Unfortunately, there’s no simple blanket answer to the question of how much plagiarism is allowed in a blog post. The world of content creation is full of words, phrases, quotes, graphics, media, etc., that make it incredibly difficult to write completely unique and even original content.
Yet, to copy someone without a proper reference can be likened to fraud. This can also earn you site demotions and kill your Google SEO, as Google is well known for penalizing websites with plagiarized content.
In general, there is no universally accepted percentage of plagiarism that is considered “acceptable” in content for a blog or any other form of written work. However, for a seasoned content creator, the answer as to what percentage is allowed should always be zero.
What is Plagiarism?
In simple terms, plagiarism is the act of using someone else’s ideas, words, or work without proper citation and attribution. This is generally discouraged and should continue to be discouraged in all forms of writing and content creation.
In writing and content creation, the ideal practice is to strive for zero percent (0%) plagiarism in your content. Your goal should be to produce original and well-researched content that properly attributes any sources you reference.
However, it’s essential to recognize that there may be cases where a small percentage of matching text is considered acceptable. This is due to the fact that common phrases or multiple sources have been used even when there’s no apparent source of the original sentence because these texts have basically become an industry meme in such particular niche.
How do people check for plagiarism?
When creating content, you must consider a few factors when you think about plagiarism. Plagiarism is one of those terms that is tossed around a lot without people knowing exactly what it means. In content creation, people use plagiarism checkers readily available online to check the authenticity of content.
These tools either maintain their own index of information online or use extensive and creative Google searches to look for relatively unique phrases from a submitted piece to match against existing content – with some listing matching websites with a certain percentage.
No tool has an index as large as Google’s, though some may index tertiary sources of content Google might miss. The issue with these checks is that they only look for duplications in text, not accounting for references, quotations and, most especially, texts that have become a common knowledge in such particular niche. That would technically be an instance of plagiarism in this blog post, where such texts have been used.
Suppose you are writing a blog post for example that references several other sources of information or heavily used texts that have become common in such context. In that case, you’ll get a high percentage of plagiarism back from your checks. You need to use your own judgment and analyze the context of your content to see if it counts.
Unfortunately, several false positives can be grounds for plagiarism with so much advancement in AI and plagiarism detectors.
How much plagiarism is acceptable?
There are a few different perspectives you can use when you’re considering the answer to this question.
Using your own scale of judgement of what an original content should be, you believe everything must be one hundred percent (100%) unique. This perspective is unrealistic because any result, even with a plagiarism result of one percent (1%) from any Plagiarism Check Tool, will be too much. So then, you start struggling to make everything look Original – which was an Original content in the first place.
You may be struggling, though. But, some of the texts you are using in the content of your post might have somehow become an industry phrasal jargon that you can’t do without, and you might be marked for plagiarism by just doing that. Again, you need to use your own judgment and analyze the context of your content to see if it counts.
Yes, ‘everything you write must be unique’, you say. What you need to remember is that we live in a society, and we participate in a community where everyone contributes their own quota independently. So, in certain instances, we can only progress by building upon the work of others. You should be fine as long as you aren’t exceeding 10% of your post marked as plagiarism.
Ethical writing practices and false positives
While there is no specific percentage as to what is considered acceptable, it is essential to prioritize ethical writing practices. There are several ways to do this, even when there is a likelihood that you will get a certain percentage of plagiarism from your checks.
1. Paraphrase in Your Own Words
It is a common mistake to believe that if you take the original findings or ideas from an Author but put them in your own words, it’s not considered plagiarism. But in a simple term, it is just what it is.
Paraphrasing should typically not result in a significant percentage of matching text or nothing at all. However, to what extent paraphrasing can be legal is not known because it’s not a matter of if you’ll be caught but when.
2. Use Original Content
Here, Originality should be your primary focus. The majority of your content, if only some things, should be original, reflecting your thoughts, analysis, and perspective on the topic you are writing on or the niche you are pitching.
Don’t discount your own experiences; you can create content on your own, and it will stand out. Everyone has their unique style; the more you practice, the better you get at it.
3. Write from Common Knowledge and Non-standard Facts
You may not necessarily need to cite commonly known facts or information that is widely accepted. However, it is possible that you are still marked for plagiarism when you use them in your blog post.
It may not be legally wrong to quote non-standard facts in your blog, especially in non-academic writing because the standards are somewhat looser. So having a matching text which you are marked for is not really the problem, but directly copying large chunks of text without proper attribution is, and it is nothing but plagiarism.
4. Cite Standard Facts and Original Authors Directly
If you cite standard facts from a source, it should be appropriately attributed and placed in quotation marks. This is the simplest and fastest way to avoid plagiarism, and this is often done with a simple link back to the source website and acknowledgement of the author’s contribution.
This is what this does to your readers: you are not only citing an expert in that particular niche, but you’re expanding on their answer with your own thoughts and integrating them into your original writing.
In conclusion, while no specific percentage is considered acceptable when it comes to plagiarism, it is essential to prioritize ethical writing practices. If your content contains a significant amount of matching text, especially standard facts, always provide proper citations and attribution.
Make it a habit to consistently create unique and valuable content for your blog. Strive and do everything you can to ensure your content is original and natural and ranks on SERP on its own merits. Remember to cite your sources and link back to them. It doesn’t cost much to do that, and it demonstrates that you value their thoughts and appreciate their work.
Ultimately, the key is to maintain ethical writing practices, be transparent about your sources and aim to provide your readers with unique and valuable content.