You know you plagiarise when:

• You copy and paste verbatim one’s work and pass off as yours.

• You copy the same structure of a piece, although you embellish with different words to make piece appear like yours.

• You omit quotation marks where there should be.

You are not guilty of plagiarism when:

• You explain in your own words other people’s ideas, after you must have processed information. We all engage in research at one time or the other, and our findings include other people’s ideas, in our own words.

• You employ common phrases.

• You write about things that are termed ‘general knowledge’.

How serious is plagiarism?

.A couple of Politicians in the United States have at one time withdrawn their nominations owing to accusations of plagiarism.

.In reputable schools, plagiarism could lead to the expulsion of the offender, as the act is seen as breach of some academic codes of conduct.

.In every other sphere, the offender would be asked to pay fines, or might even serve some time-in extreme cases.

Now that we know the basics, let’s BE ORIGINAL