Understanding how to properly credit other people's work is one of the most important skills for any advanced English writer. Whether you are publishing on LinkedIn, a personal blog, or an academic paper, knowing what plagiarism is and how to prevent it can save you from serious consequences and strengthen your credibility as a writer.
What is plagiarism and why should advanced writers care?
Plagiarism happens when you present someone else's work without acknowledging the original author [0:48]. It can look as simple as including a statistic or a study result without saying where it came from. For instance, a sentence like "Scientific studies show that 50% of men prefer pineapple on their pizza" might support your argument, but if you do not mention who conducted that study, when it was completed, or where it was published, you are committing plagiarism.
Plagiarism is considered an academic crime [2:12]. Punishments vary from country to country. In Canada, for example, consequences can range from failing a university course to receiving fines, and in cases involving copyright infringement, there can even be jail time. This makes it essential to treat proper referencing as a non-negotiable part of your writing process.
How can you avoid plagiarism using the APA referencing system?
The good news is that plagiarism is entirely avoidable when you follow a proper referencing system. The APA referencing system, which stands for the American Psychological Association referencing system, is one of the most widely used standards [5:52].
Avoiding plagiarism requires two complementary steps:
What is an in-text citation?
An in-text citation is the reference you include directly inside your writing [3:08]. When you mention someone else's work, you write their surname first, followed by the year of the study or article in brackets. Then you add a reporting phrase such as "observed in his study" or "observed in her study." For example: Gustavo (2020) observed in his study that... This technique lets the reader know immediately that the idea belongs to another author.
What is a reference list citation?
The second step is building a reference list at the end of your article [4:05]. This is the section you often see at the bottom of academic papers, full of names, titles, and publishing details. Each in-text citation must appear here in its complete form. A reference list entry typically includes:
- The author's surname and first initial.
- The year of publication in brackets.
- The title of the article or study.
- The city where it was published.
- The publisher's name.
For example: Gustavo, A. (2020). Research on Eating Habits in LATAM. Bogota: ABC Publishing [4:30].
How do paraphrasing and summarizing help you avoid plagiarism?
Beyond citations, there are two techniques that protect you from plagiarism:
- Paraphrasing means restating what someone else said in your own words while adding clarity [5:00]. You must never copy and paste the original wording, even if you include the author's name. Repeating the exact same words is still plagiarism.
- Summarizing means compacting a larger piece of information into a shorter version, again using your own words [5:22]. If an author wrote an entire paragraph about a topic, you condense it into two or three sentences.
Even when you paraphrase or summarize, you must still include both in-text citations and reference list entries. These techniques complement each other but never replace proper referencing.
What types of sources can you cite?
The sources you reference are not limited to academic articles. You can cite research papers, blogs, newspapers, books, magazines, quotes, and websites [5:52]. However, each type of source has a different citation format within the APA system. A book, for instance, is cited differently than a website.
The key takeaway is that in-text citations and complete reference list citations are your best tools for maintaining integrity in your writing. Practice citing different source types to build confidence and make referencing a natural part of your workflow.
Try it yourself: pick a book and a website, then write both an in-text citation and a full reference list entry following the APA system. Share your examples in the comments so others can learn from your practice too.
