verifying students’ work for originality, aiding educators in grading. From K-12 to higher education, it automates plagiarism checks, freeing teachers to prioritize work quality over originality scrutiny in academic and research papers.

For Students

The prevalence of academic plagiarism is increasing, often unintentionally. A reliable online plagiarism checker offers students peace of mind when submitting academic papers. It's easier to check for potential plagiarism before submission than to defend your writing later. Quetext ensures accurate results and helps students cite sources with its built-in citation generator.

For Copywriters

Plagiarism risk extends beyond academia to business and individual writing. Copied content is a concern for content writers tasked with creating original content on diverse topics. Our plagiarism checker swiftly prevents copyright infringement, ensuring bloggers and writers maintain integrity. Checking lengthy pieces takes minutes, safeguarding companies’ public content and writers’ reputations.

Quetext’s Online Tool Has It All:

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• Bulk file uploads
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• 100,000 total words/month per user
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What is AI Plagiarism Detection?

As AI tools advance, creating content that mimics original work can now constitute plagiarism. This underscores the necessity for AI-driven detection tools. Our AI content detector uses sophisticated algorithms to scan and compare vast databases, ensuring accurate identification of plagiarized content. Employing an AI plagiarism checker like these is crucial to maintain integrity in academic and professional spheres, safeguarding against unintentional or deliberate plagiarism.

Plagiarism Checker FAQ

What is plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the act of representing someone else’s work as your own. In educational contexts, definitions vary by institution. It includes direct copying, improper paraphrasing, and self-plagiarism, where one reuses their own work without citation. Plagiarism violates academic integrity and journalistic ethics. In academic writing, producing original work and appropriately crediting sources prevents plagiarized content. Accidental plagiarism occurs when sources are unintentionally cited incorrectly, underscoring the importance of understanding citation practices. Maintaining originality and avoiding plagiarism not only uphold academic integrity but also contribute to creating original content that advances knowledge and scholarship.

What percentage of a paper can be plagiarized (or copied) and still be considered unique?

Generally speaking, similar or exact copies of another source should be kept under 15% for the total text of the article/paper/essay. As a best practice, citations should be used whenever using another original source word-for-word.

What’s the difference between deliberate and accidental plagiarism?

Deliberate plagiarism is purposely copying works from books, articles, webpages, or someone else’s paper and representing it as your original work. Alternatively, accidental plagiarism occurs in a few different ways:

• Incorrectly citing another person’s works
• Failing to paraphrase another person’s works - even when citing it correctly
• Reusing your own previous papers and inadvertently representing it as a new idea

A plagiarism checker works by comparing the submitted copy against known existing content. This sort of similarity checker flags instances of duplicate content, allowing the writer to modify those areas to avoid any claims of plagiarism.

What are the consequences of plagiarism?

The consequences of plagiarizing another person’s work vary by profession. For Students: Maintaining academic integrity is crucial. Students must ensure their work is not plagiarized. Consequences include failing grades, removal from classes, or expulsion. Even if allowed to stay, students may face mistrust and scrutiny. For Copywriters: Copywriters must produce original content. Plagiarized content can damage their reputation and make it hard to get assignments. Ensuring 100% originality is their responsibility. For Journalists: Journalists must uphold high standards of integrity. Plagiarized content erodes trust with readers and publishers, potentially ending careers. They must produce original, well-cited content.

Why is plagiarism bad?

There are several reasons why plagiarism is wrong, all centering around violating academic integrity, undermining originality, and eroding trust. It leads to legal consequences, tarnishes reputations, and stunts personal growth. Avoiding plagiarism preserves credibility, fosters creativity, and upholds ethical standards. Educational institutions and search engines penalize plagiarized content, impacting SEO rankings and visibility. Embracing originality ensures sustainable success and fosters a trustworthy reputation online.

Can AI-generated content be considered plagiarism-free?

AI-generated content, such as text produced by language models like GPT-3, GPT-4, and Gemini, can be considered plagiarism-free if properly used and cited. However, using AI writing tools like ChatGPT without adequate citation can lead to unintentional plagiarism. It's vital to use an AI content detector to ensure originality. High-quality tools that use advanced detection models, like Quetext’s AI Detector, can help identify AI-generated text, minimizing the risk of false positives and ensuring that submissions are plagiarism-free.

How does AI technology impact plagiarism detection?

AI-generated content and AI-generated text are now common, making AI content detection crucial. Detecting AI technology, including advanced algorithms and language models like ChatGPT-3 and GPT-4, has significantly improved plagiarism detection. Tools like Quetext’s AI detector tool utilize these advanced models to compare submitted text against vast databases, ensuring accurate detection of potential plagiarism and copy written by artificial intelligence or generative ai.

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Deadlines are a dreaded thing in academics, and so is plagiarism. If you’re short on time or were late to start your dissertation or thesis, you’d hope the submission day would never arrive. And days pass by as they should, they seem to pass faster than your dissertation is still in the works. You have no clue how it will turn out, or will it even be completed before the judgment day. Now you want to put a pedal to the metal and just get done with it. But you also want to impress your professor and get good grades. This is when most students put the copy to the paste. And once you include matter that’s not yours, and omit it, too bad. You have contributed to plagiarism.

