Plagiarism

[BerryMac]

As another person has said, I'm sure that this is a topic that has been worked over extensively. So sorry in advance if I'm repeating an issue. I have read the forums but haven't seen my particular topic addressed to the point that I am reassured.

I've an article that I wrote for my personal blog last year. It was all in my own words, but it is on a topic that is very common online-it has to do with reducing our environmental impact. This topic is so common, in fact, that when I checked articles that have recently sold, one with an almost identical title to mine sold TODAY.

My concern is that, even though 100% of the words and ideas are mine, and I've put my own spin on familiar issues, there is possibly the chance that it might be considered plagiarism. I in no way, shape, or form took anyone else's words, but I'm so paranoid of being banned that I'm reluctant to submit it.

Is there any way I can check BEFORE official submission to CC to see if it will be considered original enough? I do not want to risk my membership with CC; on the other hand, this is a 1000+ word article that I have spent several hours writing and editing and it could be a valuable addition to my resume.

In addition, I've submitted it to Grammarly and it says there is "unoriginal text detected" but does not indicate which text is the problem. Is there a reliable, FREE program online that I could use? I really have no idea of the standards used by Grammarly-it might be a 2-word combination that is the same as someone else used once!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, I really appreciate this forum and the opportunity it provides!

[Antonia]

Try http://plagium.com/.

[BerryMac]

Thank you for the suggestion.

Grammarly is frustrating because it doesn't tell you WHERE the original text is located, and I actually have published this article in two separate locations already. It is possible that it is failing me based on my own content.

Having said that, the website you suggested uses Yahoo...and should have gotten a hit on my blog, should it not? But it didn't.

Sigh. I really don't want to risk being banned. Maybe it's just not worth it to enter the article, even with all the hours I've put in.

[Elizabeth Ann West]

Can you chop and rework the information? Maybe in the year it's been out there is new research or statistics?

I only say that because Constant-Content primarily works for original content, that is the audience primarily targeted as buyers. Even when you see Use licenses, it isn't THAT often they are repeat purchases. Keep watching the Recently Sold Lists, you will see many more Full Rights than Use.

Also, before you submit any content that you've submitted somewhere else, assuming the content fits the guidelines here (many blog articles don't fit that bill), the content on the web must be clearly attributed to the same real name or pen name you have here.

I would also check to see if anyone has lifted your content and posted it elsewhere. You'd be surprised at how many people think if it's on the Internet, it's free game.

[BerryMac]

I'm just going to scrap the entire article. I've reworked the entire thing so that it bears no resemblance to my original work, yet it still keeps getting "unoriginal text" hits.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Elizabeth Ann West]

That's not uncommon. As long as you aren't copying and pasting and changing like one word, you aren't plagairizing.

For example:

The sentence: "Open source software is a great cost-savings for businesses, organizations, and individuals."

There are probably MANY sentences out there that are similar to that, even potentially identical. Ed takes into consideration the percentage and source. That's why it is NOT recommended we test our articles against "original content" checkers. The idea is do your research, properly cite or paraphrase, and write from scratch.

[BerryMac]

You've given me some things to consider.

In the meantime, I'll set it aside for a bit and work on building my portfolio. I was pretty excited last night to get that first "sale" email...considering I just wrote my first article on the 14th, on my second submission! (public request)

Thanks for the help!