What is plagiarism?
The five common types
Direct copying, mosaic (patchwriting) plagiarism, paraphrase plagiarism without citation, self-plagiarism, and accidental plagiarism from sloppy note-taking or a missing quotation mark.
How universities detect it
Turnitin, SafeAssign and Copyleaks compare your submission against publications, the open web and past student papers, returning a similarity index with matched sources highlighted.
How to avoid it
Cite while you draft, quote exactly when using more than three consecutive words from a source, keep a running reference list, and run a similarity check before submitting.
Related questions
What similarity percentage is acceptable?
Most instructors accept under 15% when matches are quotations and reference entries. Anything above 25% usually triggers a review.
Is paraphrasing plagiarism?
Paraphrasing without a citation is plagiarism. Paraphrasing in your own sentence structure with a citation is correct scholarly practice.