Don’t even…

Every college course demands that students be creative and original in presenting their ideas for research submissions. Presenting someone else’s ideas or words as your own is an act of Plagiarism. It is considered an academic malpractice and can land you in serious trouble. University policies and plagiarism will decide the severity of the disciplinary action. If caught, offenders could be given a failing grade or the more severe penalty of being suspended from a program or college.

Direct Plagiarism is the most blatant form of plagiarism where one includes a word-for-word transcript of a section of someone else’s writing. No citation, no paraphrasing. Do not do this even in the most desperate times. Direct plagiarism will lead to direct termination!

Patchwriting is a crafty method of plagiarism mostly undertaken by students who are more cautious in how they plagiarise. Also known as Mosaic Plagiarism, its when you copy and paste text from multiple sources while adding bits of original sentences and rewording existing ones. Patchwriting is paraphrasing taken to a whole new level!

Even if more efforts go into patchwriting, with the intent of coming across as original, it’s an effort in vain. The latest plagiarism-check software like iThenticate  & Turnitin  has the capacity to sift through tons of documents, even those that are not available on the web database and call you out! Save the struggle on this one.

And then, there are the more fortunate ones who can afford to hire ghostwriters to complete their dissertations on demand. Buying a copy of work written for you by a professional writer is also plagiarism. It also stands true when it’s not a paid service and you get it done by one of your friends or family members. The slightest effort doesn’t go into doing this and no one appreciates that.

Careful! You could do it unawares

There is much confusion even among the experienced lot in academia as to what constitutes for Self-Plagiarism . Some students think that it’s okay to add excerpts from their previous essays and submissions without adding a citation. Or submit essays in graduation that they had already written in high school on a similar topic. PhD students pick up huge chunks out of their previous work and add it to their thesis. This happens because most would ask “how can I plagiarize myself?” and then ignorantly accept that that’s not possible.

It’s important to understand that even if it’s your own ideas and words that you have used in your work, it is still not original. You have produced results based on your previous knowledge. For that, you must provide a citation.

Please consult your University’s plagiarism policy and academic code of conduct. That will give you a better idea of where to draw the line when using your previously published study.  

Another type of ‘accidental’ plagiarism is Paraphrasing Plagiarism. It’s committed when you summarize ideas or text from another source and fail to cite the original author and give a proper reference. If the string of words resembling the original text run too long, it could also be taken for word-for-word plagiarism.

Tips to avoid plagiarism

Cite your sources

Provide citation wherever it is needed and no one can point fingers at you. This is the easiest way to avoid plagiarism. When in doubt, cite it.

Use quotation marks

When paraphrasing, use quotation marks and give a proper reference wherever needed. Clarify that it’s a borrowed piece and you acknowledge it.  

Hire professional proofreaders and academic editors

Instead of hiring ghostwriters to write your theses and dissertations from scratch, hire proofreaders and academic editors to finish them with neat altercations and structuring. You can partner with PaperTrue to create plagiarism-proof works for any academic requirements.

Ask for help

Talk to your supervising professor or thesis advisor and be honest with them about your work. Seek advice on how much-borrowed material could be added to your papers.  

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Upload your Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis or dissertation to BachelorPrint in Word, PDF, OpenOffice, or any other common format. It is also possible to upload several documents at the same time. The plagiarism checker automatically detects the word count of your document and selects the right plagiarism package for your thesis. The plagiarism checker will then take care of the rest.

Comparison with billions of sources in all common languages

The text of your academic work will be divided into sections or so-called phrases. Using special algorithms, these will be checked for identical content in the world’s largest database (World Wide Web). The plagiarism checker can be used, regardless of what language your thesis is written in.

The plagiarism report

You will receive a detailed PDF report allowing you to see at first glance whether a possible plagiarism has been found. Each suspected area of your academic work will be highlighted in a given color and the respective source will be listed at the end. In summary, you will see the overall result as a percentage of matches.

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Information Plagiarism Software

The academic online plagiarism software scans every sentence, or passage, of your thesis or research paper for duplicates. The content is compared to all public internet resources and databases, and paragraphs suspected of plagiarism are identified. The plagiarism software marks the exact duplicated section and states the relevant source as a link.

You can get to the original source with a single click, and then fix your citation in your thesis.

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Do You Have Further Questions?

What do I need to know for using the plagiarism checker?

The plagiarism checker scans your whole document, looking for plagiarism. This also includes tables and indexes, as it might happen that entire tables or indexes are copied. Small similarities might always exist on work cited pages.

Note: If you do not want the plagiarism checker to scan these parts of your paper, change your document accordingly before you upload your thesis. Check now for plagiarism with our online plagiarism checker .

How long does a plagiarism check take?

A plagiarism check of a bachelor’s or master’s thesis (60-80 pages) normally takes between 10 and 20 minutes. It depends on the number of words submitted. In the case of longer pieces of work (200-300 pages), the plagiarism check can take up to an hour.

Does the plagiarism checker work in other languages?

Yes! The plagiarism check works in all languages. Regardless of the language or if you’re writing a Bachelor’s thesis or a dissertation, the plagiarism checker will work for you. Many of our services here at BachelorPrint are multilingual.

Will the document I upload be saved to a database?

