Writing a research paper is no easy task and it is a key part of the academic process. Teachers assign assignment writing tasks to students as they want to check how well they can research and if they are skilled enough to understand what needs to be done and how. The right way to handle academic work is for students to conduct extensive research and pick up the right points that help them collect the best information for their paper.
According to a PhD dissertation writing service, sometimes students end up finding the information or data that they require for their academic work in already prepared and presented work of other researchers. While there is no restriction on using the work that has already been done by someone else, there is a proper way of doing this. To work on their academic papers most efficiently, students must be aware of what needs to be done and how so that they do not end up plagiarizing and their work is not rejected.
You need to take academic work seriously and make sure to consult your teacher or committee member regarding the policy for using the work of other researchers. It is only when you discuss this aspect in detail with their teacher that you will know what previous content or research work is acceptable and how to use this work in their assignment. Instructors might want the students to cite themselves too so it is best to know about it before moving forward.
Students should communicate early with their instructor regarding what previous coursework is acceptable to reuse in the development of their paper because they don’t want to land in any trouble just because of a little carelessness on their part. Self-plagiarism has been defined as ‘the act of presenting one’s previously used works as an original work in subsequent assignments and is inconsistent with honesty and truthfulness in scholarship. Submitting the same coursework to multiple courses also violates academic integrity unless the resubmitted work is substantially changed and cited as previous work’.
Self-plagiarism is considered fraud and goes against the core principles of ethical writing. Papers are assigned for students to demonstrate evidence of learning. If a paper is reused from a previous class, the student is not demonstrating new learning unless it has been properly references and citations have been used.
Issues to Consider When Reusing Academic Work Of Other Researchers:
There is no harm in reusing the academic research that has been conducted by other PhD researchers or even refer to your research but there are several things that you need to keep in mind for doing this. By following protocols and doing things the right way, you can ensure a positive outcome and avoid your research from being plagiarized as using previous works without giving due credit or using references is not acceptable in academic circles. Listed here are some issues that you must keep in mind when reusing the academic work of other researchers:
- Only use as much of the work as it is necessary to make your point
- Consider if the previous work needs to be restated to lay the groundwork for a new contribution in the second work
- Provide a full reference to the original work without missing any details
- Consider paraphrasing your words and contextualizing them for a more developed argument while still providing a full reference
- If paraphrasing alters the sense of clarity of the original then it may make no sense to say it differently a second time, so a direct quote could be justified
- Consider if portions of the previous work need to be repeated to deal with new evidence or arguments
Important Things To Remember For Reusing Academic Work:
When you are reusing the academic work of other PhD researchers, there are a few important things that you must remember to avoid making mistakes. They are:
- If you use material from a previous assignment you must reference it appropriately
- You should never submit the same essay for different assignments
- If re-sitting a course, you should not submit the same essay
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You need to understand that there is a difference between self-plagiarism and reusing work to transform the ideas into something new, although the line between the two is a thin one. Known as recycling, the student typically acknowledges the previous work’s methodology and theory, using it as background. The sixth edition of the APA manual provides the following guidance: “The general view is that the core of the new document must constitute an original contribution of knowledge, and only the amount of previously published material necessary to understand that contribution should be included, primarily in the discussion of theory and methodology. When feasible, all of the author’s own words that are cited should be located in a single paragraph or a few paragraphs, with a citation at the end of each.
