A plagiarism-free paper begins with quality research. To make sure an essay is your best work, gather a variety of sources. Plagiarism often occurs when students use too few sources and consequentially end up regurgitating the arguments of one or two authors. Make sure you are using books, videos, personal interviews, and/or academic journals as well as websites. A good rule of thumb is to have three different types of sources and a total of at least five sources.
Avoid accidental plagiarism by organizing all research. Many students accidentally plagiarize because they can't remember which source their information came from. To avoid this, briefly cite notes in a notebook with the title or author and a page number while taking notes. Keep class notes separate and write the date at the top of every page. That way you will know how to cite the information when you use it in a paper. In addition, create a schedule for yourself. It's easy to make mistakes when you procrastinate. Give yourself enough time to do your best work.
A good essay has a strong thesis and uses a number of sources to support its argument. After you do some preliminary research on a subject, decide on a thesis. Write an outline that details how you will use sources to support that thesis. Once you have several sub-topics in an outline, find supporting quotes and information for each section of your paper. Using specific quotes that support your thesis ensures that each piece of information you pull from a source has a purpose in your paper. That way you won't just be filling space with other people's words when you write drafts. Keep your thesis in mind as you research, outline and write to help you analyze and synthesize the information, rather than simply repeating other peoples' ideas.
One of the biggest hurdles for students in writing research papers is how to paraphrase. To write something in your own words, change almost all of the author's original words. Changing the word order or trading in a few synonyms is not effective paraphrasing. If you find yourself using most of the author's original language in a paper, go with a direct quote instead. Paraphrasing is best done when you are summarizing an author's argument. Even then, make sure to correctly cite the information: it is the author's idea you are crediting, not just her words.
To avoid plagiarism, cite everything that did not come directly from your brain. This includes direct quotes, paraphrased ideas, and statistics or other small facts. When in doubt, cite it. Students fail to cite sources because they are confused about where citation is required or because they didn't keep track of all their sources. To avoid losing information, keep a complete bibliography while you do your research and add to it each time you pick up a new source. That way you have all the information available for each source when you sit down to write your paper.
Students may be afraid that their own writing may "sound bad" or that their ideas may not be "good enough," so they only use other peoples' words and ideas in papers. Read through a draft and note how many citations there are. If every other paragraph is a direct quote from an author, every sentence is followed by a citation, or a favorite source is cited 20 times in five pages, then there is not enough of you in your paper. Avoid this problem by writing a clear thesis and connecting supporting evidence using your own words. Remember that your research only supports your paper; it isn't the paper itself. Use research with purpose.
Using your own words, however, doesn't mean to use your words from a different essay. Sometimes students copy writing from successful past efforts to flesh out a new paper. Using work that you have previously written is plagiarism, too. Make sure all of the words in your essay are original; never copy and paste sentences or paragraphs from other essays, even if they're your own.
Once you have written a final draft, carefully read through it for mistakes. Give your essay to a friend or college writing center employee before you turn it in to your teacher. A fresh pair of eyes can often find mistakes you wouldn't catch.