The first step of the plagiarism check is to upload your file. This will be temporarily saved on our server. Then the text content of the uploaded document will be extracted, and your original file will be deleted. In the next step, the extracted text will be transferred to a temporary database and will be divided into individual sections according to language statistics.

The plagiarism checker then reads the individual sections and searches the World Wide Web for matches. In the last step, a plagiarism report will be generated, in which plagiarized areas are marked in color and the link to the original source is given. If you’re not sure why something has been marked as plagiarism, check out our blog post to find out more about what constitutes plagiarism . But don’t worry! Because 24 hours after using the plagiarism checker online, your data will be deleted – completely in line with data protection requirements!

Do I have to register for the plagiarism checker first?

No! It’s incredibly easy! You can just upload your document, choose your payment method, and then use the plagiarism checker without a user account or registering. Start your plagiarism check now.

Which sources will be used by the plagiarism software?

All publicly accessible online sources will be used in the plagiarism check. Databases where payment is required are excluded. If a book is online in a publicly accessible database, then the plagiarism software will also find this source. Have trouble organizing and citing your sources? Take a look at our blog posts. We have APA citation , Harvard referencing , and more.

What’s the difference between the BachelorPrint plagiarism software and Turnitin?

The BachelorPrint plagiarism software doesn’t save any uploaded work for data protection reasons, unlike Turnitin. Accordingly, we don’t rely on the same database as Turnitin.

However, our plagiarism software searches billions of publicly available sources on the World Wide Web.

Information : If the work is scanned for plagiarism in advance with Turnitin, and the university also uses Turnitin, there is a considerable potential risk for the writer. As Turnitin saves the uploaded work, this will then be in their database. If the university scans the same work on it, it will then be classified as complete plagiarism. This has already been heard of a few times. The student’s work therefore failed in the first instance, and they had to prove that they had written the document saved by Turnitin.

I haven't received an email with the plagiarism software. What should I do?

It’s possible that the email from the plagiarism software has gone into your spam folder. In extremely rare cases, our e-mail with the plagiarism report from the plagiarism software might have been blocked by your e-mail provider and haven’t been received. Please contact us at [email protected] . We will resend the plagiarism report right away.

Too few pages are shown in the plagiarism report. Why?

For an overview, only text passages that might contain plagiarism are shown in the plagiarism report. The other pages where no plagiarism is suspected will not be shown. So fewer pages in your plagiarism report is a good sign!

Why is a section marked as suspected plagiarism even though I have cited the source?

It’s possible that a section of text is marked as suspected plagiarism even though it has already been correctly cited, for example from a book. This happens if the software finds a further online source. In this case, the suspected plagiarism can be ignored and this serves merely as extra peace of mind. To learn more about properly citing your sources, read our blog post about how to cite a book .

Why should I use the online plagiarism software?

It mostly happens unintentionally. Mistakenly. Unknowingly. Due to time constraints. Even though every single student knows, or should know, that every source from a different author must be identified in an academic paper. Not complying with this principle is committing plagiarism. Therefore, you should use the online plagiarism software just to be sure.

There are well-known examples that indicate how rigorously academia deals with plagiarism. Writers of a Bachelor’s thesis, Master’s thesis, and other academic work didn’t have to fear being disqualified from their Ph.D. program or even public exposure. However, this is of little consolation to someone who has failed their bachelor’s thesis because of a few “forgotten” citations.

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‘White Fragility’ Author Accused of Plagiarizing Doctoral Thesis

Robin DiAngelo, the author of the 2018 best-seller White Fragility , is facing allegations that she plagiarized her 2004 doctoral thesis, including copying from minority scholars.

The Washington Free Beacon first reported the allegations , which were made in an anonymous complaint filed with the University of Washington . The school is where the dissertation was submitted, and DiAngelo is employed as an affiliate associate professor of education.

Though anonymous, the complaint matches similar complaints against other high-profile academics connected with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). This includes former Havard President Claudine Gay , the DEI head at Columbia University , and the head of a DEI program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) .

That said, the complaint against DiAngelo is unique for two reasons. This is the first time the campaign has targeted a white academic and one who is not a university official. That said, her work focuses on racial discourse, making her an obvious target. This is especially true as her book, White Fragility , is a best seller.

The other allegations in this campaign have been mixed. Though some have highlighted real issues, others have attempted to make mountains out of molehills.

So, which is this? To answer that, we need to examine the allegations and determine how serious they are.

Examining the Allegations

The 20-page complaint makes 20 separate allegations against DiAngelo. The allegations are not in page order and skip around the dissertation.

Most of the 20 allegations are either not examples of plagiarism or are, at best, very weak. For example, the first allegation deals with just 13 words. Though DiAngelo doesn’t cite the alleged source in that passage, she does elsewhere. Both sources describe a third paper and are likely pulling language from that.

Similarly, in the second allegation, DiAngelo does cite the alleged source. Though some text does overlap, it is only 14 words. While this is poor paraphrasing, it doesn’t sustain the argument that DiAngelo is trying to steal the work of other academics.

To be clear, these aren’t good. In an ideal world, you would not have passages like these. But they are not the greatest of academic sins either.

That’s not to say that there aren’t any problematic allegations. The twelfth one is probably the most troubling for me. It features a roughly 200-word passage clearly copied and pasted from an earlier source. DiAngelo does cite the source, but the citation is above the section in question, and there’s no indication that she is quoting the passage.

