Most new non-fiction authors do not understand what plagiarism is. Frequently, they think they can just write the exact same thing but only change a few of the words with a thesaurus. This is still plagiarism.
Plagiarism is:
Several beginning non-fiction writers do not understand what plagiarism is. Often, they believe, they can just write the same thing, and only have to change a few of the words. This is still plagiarism.
Rewriting is:
Beginning non-fiction authors are frequently caught in the trap of plagiarism because they do not understand what the term means. Often, new authors will write the exact same thing as the original without even realizing they are doing it because they use a thesaurus to change some of the words. Even though it is slightly different, they are still plagiarizing.
In the case of the author I mentioned in the previous post, she often wrote grammatically incorrect in order to change the sentences. This is not acceptable. If you are only using one source for your information - you are probably going to plagiarize. I learned this in sixth grade when I wrote a report on the Dead Sea Scrolls. The problem was that the information I found was written so well that it was exactly what I wanted to say how I wanted to say it. It started with my notes, which I only omitted a few words from. My teacher recognized immediately that my sentence structure was extraordinarily advanced even for a child in the honors class. She called me on it, and I did what all people who plagiarize do - denied it. Now, before you get on your high horse and say that I was lying, remember - plagiarists rarely know what they are doing is plagiarism. I did not, but in order to defend my case I looked into it and now I would definitely say I had done it.
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