How to Avoid Plagiarism at Work: Some Lessons from Melania Trump

by Solange Lopes | Jul 21, 2016 | Career

Unless you’re hiding under a rock, or are avoiding media at all costs (which no one will blame you for lately), you’ve heard about the now infamous speech Melania Trump gave at the Republican National Convention last week. As the Internet overflowed that day with side-by-side comparisons of current First Lady Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech and Mrs. Trump’s rendition, stronger and stronger allegations of plagiarism started to emerge.

Plagiarism is defined as the “the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.”As we’ve seen in the news recently, apart from the political noise it has created/amplified, the very concept of plagiarism raises serious ethical questions; as it also makes us wonder how to avoid the same type of scandal in our own lines of work and careers.

In the corporate world as well as in the business and political world, plagiarism can lead to disastrous consequence, including but not limited to lawsuits, financial repercussions, and destruction of careers and businesses. The thing is, you may not even know you’re plagiarizing as you’re doing it, which makes it even more concerning…and more dangerous.

As a blogger, I’ve had to research and look at the many facers of plagiarism in my work; which in turn has made me scrutinize how it can affect us all. Here are 3 easy ways you can avoid plagiarizing at work, without adding extra stress to your already busy life:

Think before cutting and pasting

It’s so easy to just “cut and paste” someone else’s work into your own. You may mentally want to revisit it later, and change it to accommodate your own style. And you may just forget to do so…

According to Harvard’s Guide of Using Sources, you should keep track of your sources in a separate file or folder. That makes it easier to acknowledge your sources later on. It could be as easy as maintaining a separate Word or Excel document listing your sources for each project you work on. What I also do is maintain my written work in Google Docs where I can link to any Internet-based sources.

At the end of the day, use whatever system works best for you to keep track of any sources you may use as part of your work. The bottom line is: never claim someone else’s work as your own!

Use citations and quotation marks

The Harvard’s Guide of Using Sources recommends using “quotation marks for directly quoted material, even for short phrases and key terms.” You can quote away, as long as you’re giving credit where credit is due.

In the same token, add citations every time you paraphrase or quote a source.

Plan Out Your Content

Preparing content at the last minute is the reason many people inadvertently commit plagiarism. With limited time and last-minute revisions, it’s easy to forget adding a source here, or inserting quotation marks there…

If your work requires research, make sure to budget enough time for it. It’s not just about finding the right information in a rush, but also keeping track of where you found that information in order to attribute credit later on…

When in doubt, attribute!

Not sure about the whole thing? Just do like my 4-year old and say it like it is! If you’ve borrowed some content from someone else, say it openly. It’s as straightforward as inserting a self-explanatory phrase like this one: “This paragraph has been extracted from…..”

There’s no right or wrong way to attribute work to its legitimate creator. Although we could be getting very technical here, the main point is to always disclose where your information is coming from (if it hasn’t originally been created by your truly).

Bonus: Use this Software to Check Your Work

Still in doubt? You can use the Turn It In software, also a favorite of many academic institutions and companies, to detect plagiarism.

Have you experienced plagiarism at work? How else do you avoid?

To Your Success,

The Corporate Sis.