Recognizing and Avoiding Plagiarism, Effective Online Communication - Assignment Example

1. Recognizing and Avoiding Plagiarism  Academic learning and writing demand extensive exposure to the available literature in the concerned area. For instance, preparing an academic write up would involve collection of available information on the subject being dealt with. There has to be extensive exploration of databases to reach at a framework on the work done earlier on the respective subject. This process will expose the researcher to different parameters of the study. Several approaches through which the subject is looked at also will be understood by the researcher. Thus the perception of the researcher will depend a lot on the literature he or she is exposed to. This is however very important in terms of developing a scientific background for any academic writing (CSU, 2006). Along with this lies the risk of copying the idea from the secondary source as such into the writing. This process of using the entire idea that another research has used is in other words called plagiarism. Plagiarism can happen at two different levels. A directly appealing mode of this is the copying of the same text from another work. It has to be understood that with the technology available these days, it is very easy to identify this sort of plagiarism. Thus it is easy to avoid this sort of plagiarism. The second level of plagiarism is copying the idea of another author in the words of the writer. It has to be understood while abstracting the idea of another author; it has to be quoted as being taken from a secondary source. This conceptual awareness is very important while documenting any academic work. The first step in avoiding plagiarism is properly organising the available resource materials so that they are available on retrieval. Every place in the essay wherever ideas from other sources are used, in text citation has to be provided. By providing in-text citation, the source is acknowledged. It also has to be ensured that these sources are listed in the reference list as well. The referencing styles which has to be adhered with when doing paraphrasing and writing the reference list. The format of the essay also has to be according to a particular referencing style. The originality of the academic papers can be thoroughly checked using customized plagiarism scanners eliminating minute possibilities of copied material. There are tailor-made plagiarism-scanning products available in the market which can be used to cross check the document for any level of plagiarism (CSU, 2006). 2. Writing an effective Essay  An effective essay should be able to convey the idea expected to be expressed within the optimal limit of words. Writing an effective essay with reference to the requirements of the target readers is very important. Thus the first step is to understand the level and the requirements of the target readers. For instance, an academic essay should be approached considering the level at which it has to be written. Moreover, the objective of the essay has to be understood in depth. There are several kinds of essays including, expository essays, informal essays, review essays, research essays, literary essays, argumentative essays and cause and effect essays. The objective of these essays differs widely ranging from mere information to the readers to extensive research analysis. Thus it is important to understand the type of essay to be written before planning an essay. Any essay to be effective, it requires support of background information, facts and statistics. Thus extensive research on the subject has to be done on the topic before conceptualising the essay. Essay writing demands depth in terms of research and a good flow of language. Research involves mining of knowledge from varied sources scattered across the globe. While dealing with an academic essay, the most demanding job is the information sourcing process. This consumes time and demands presence of mind in analyzing the information sourced. It is also important to properly structure this information in the form of a structured paper and finally scribbling that down as a final academic paper (CSU, 2006). When all these tasks are demanded to be done within a close and strict deadline, the complexity mounts to the peak. The extensive source of knowledge through acute reference to databases would be the only solution for the information mining. Once the information is gathered it is vital to analyze the information so as to form scientifically justifiable observations and conclusions. A successful piece of academic writing however demands much in terms of style of writing and the research involved. The important characteristics of a quality academic paper are as following Adherence with the academic specifications An academic essay will have to adhere with many benchmarks as set by the concerned academic authority. Compliance with academic standards, working in accordance with the objectives and properly formatted documentation would be vital in determining the quality of an essay. Considering the importance of an academic paper as key document in a particular research and taking into account the way this can affect the branch of science dealt with, much emphasis has to be paid on the quality of academic essays (CSU, 2006). However the difficulty level in the stipulations can differ among different academic authorities. The time management process so as to be able to finish the work within the stipulated deadline is also important. Writing styles Different academic authorities demand the essays to be written in specified style of writing. This requirement however depends on the kind of essay to be written. The nature of science involved with the paper would determine the academic style in which the paper is to be written. The most common academic writing styles include Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), Chicago Manual of Style (CMA), Council of Science Editors (CSE), Turabian, American Sociological association (ASA), American Anthropological Association (AAA) and Havard style (CSU, 2006). These styles have been standardized by various organizations so that the papers written by experts across the globe will have a globally acceptable standard. This also determines the uniformity of procedures involved in the writing. Originality A very important criterion for an essay to be of good standard is that it must be original in nature. It must free from plagiarism. To explain it further, an academic paper should be written in the words of the writer and no text must be copied from any literatures written by other authors. However the quotes from different authors can be used but it should be properly cited as written by the concerned author. Such quotations must be included within quotation marks and must include both in-text citation and must be included in the reference list as well. However, most of the academic writing styles have imposed regulations on the maximum quantum of direct quotation which can be used in a particular essay. Similar to this, the ideas from different authors can be used in an essay but this also will have to be properly cited. There are specific formats in accordance to each academic writing style. This has to be followed while doing the in-text referencing and also while preparing the reference list. The general rule of all academic writing styles is that all the citations which are included within the text must be included in the list of references as well. This rule is applicable the vice versa as well (CSU, 2006). Many of the academic authorities would give specific instructions on the number of references to be included. On the other side the number of references is the clear indication of the depth of research involved with the essay. Scientific backing Any essay to be recognized of scientific relevance, it has to have solid support through evidences in the past literatures. It is important to substantially give evidence for the relevance of each area of the subject discussed in the essay. The scientific way of providing this support is to include statements from previous research works which has suggested assumptions as done by your academic paper. It is also important to analyze the limitations and the scope of the scientific context referred in the paper by referring the suggestions made by researchers in the past. The standardization of the methodology used by in cases of researches also demands evidence from previous literatures. A review of literature is the scientific tool which can be included in the academic writing task so as to ensure the scientific backing. The literature review also has to check the contradictory assumptions made by other researchers in the past. The basic aim of doing such cross references is to ensure the importance of the subject dealt by the academic paper in relation with the available evidence. However, this process won’t be an easy task as this would involve high amount of research with huge depth and careful analysis and interpretation of each of these referred literature. As academic writing tasks works will demand literature reviews involving huge number of references, the search process itself can consume a lot of time. Documenting them in proper order also needs acute care. 3. Effective Online Communication Communication through internet has made available the scope of reaching to large of people with the minimum of effort. This however also means that an individual would be bombarded with online communication at a given amount of time. Thus it is important to be very specific to be effective in online communication. At the outset the communication must appear as of important nature (Baron, 2008). . The relevance of an email is apparently judged by its subject line. Thus it is important that the subject line is written cleverly that it specifically hinds to the content of the letter. Brevity is another important factor for online communications to be effective. Paragraphs must be short and easily readable (OCW, 2012) It is important to check whether files are attached to mails in which it has be done so. It must be made sure that spellings are checked are the text is properly edited. References California State University (2006) Style Manuals and Writing Guides, University Library, California State University, LA, viewed 23 April 2009, OCW (2012) Tips for Effective Communication, viewed 07 November 2012, < http://ocw.kaplan.edu/arts-and-sciences/academic strategies/course/pdf/u2_Tips_for_Effective_Online_Communication.pdf> Baron, N. (2008). Always on: Language in an online and mobile world. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Read More