All in all, if someone handed me this document, I would recommend corrections and updates. However, given that many of the allegations are dubious and, even in total, only cover a small percentage of the dissertation, stronger action seems unwarranted.

The Wrinkle in the Story

At this point, the story follows the format of others we’ve seen. Though it highlights some legitimate issues, the complaint exaggerates the severity of the plagiarism, and the reporting around it has left off much of the nuance.

However, DiAngelo is unlike the other academics the campaign has targeted. She is a public figure, first and foremost. Her accountability statement says she will seek to “Always cite and give credit to the work of BIPOC people who have informed your thinking. When you use a phrase or idea you got from a BIPOC person, credit them.”

That did not happen here, at least not entirely.

While I don’t believe the evidence points to a malicious intent to steal others’ work, there was a lack of care and due diligence in places. In this case, I would argue that she did not live up to her accountability statement.

To be clear, I understand this pressure. As the author of a site named Plagiarism Today, I work hard to ensure my citations are as clean as possible. Often, I deliberately overcite out of an abundance of caution. However, I’m sure I’ve made mistakes over the past 18 years. But I acknowledge that my field and my presentation make those mistakes more problematic.

Still, it’s important to put this complaint into perspective. This complaint is not a good-faith attempt to improve academic or research integrity. It’s a targeted attack on a political or ideological opponent. But even if we take the whole complaint as truth, it represents approximately 2,000 words in a 72,000-word thesis. That equals roughly 3% of the completed dissertation.

While I agree that some corrective action is needed, that’s not what the complaint filers want. There’s no room for nuance or discussion when the goal is to discredit an ideology rather than address the actual issues in the work.

Bottom Line

In the past, I’ve criticized this particular campaign on two grounds. First, as I said above, it’s a bad-faith effort to discredit political opponents, not an attempt to improve academic integrity. Here, plagiarism is simply a tool for political gain, not an issue to be addressed.

Second, the complaints have routinely tried to exaggerate the amount of plagiarism. In my reading of the complaint, 5-7 allegations warranted some response. However, 20 allegations look more impressive, even if most don’t hold up. It’s easier to get headlines with bigger numbers.

During the height of the original scandals, I talked about the weaponization of plagiarism and how it is used to target political and ideological opponents. As someone whose focus is plagiarism, that is deeply worrying to me.

Plagiarism, citation and attribution are important issues in and of themselves. However, discussing plagiarism requires a degree of nuance and care that isn’t possible when wielding it as a weapon.

That, in turn, is how weaponizing plagiarism cheapens it. It becomes a tool to be used rather than a problem to be solved.

That is very true in this case. Dubious claims have buried genuine issues, and a rush to condemn has replaced a nuanced conversation. This story should worry you regardless of how you feel about DiAngelo and her work.

Robin DiAngelo Headshot: JasonPToews , CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

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What a Thesis Paper is and How to Write One

From choosing a topic and conducting research to crafting a strong argument, writing a thesis paper can be a rewarding experience.

It can also be a challenging experience. If you've never written a thesis paper before, you may not know where to start. You may not even be sure exactly what a thesis paper is. But don't worry; the right support and resources can help you navigate this writing process.

What is a Thesis Paper?

A thesis paper is a type of academic essay that you might write as a graduation requirement for certain bachelor's, master's or honors programs. Thesis papers present your own original research or analysis on a specific topic related to your field.

“In some ways, a thesis paper can look a lot like a novella,” said Shana Chartier , director of information literacy at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). “It’s too short to be a full-length novel, but with the standard size of 40-60 pages (for a bachelor’s) and 60-100 pages (for a master’s), it is a robust exploration of a topic, explaining one’s understanding of a topic based on personal research.”

Chartier has worked in academia for over 13 years and at SNHU for nearly eight. In her role as an instructor and director, Chartier has helped to guide students through the writing process, like editing and providing resources.

Chartier has written and published academic papers such as "Augmented Reality Gamifies the Library: A Ride Through the Technological Frontier" and "Going Beyond the One-Shot: Spiraling Information Literacy Across Four Years." Both of these academic papers required Chartier to have hands-on experience with the subject matter. Like a thesis paper, they also involved hypothesizing and doing original research to come to a conclusion.

“When writing a thesis paper, the importance of staying organized cannot be overstated,” said Chartier. “Mapping out each step of the way, making firm and soft deadlines... and having other pairs of eyes on your work to ensure academic accuracy and clean editing are crucial to writing a successful paper.”

How Do I Choose a Topic For My Thesis Paper?

What your thesis paper is for will determine some of the specific requirements and steps you might take, but the first step is usually the same: Choosing a topic.

“Choosing a topic can be daunting," said Rochelle Attari , a peer tutor at SNHU. "But if (you) stick with a subject (you're) interested in... choosing a topic is much more manageable.”

Similar to a thesis, Attari recently finished the capstone  for her bachelor’s in psychology . Her bachelor’s concentration is in forensics, and her capstone focused on the topic of using a combined therapy model for inmates who experience substance abuse issues to reduce recidivism.

“The hardest part was deciding what I wanted to focus on,” Attari said. “But once I nailed down my topic, each milestone was more straightforward.”

