Letter #38: How to reduce plagiarism
3 simple tips to writing fresh content that you’re proud to publish.
Helloo! 👋
How’s the week treating you? I’ve had a hectic start with 3 upfront deadlines.
So I’m writing this letter to you in slices of time that I’m stealing between editing my drafts. And, as usual, it’s baffling to me just how much work goes into editing drafts.
Each time I think my draft is good to go, I realize “nah, this needs to go there, that needs to come here, this sentence reads awkward” coupled with a lot of “how can I rewrite this?”
As someone in the content industry, I’m sure you’re familiar with these rounds of pruning, reorganizing, and rewriting. But what if the work you’re editing is plagiarized?
Perhaps it’s a case of accidental plagiarism (yes, it’s a real thing). Or the writer submitted plagiarized work — what do you do?
Or better yet, how do you reduce it?
This question came up some time back in a Slack community I’m a part of. A content manager asked it. And ever since, the question has been on my mind — finally answering it today.
The short version:
✅ Use more user-generated content
✅ Link to and quote more original research (including statistics)
✅ Work with niche writers or train in-house writers to have a POV
Now for the details:
1. Use more user-generated content
UGC is anything that your target audience creates.
Think, customer reviews (unique words — guaranteed no plagiarism), case studies (again, all new content), and quotes from subject matter experts (industry-leading folks known for their thoughts, not just any self-proclaimed experts).
To make sure you use more of this UGC, create two lists.
One, a list of all your case studies so writers can reference and include relevant ones in their drafts. Add a column featuring the best testimonials in this list too. This makes it easy to lift relevant quotes.
Two, create a list of internal and external SMEs that writers can talk to.
You can also use HARO to source expert quotes (just be sure to run the submissions through Copyscape or another plagiarism checker because HARO submissions can sometimes be plagiarized too).
Plus, quoting (with permission) experts’ LinkedIn and newsletter content also helps control plagiarism.
2. Link to original research
One of the reasons why all ranking content pieces sound so similar: all of them use the same stats (mostly years old ones!).
Nobody bothers to look for fresh research on the topic. Adding it, however, can give your draft a fresh angle alongside fresh content.
Again, it’s helpful to create (and keep updating) a list of fresh industry stats that writers can link to.
3. Work with niche writers
These are folks who keep tabs on their niche(s) trends.
Some also have first-hand experience. For example, if I were to write about newsletters — won’t you say I have the experience to write on this topic?
So naturally, niche writers bring their experiences and POVs to the table.
You can also train in-house writers (or train your own muscle) to have a viewpoint by encouraging them to be active in niche communities, read industry newsletters, join relevant conversations, and consume books and webinar content on the topic too.
All that studying and discussing is sure to bring fresh insights to the front.
So here’s bye-bye to plagiarism and to you for this week.
Ciao,
Masooma