Academic Integrity
How to Avoid Plagiarism at UK Universities (Even Accidentally)
Practical steps to avoid plagiarism, accidental or otherwise, at UK universities, including Turnitin tips.
Most plagiarism cases are accidental
Forgotten citations, paraphrasing too close to the original, and self-plagiarism (recycling your own previous work) account for the majority of UK university misconduct cases.
Cite as you write
Don't leave citations to the end. Drop the reference in the moment you use a source, Zotero makes this almost free.
Paraphrase by closing the source
Read a passage, close the source, write what you understood in your own words, then open the source to check accuracy. Paraphrasing with the source open almost always leaves traces.
Check with Turnitin before you submit
If your university offers self-submission to Turnitin, use it. A 25% similarity score isn't a problem if the matches are properly cited quotations or reference lists.