In her own writing experience, Attari said brainstorming was an important step when choosing her topic. She recommends writing down different ideas on a piece of paper and doing some preliminary research on what’s already been written on your topic.

By doing this exercise, you can narrow or broaden your ideas until you’ve found a topic you’re excited about. " Brainstorming is essential when writing a paper and is not a last-minute activity,” Attari said.

How Do I Structure My Thesis Paper?

Thesis papers tend to have a standard format with common sections as the building blocks.

While the structure Attari describes below will work for many theses, it’s important to double-check with your program to see if there are any specific requirements. Writing a thesis for a Master of Fine Arts, for example, might actually look more like a fiction novel.

According to Attari, a thesis paper is often structured with the following major sections:

Introduction

• Literature review
• Methods, results

Now, let’s take a closer look at what each different section should include.

Your introduction is your opportunity to present the topic of your thesis paper. In this section, you can explain why that topic is important. The introduction is also the place to include your thesis statement, which shows your stance in the paper.

Attari said that writing an introduction can be tricky, especially when you're trying to capture your reader’s attention and state your argument.

“I have found that starting with a statement of truth about a topic that pertains to an issue I am writing about typically does the trick,” Attari said. She demonstrated this advice in an example introduction she wrote for a paper on the effects of daylight in Alaska:

In the continental United States, we can always count on the sun rising and setting around the same time each day, but in Alaska, during certain times of the year, the sun rises and does not set for weeks. Research has shown that the sun provides vitamin D and is an essential part of our health, but little is known about how daylight twenty-four hours a day affects the circadian rhythm and sleep.

In the example Attari wrote, she introduces the topic and informs the reader what the paper will cover. Somewhere in her intro, she said she would also include her thesis statement, which might be:

Twenty-four hours of daylight over an extended period does not affect sleep patterns in humans and is not the cause of daytime fatigue in northern Alaska .

Literature Review

In the literature review, you'll look at what information is already out there about your topic. “This is where scholarly articles  about your topic are essential,” said Attari. “These articles will help you find the gap in research that you have identified and will also support your thesis statement."

Telling your reader what research has already been done will help them see how your research fits into the larger conversation. Most university libraries offer databases of scholarly/peer-reviewed articles that can be helpful in your search.

In the methods section of your thesis paper, you get to explain how you learned what you learned. This might include what experiment you conducted as a part of your independent research.

“For instance,” Attari said, “if you are a psychology major and have identified a gap in research on which therapies are effective for anxiety, your methods section would consist of the number of participants, the type of experiment and any other particulars you would use for that experiment.”

In this section, you'll explain the results of your study. For example, building on the psychology example Attari outlined, you might share self-reported anxiety levels for participants trying different kinds of therapies. To help you communicate your results clearly, you might include data, charts, tables or other visualizations.

The discussion section of your thesis paper is where you will analyze and interpret the results you presented in the previous section. This is where you can discuss what your findings really mean or compare them to the research you found in your literature review.

The discussion section is your chance to show why the data you collected matters and how it fits into bigger conversations in your field.

The conclusion of your thesis paper is your opportunity to sum up your argument and leave your reader thinking about why your research matters.

Attari breaks the conclusion down into simple parts. “You restate the original issue and thesis statement, explain the experiment's results and discuss possible next steps for further research,” she said.

Find Your Program

Resources to help write your thesis paper.

While your thesis paper may be based on your independent research, writing it doesn’t have to be a solitary process. Asking for help and using the resources that are available to you can make the process easier.

If you're writing a thesis paper, some resources Chartier encourages you to use are:

• Citation Handbooks: An online citation guide or handbook can help you ensure your citations are correct. APA , MLA and Chicago styles have all published their own guides.
• Citation Generators: There are many citation generator tools that help you to create citations. Some — like RefWorks — even let you directly import citations from library databases as you research.
• Your Library's Website: Many academic and public libraries allow patrons to access resources like databases or FAQs. Some FAQs at the SNHU library that might be helpful in your thesis writing process include “ How do I read a scholarly article? ” or “ What is a research question and how do I develop one? ”

It can also be helpful to check out what coaching or tutoring options are available through your school. At SNHU, for example, the Academic Support Center offers writing and grammar workshops , and students can access 24/7 tutoring and 1:1 sessions with peer tutors, like Attari.

"Students can even submit their papers and receive written feedback... like revisions and editing suggestions," she said.

If you are writing a thesis paper, there are many resources available to you. It's a long paper, but with the right mindset and support, you can successfully navigate the process.

“Pace yourself,” said Chartier. “This is a marathon, not a sprint. Setting smaller goals to get to the big finish line can make the process seem less daunting, and remember to be proud of yourself and celebrate your accomplishment once you’re done. Writing a thesis is no small task, and it’s important work for the scholarly community.”

A degree can change your life. Choose your program  from 200+ SNHU degrees that can take you where you want to go.

Meg Palmer ’18 is a writer and scholar by trade who loves reading, riding her bike and singing in a barbershop quartet. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English, language and literature at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) and her master’s degree in writing, rhetoric and discourse at DePaul University (’20). While attending SNHU, she served as the editor-in-chief of the campus student newspaper, The Penmen Press, where she deepened her passion for writing. Meg is an adjunct professor at Johnson and Wales University, where she teaches first year writing, honors composition, and public speaking. Connect with her on LinkedIn .

