Be Careful While Recycling your Own Content

 

 

 

Self-plagiarism occurs when we reuse in part or whole our own previous ideas and data without any indication of their prior usage, according to an article on Research Gate. In the USA, it is regarded as academic dishonesty and disrespect for journalistic ethics.

Creating a new paper is an arduous process. Therefore, students or academicians are often taken over by procrastination which leads to self- plagiarism. Copyright infringement can cause expulsion, monetary penalties and legal consequences. Therefore, it is crucial to acquire permission from the concerned publisher before recycling your work.

Popular Forms of Self Plagiarism

Plagiarism in the USA is considered a violation of moral rights. Although you are the intellectual owner of your ideas, the words might not belong to you. The publisher has full rights to claim the written property as their own. Self-plagiarism has not emerged as a major offense punishable by law, but things are slowly changing. Have a look at a few common instances of self-plagiarism.

• Overlapping portions of previously used work in a new project.
• Forgetting to cite the references since it has been lifted from your own work.
• Publishing different papers of the same research work in multiple journal websites.
• Reusing old data from your graduation assignment in your post-graduation files.
• Using published or non-published study without informing your audience.
• Submitting an old manuscript as a new one without including any credits or foot-notes.

These acts are almost impossible to go undetected with anti-plagiarism software. No matter the type and form of plagiarism, advanced tools are designed to spot even the minutest similarities in content. Have a look at how they work.

AI Based Plagiarism Software

Extensive search mechanisms can work with millions of files including medical, scientific and academic journals, private archives and databases. Your content is compared with these pages online and a comprehensive report is produced. It contains word counts and plagiarism percentage along with highlighted passages. This way, instructors can easily identify the portions which have been lifted from previous works.

The presence of similar content on multiple websites can pull down your SEO ranking. Therefore, make sure to eliminate duplicate text and replace them with original ideas and arguments. In case of unintentional plagiarism, make sure to educate yourself about the dos and don’ts of this unethical act.

Simple Steps to Reuse Your Work

Below are the safe ways to use your previous work without inviting trouble.

• Know the degree and nature of text similarity allowed by the editor.
• Read the guidelines to understand how much duplications in background, hypothesis, conclusions and discussion can lead to rejection.
• Ensure including recent developments in an old proposal or thesis, in case you are using it in your next work.
• The original publication must be cited to avoid self-plagiarism allegations.

The American Psychological Association suggests that while using your own work it is safe to cite the duplicate words. Additionally, understand what is acceptable and what constitute a breach of rules to avoid plagiarism in the USA.