Incremental Plagiarism: Reasons And How to Avoid It?

Plagiarism is an unethical way of taking the content of someone else and using it in your content. It results in high penalties and it may harm your image as well. Although there are many types of plagiarism found, one of the most common and unnoticeable plagiarism is Incremental Plagiarism. 

Quick Takeaways

• Incremental plagiarism happens when you incorporate quotes or any other works in your content without mentioning the source. 
• There are many reasons why there is incremental plagiarism like careless behavior, bad time management, etc. 
• Though to avoid it you must take care of what you are saying. 
• You must plan your speech accordingly. 

However, you must read till the end so that you do not miss any important facts related to incremental plagiarism.

What is Incremental plagiarism?

Incremental plagiarism happens when you incorporate quotes or any other works in your content without mentioning the source. Even if the content is unique you still can have incremental plagiarism due to your carelessness. This type of plagiarism can be easily detected in written content by using plagiarism tools. Although, it becomes difficult to detect and fix it when it is in a speech. Incremental plagiarism needs to be fixed as it can harm a person’s reputation. 

Examples of Incremental Plagiarism

Manny V. Pangilinan, a well-known tycoon, gave a graduation speech at one of the top colleges. Soon after he delivered it, news came up that many of his parts of the speech were taken from the speech of other famous people. Soon after, he apologizes publicly for using plagiarism content. 

Another example of it is from the 2016 Republican National Conference, where Melania Trump gave up a speech that was similar to Michelle Obama. When Melania Trump gave her speech a journalist noticed it. After analyzing Michelle’s speech, it was found that about 47% of the speech includes Incremental Plagiarism. But her team denies the fact, due to which her speech is still examined closely. 

However, both incidents are different from each other as Pangilinan apologized to people after he was considered a plagiarism suspect. Melania denied that the speech was plagiarized.

Difference between Incremental Plagiarism and Global plagiarism 

Incremental Plagiarism occurs when you add up some of the quotes or any other information given by someone without any references. For example, you are writing about Covid -19. There would be many facts have already been published about it. Now if you add them without mentioning the source of it then it is Incremental Plagiarism. In this type of plagiarism, the content is mostly unique.

Whereas, Global Plagiarism occurs when you take the entire content of someone else, and deliver it as your publication. This is one of the most serious types of plagiarism, which can result in high penalties. Now let us say you have an assignment and you have copied all the content from somewhere else. In this case, you will be a suspect in Global Plagiarism. Although plagiarism detectors like Safeassign or Turnitin will usually not detect incremental plagiarism.

Reasons for Incremental Plagiarism

The following are the reason why incremental plagiarism may occur-

1. Time management

One of the factors is poor time management. Many writers write their content at the last minute which results in a lack of focus on citing the author. Therefore it is important to give a proper time when you are writing content or the speech.

2. Don’t care attitude

Many people simply don’t care about completing the work properly and ethically. Such people usually perform unethical ways of completing the content. This results in incremental plagiarism as they may not focus on giving proper references.

3. Belief in Not Getting Caught

Many people, especially while delivering a speech, think that they would not get caught. Due to it, they don’t care about citing the proper references. 

4. Disinterest in the work

This mostly occurs for university or college-going students. The topic for assignments or theses given to them may be different from their interest. This results in a lack of focus, which again results in incremental plagiarism. 

How to avoid Incremental Plagiarism

Avoiding incremental plagiarism is important as it will leave a wrong impact of you on your professor who can be your professional reference. There are many methods by which you can remove the incremental program-

1. Avoid Copy Pasting

The most unethical way of producing content is by copy-pasting the content. Although, you can add the content by rewriting it in different words. Remember if you want to add any quotes by the people then always add them up in copy-paste form. Although to get saved from Incremental Plagiarism, give proper references. 

2. Honesty 

“Honesty is the Best Policy”- Benjamin Franklin

When you are delivering a speech try to be honest with the audience. There is no harm in taking the ideas of another person but not giving credit to them is a concern. Once you are using the ideas of other people, always mention their names. This also helps in increasing your credibility.

3. Citing Well

As in most cases, incremental plagiarism occurs when you fail to cite the names of the authors whom you have taken the content from. Therefore, the most important step to avoid it is by citing the names of the people whose information has been used. 

4. Planning your speech

You must plan how and what you should deliver in your speech. You must know what the aim of your speech is. Also, you should know where and when you are using the cited content. Add proper references in your speech. 

5. Ensure that the sources are correct

Before you cite any reference, recheck the sources. Many times you will find inauthentic data that can result in harming your credibility. Always avoid last-minute preparations, as in most cases, it becomes a problem for the speaker. You must take care of the sources as every plagiarism detector like Safeassign will give the plagiarism if sources are not added rightly.

6. Avoid Self-Plagiarism

Self-Plagiarism means when you use content from your previous works and use it in present. It also comes under copyright issues, and you must avoid it. Although you can use it when you cite your work.

Conclusion

Incremental plagiarism can result in harming your reputation. Therefore it is important to fix it at any cost. However, it is difficult to find out this type of plagiarism, especially when it is in speech. This is because incremental plagiarism is not noticeable in it. There are many reasons why incremental plagiarism may occur. Although, you can easily avoid it by using some simple techniques.