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What is Considered Plagiarism And How to Avoid It

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Founded in 1932, and online since 1995, we’ve helped countless students reach their goals with flexible, career-focused programs . Our 300-acre campus in Manchester, NH is home to over 3,000 students, and we serve over 135,000 students online. Visit our about SNHU  page to learn more about our mission, accreditations, leadership team, national recognitions and awards.

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• Knowledge Base
• Examples of Plagiarism & Tips for Avoiding It

Examples of Plagiarism & Tips for Avoiding It

Published on November 1, 2021 by Tegan George . Revised on July 15, 2022.

Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas without properly crediting the original author.

Some common examples of plagiarism include:

• Paraphrasing a source too closely
• Including a direct quote without quotation marks
• Copying elements of different sources and pasting them into a new document
• Leaving out an in-text citation
• Submitting a full text that is not your own

Table of contents

Paraphrasing plagiarism, verbatim plagiarism, patchwork plagiarism: combining multiple sources, common knowledge: when do i need a citation, real-life examples of plagiarism, frequently asked questions about plagiarism.

Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas into your own words. In order to do so correctly, you must entirely rewrite the passage you are referencing without changing the meaning of the original text.

Every time you paraphrase, it’s important to cite the original source and avoid wording that is too similar to the original. Otherwise, you could be at risk of committing paraphrasing plagiarism .

Remember that paraphrasing doesn’t just mean switching out a few words for synonyms while retaining the original sentence structure. The author’s idea must be reformulated in a way that fits smoothly into your text.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Quoting means copying a brief passage from another text, enclosing it in quotation marks .

If you fail to include quotation marks or a citation, you’re committing verbatim plagiarism : copying someone’s exact words without acknowledgement. Even if you change a few of the words, it’s still plagiarism.

To quote correctly, introduce the quotation in your own words, make sure it’s enclosed in quotation marks, and include a citation showing where it comes from.

Patchwork plagiarism , also called mosaic plagiarism, involves copying elements of different sources and combining them to create a new text. It can include both directly copying and paraphrasing content without citation.

It can be challenging to incorporate several sources into your work at once, so be sure to double-check that you are citing each one correctly.

If you quote or paraphrase multiple sources in one sentence, it’s often best to cite each one separately, so that it’s clear what material comes from which source.

“Americans have always remembered the battle. What we often forget are the difficult decisions tribal leaders made afterward to ensure the safety of their people” (Van Heuvelen, 2020).

“Under skies darkened by smoke, gunfire and flying arrows, 210 men of the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry Unit led by Lt. Colonel George Custer confronted thousands of Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne warriors on June 25, 1876, near the Little Big Horn River in present-day Montana. The engagement was one in a series of battles and negotiations between Plains Indians and U.S. forces over control of Western territory, collectively known as the Sioux Wars” (McDermott, 2021). Example: Patchwork plagiarism For many Americans, the headdress is a well-known symbol of indigenous America indistinguishable from the narrative of the “wild west and cowboys and Indians.” One of the most famous examples of the cowboys versus Indians narrative is the Battle of Little Bighorn.

On June 25, 1876, 210 men of the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry Unit led by Lt. Colonel George Custer confronted thousands of Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne warriors . Custer and his men were handily defeated, and Americans have always remembered the battle as “Custer’s Last Stand.” What is often forgotten is the difficult decisions tribal leaders made afterward to ensure the safety of their people . Example: Correctly citing multiple sources The headdress is a well-known symbol of indigenous America, forming part of “the narrative of the wild west and cowboys and Indians” (Van Heuvelen, 2020). One of the most famous examples of this narrative is the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Common knowledge refers to information you can reasonably expect the average reader to accept without proof.

For this kind of information, you don’t need a citation. For example, you won’t be accused of plagiarism for failing to cite your sources when you mention Paris is the capital city of France.

In order to be considered common knowledge, your statement must be widely known, undisputed, and easily verified. It also generally cannot be attributed to a specific person or paper. When in doubt, add a citation.

Plagiarism is most commonly discussed in the context of academia, but it’s a relevant concern across all sorts of different industries, from pop music to politics.

• Plagiarism in academia
• Plagiarism in art
• Plagiarism in politics
• Plagiarism in music

In 2006, the Brookings Institute accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having plagiarized 80% of his economics dissertation from a paper published by the University of Pittsburgh a few decades earlier.

Dissertation plagiarism committed by other famous politicians, such as former Senator John Walsh, former German Defense Secretary Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg, and former Hungarian President Pal Schmitt, led to their resignations and their degrees being revoked.

Source: CNN Reusing or copying existing materials has been a big part of many types of art. However, it is still possible to plagiarize art.

In 1966, famous Pop Art artist Andy Warhol was sued by photographer Patricia Caulfield, who claimed unauthorized use of one of her photographs. Warhol had seen her photo of hibiscus flowers in the 1964 issue of Modern Photography  and used it for his silkscreen work Flowers .

While Warhol’s team argued that this was “fair use,” a judge determined that Warhol had, in fact, plagiarized the photo. This led to enduring reputation costs and a large financial settlement.

