How to Use Writing Styles and Citation Styles to Avoid Plagiarism

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Date: September 2, 2018

The writing styles are the one which guides a writer how to assemble his or her written work in a proper format. The most widely used styles are APA format, MLA format and Chicago style of writing. It is vital to know how to use writing styles and citation styles to avoid plagiarism. These writing styles enable the writer to organize the written material in a perfect manner.

Something about the Writing Styles:

APA format:

This format is recommended by the American psychological association. The style is preferred for the works in the field of psychology and other medical science related fields.
MLA style:
The style was put forward by Modern language association and it is widely used in the fields of literature, arts, and humanities and other like subjects.

Chicago style:

The style was introduced by the Chicago University. This writing style is mostly preferred in historical writings and in many other disciplines.

Style guides tell the rules to be followed in order to avoid plagiarism. The style guides about the type and size of the font to be used and the manner in which heading should be given. Each of the above-mentioned styles has its own criteria and differs from others.

For academic writing learning these styles are very important. It is because; it is the requirement these days to cite the work of other writers if you have used any. Citation means; to refer to the work of others or the source from which you have got the information for your writing subject.

Writing style guides

you to the citation styles as well i.e.: The manner in which the referencing should be done. However, citation styles don’t guide a writer towards plagiarism. In order to avoid plagiarism, style guide says that you should not copy the work of others. You can use their experience but you cannot steal anything that belongs to them.

Still, there are people who do not understand what plagiarism is? For them here is the explanation of this term. Plagiarism is like cheating with someone or stealing the research of others. It means to quote someone else’s work as your own or rewrite it. It is serious misconduct and there any legal issues attached to it. The research or writing of a person is a person’s legal right and nobody is allowed to use this right without the permission of its owner.

Charges of plagiarism

may range from simple to complicated ones. It is probable that you lose your job and it can be more complex if the owner sues you for use of un-credited work. That is why it is asked by the writer to avoid plagiarism and in other words to avoid using other’s copyrights.

So, while using a citation style one needs to be extremely careful that his/her wordings do match exactly with the source cited. This is how the game of writing needs to be played. Try to rephrase the information and it is much better if you produce your own words just having the information in your mind. It will make things a lot easier.