How to avoid plagiarism in medical writing

Plagiarism in scientific writing is defined as an act of appropriation of another person’s ideas, concepts, words, or results, without providing appropriate credit. Plagiarism sabotages one’s own integrity!

While avoiding plagiarism may be difficult, one must learn to master it through extensive writing experience. Even a professional writer fears plagiarism. There are a few basics that must be considered to avoid plagiarism in medical writing.

1) Try to be original, assemble your ideas and thoughts, and create a first draft.
2) Next, add all the references, as appropriate, and offer due credit to the authors of your source information.
3) Of note is that you are allowed to employ external information with appropriate references, but you should never copy interpretations.
4) In some cases, the use of footnotes or endnotes may help minimise plagiarism.
5) Finally, nobody expects you to be 100% original, but always do your best to be credible in your writing.