Source: Garden Collage Many political speeches revolve around similar themes, but while it is natural to draw inspiration from previous speeches, paraphrasing them too closely is considered plagiarism.

In 2016, a speech Melania Trump gave at the Republican National Convention was found to have copied several paragraphs almost verbatim from a speech Michelle Obama gave at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

While her staff claimed that she had incorporated “fragments of others’ speeches that reflected her own thinking,” she was widely considered to have plagiarized.

Joe Biden was found to have committed similar plagiarism in a speech he gave during the 1988 presidential campaign, paraphrasing a speech by Welsh politician Neil Kinnock too closely.

Source: CNN While technically no one owns a chord progression or particular combination of sounds, plagiarism in the music industry is a common accusation.

In 2018, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the 2013 hit song “Blurred Lines,” by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, infringed on the copyright of the song “Got to Give it Up,” by the late Marvin Gaye. The Gaye family was awarded over $5 million in damages as well as 50% of the royalties moving forward.

This sets a precedent that new music must be different in both style and substance from previously copyrighted songs. Other hit artists, such as Sam Smith, George Harrison, and Olivia Rodrigo, have faced similar consequences.

Plagiarism means presenting someone else’s work as your own without giving proper credit to the original author. In academic writing, plagiarism involves using words, ideas, or information from a source without including a citation .

Plagiarism can have serious consequences , even when it’s done accidentally. To avoid plagiarism, it’s important to keep track of your sources and cite them correctly.

Some examples of plagiarism include:

• Copying and pasting a Wikipedia article into the body of an assignment
• Quoting a source without including a citation
• Not paraphrasing a source properly, such as maintaining wording too close to the original
• Forgetting to cite the source of an idea

The most surefire way to avoid plagiarism is to always cite your sources . When in doubt, cite!

If you’re concerned about plagiarism, consider running your work through a plagiarism checker tool prior to submission. Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker takes less than 10 minutes and can help you turn in your paper with confidence.

Common knowledge does not need to be cited. However, you should be extra careful when deciding what counts as common knowledge.

Common knowledge encompasses information that the average educated reader would accept as true without needing the extra validation of a source or citation.

Common knowledge should be widely known, undisputed and easily verified. When in doubt, always cite your sources.

Paraphrasing without crediting the original author is a form of plagiarism , because you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

However, paraphrasing is not plagiarism if you correctly cite the source . This means including an in-text citation and a full reference, formatted according to your required citation style .

As well as citing, make sure that any paraphrased text is completely rewritten in your own words.

Yes, reusing your own work without acknowledgment is considered self-plagiarism . This can range from re-submitting an entire assignment to reusing passages or data from something you’ve turned in previously without citing them.

Self-plagiarism often has the same consequences as other types of plagiarism . If you want to reuse content you wrote in the past, make sure to check your university’s policy or consult your professor.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2022, July 15). Examples of Plagiarism & Tips for Avoiding It. Scribbr. Retrieved September 3, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/plagiarism/examples-of-plagiarism/

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'White Fragility' author allegedly plagiarized minority academics in doctoral thesis

Robin diangelo wrote 'white fragility: why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism' in 2018.

Exploring White Fragility author pushes back on teaching kids critical race theory

Philadelphia teacher and author Christopher Paslay discusses the prominence of critical race theory in the American public school system. 

"White Fragility" author Robin DiAngelo may have plagiarized multiple scholars, including minority writers, in her 2004 Ph.D. thesis, according to a report Monday.

A complaint filed with the University of Washington and shared with the Washington Free Beacon found dozens of examples of DiAngelo lifting material from other papers without proper attribution, in-text citations or quotation marks in her dissertation.

This included material from two Asian-American professors, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Stacey Lee and Northeastern University professor Thomas Nakayama.

"It is never appropriate to use the secondary source without acknowledging it, and even worse to present it as one's own words," National Association of Scholars president Peter Wood told the Free Beacon. "That's plagiarism."

Fox News Digital reached out to the University of Washington for a comment.

'WHITE FRAGILITY' AUTHOR WARNS PEOPLE OF COLOR TO 'GET AWAY FROM WHITE PEOPLE'

The complaint significantly called into question her dissertation, titled "Whiteness in Racial Dialogue: A Discourse Analysis," which formed the basis of her doctorate in Multicultural Education. She has continued to use the title Dr. DiAngelo earned from the dissertation and has referred to herself as Affiliate Associate Professor of Education at the university.

Fox News Digital reached out to DiAngelo and the University of Washington for comment.

The report pointed out how DiAngelo’s website emphasized giving credit to minorities and promoting their work.

"Promote the work and services of BIPOC people. Channel work to BIPOC people. Seek out and choose BIPOC-owned businesses and service providers. Co-lead paid work with BIPOC people when possible," her website says .

"White Fragility" author Robin DiAngelo previously encouraged people to give credit to minorities whenever possible. (NBCNews/Screenshot)

It adds, "Always cite and give credit to the work of BIPOC people who have informed your thinking. When you use a phrase or idea you got from a BIPOC person, credit them."

DiAngelo first took off in 2018 with the publication of her book "White Fragility." It gained renewed interest and become a more mainstream concept during the summer of 2020 in the wake of the death of George Floyd. 

CRITICAL RACE THEORY-RELATED IDEAS FOUND IN MANDATORY PROGRAMS AT 58 OF TOP 100 US MEDICAL SCHOOLS: REPORT

The phrase "White fragility" originated from DiAngelo’s dissertation.

"White fragility is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves." DiAngelo wrote. "These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation."

DiAngelo first coined the term "White Fragility" in her dissertation. (Photo by: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

The news followed several plagiarism allegations against academic members at Ivy League universities. Most notably, the Free Beacon reported on dozens of accusations against then-Harvard President Claudine Gay in 2023. After weeks of mounting pressure, Gay was forced to resign in January.

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Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @lmkornick.

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A recent complaint filed with the University of Washington alleges that Professor Robin DiAngelo, a white critical race theorist and alumnus of the school, plagiarized minority scholars and others, largely within her dissertation to earn a PhD in philosophy.

The 20-page complaint , first reported by the Washington Free Beacon , outlines nearly a half-dozen scholars whose previous writings appear to have not been properly cited in DiAngelo’s work — despite her saying it’s vital to “always cite and give credit to the work of BIPOC people who have informed your thinking.”

Only one of the scholars whose work was allegedly plagiarized by DiAngelo responded to The College Fix’s request for comment — University of Melbourne professorial fellow Bronwyn Davies — whose work with co-author Rom Harré has been found in a couple of sentences within DiAngelo’s writing.

“Plagiarism is plagiarism and it is not acceptable,” Davies told The College Fix when reached for comment. “But in a thesis on Critical Race Theory, it would seem to be even more egregious.”

DiAngelo’s 2004 dissertation “Whiteness in Racial Dialogue: A Discourse Analysis” appears to lift two paragraphs from Northeastern University Asian-American Professor Thomas Nakayama, and his coauthor, Robert Krizek, without proper attribution, the Beacon reported.

Davies describes herself as a “ new materialist ,” but said she is familiar with critical race theory and told The Fix she does not have “any particular dispute” with the ideology. She said it is “interesting” how the work she was doing 30 years ago is currently being used by critical race theory scholars like DiAngelo.

As for the sentences DiAngelo lifted, Davies told The Fix : “I think this falls within any definition of plagiarism, which is a pretty serious [offense] according to the rules of most universities.”

“However,” she added, “her failure to give proper attribution may not be intentional; it may be ignorance.”

“What I would like to say is that all academic work is in conversation, one way or another, with work that others have done or are doing,” she said.

“Weaving one’s own words together with the words of another involves both acknowledging they are not your own words … while not interrupting the flow of whatever idea it is you are trying to express.”

Davies said she does not have an opinion about any consequences DiAngelo should face, saying it’s up to the university.

However, Davies also said there is “a lot of trust” in publishing one’s ideas and she hopes that whoever reads her ideas will “gain new insights and benefits in their own thinking and writing.”

“Academic publishing is a huge global conversation that is often exciting, and invariably stimulates the production of new ideas and new conversations,” Davies told The Fix . “It makes me sad, and a little disappointed that, in this case, my place in the conversation has not been acknowledged—but only a little.”

Davies also said that she “wonders” about DiAngelo’s ethics since DiAngelo makes millions of dollars in events, but she is also “happy” her words could “still be helpful to the student in developing her own ideas.”

Reached for comment by The College Fix , University of Washington spokesperson Dana Robinson Slote stated campus leaders “are committed to the integrity of research conducted at the University of Washington.”

“Complaints such as this are confidential under institutional policy and relevant federal regulations. Therefore, I cannot speak to or verify the accuracy of any purported complaint, or excerpt from a complaint, that has allegedly been submitted.”

Slote refers to the university’s policies in University of Washington’s Executive Order 61 .

Charleen Wilcox, spokesperson for the College of Education, where the alleged plagiarism took place and where DiAngelo currently serves as an affiliate associate professor, told The College Fix the school “does not have any comment at this time.”

DiAngelo, who has not yet replied to requests for comment, is the author of New York Times bestseller “ White Fragility ,” a book that DiAngelo says was written to help people of color.

DiAngelo has also been involved with the Seattle Office of Civil Rights , appointed as a leader in the mayor’s race and social justice initiative and has, in addition, reportedly made nearly $1 million per year from speaker fees and leading “anti-racism” trainings, some of which can be found on her website .

The Seattle Office of Civil Rights has not yet replied to a request for comment.

Stacey Lee, an Asian-American professor of education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has also been apparently plagiarized by DiAngelo in her dissertation. DiAngelo changed only one sentence, as seen circulating on X and in the original complaint.

DiAngelo also lifts material from Stacey Lee, an Asian-American professor of education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in which Lee summarizes the work of a third scholar, David Theo Goldberg. pic.twitter.com/950cH7gRg7 — Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) August 26, 2024

Some other scholars whom DiAngelo is accused of plagiarizing include classmate Kristin Gates Cloyes from her PhD program, Debian Marty, an emerita professor of communication at California State University, Monterey Bay, Cynthia Levine-Rasky, associate professor of Sociology at Queen University, and Harré, a philosopher and psychologist, died in 2019.

The other scholars whom DiAngelo allegedly plagiarized have not yet responded to requests from The College Fix seeking comment.

MORE: UConn to pay ‘white fragility’ scholar Robin DiAngelo $20,000 for antiracism workshop

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