Plagiarism can take various forms, each involving the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work. Here are the different types of plagiarism:

1. Direct Plagiarism: This is the word-for-word transcription of a section of someone else’s work, without attribution and without quotation marks.
2. Self-Plagiarism: This occurs when a writer reuses significant parts of their previously published work without acknowledging that it has been used before.
3. Mosaic Plagiarism (Patchwriting): This happens when a writer copies phrases, sentences, or paragraphs from various sources and puts them together to create a new text, often without proper attribution.
4. Accidental Plagiarism: This is the unintentional failure to properly cite sources or misquoting them. It usually results from a lack of understanding of citation rules or careless note-taking and research.
5. Paraphrasing Plagiarism: This involves making minor changes to the wording of another’s work, while maintaining the essential content of the original. It becomes plagiarism when not properly acknowledged.
6. Source-Based Plagiarism: This occurs when a writer fails to properly cite their sources, or cites incorrect or non-existent sources.
7. Incomplete Plagiarism: This happens when a person cites a source but omits key information which makes it impossible to find the original source.
8. Global Plagiarism: This involves taking an entire work written by someone else and passing it off as one’s own.
9. Collusion: This is an agreement between two or more people to commit academic fraud by allowing one’s work to be represented as the work of another.
10. Contract Cheating: This occurs when a student has someone else do their work for them, whether it’s a paid service or a favor, and then submits it as if it were their own work.

Understanding these different types can help in recognizing and avoiding plagiarism in any form of writing or academic work.

Few people say there are four types of Plagiarism

While others say there are five types of plagiarism

Plagiarism Spectrum

Turnitin – The Plagiarism Spectrum

There is a famous plagiarism checking software called Turnitin.com. They published a white paper and a plagiarism spectrum that mentions various types of plagiarism.

1. Clone:
   • Complete copying of another’s work, presenting it as one’s own.
   • No attempt at changing any part of the original text or idea.
   • Equivalent to direct plagiarism.
2. CTRL+C:
   • A significant portion of a text is taken verbatim from a single source, without alteration.
   • Minor changes, like a few words or phrases, but the bulk remains copied.
3. Find-Replace:
   • Changing key words and phrases but retaining the essential content of the source.
   • Often involves simple synonym replacements.
   • Presents the idea as original, though it is significantly derived from an existing source.
4. Remix:
   • Paraphrases from multiple sources, assembling them into a new whole.
   • Involves slightly more skill in writing, but lacks originality.
   • Often seen in students mixing content from various authors.
5. Recycle:
   • Also known as self-plagiarism.
   • Involves the reuse of one’s own previous work without citation or acknowledgment.
   • Can be republishing a whole paper or reusing portions of previous work.
6. Hybrid:
   • Combining perfectly cited sources with copied but uncited ones.
   • The paper or work may have both original and plagiarized sections.
   • Creates an illusion of well-researched work while still containing plagiarism.
7. Mashup:
   • Mixing copied material from multiple sources, creating a disjointed document.
   • Often lacks a coherent theme or argument due to the varied sources.
   • Represents patchwork of different ideas and styles.
8. #404 Error:
   • Involves citing non-existent or inaccurate information about sources.
   • The reader is unable to find the cited source material.
   • Sometimes used to give a false impression of well-researched work.
9. Aggregator:
   • Includes proper citation, but the work contains almost no original work.
   • Consists mainly of quotations or paraphrases from other sources.
   • Lacks significant original contribution or analysis.
10. Re-Tweet:
    • Involves republishing someone else’s content with minor, cosmetic changes.
    • Originality is minimal, with the bulk of the content coming from other sources.
    • Often found in online content, where articles are slightly modified and reposted.

Each of these types represents a different method of using someone else’s intellectual property without proper attribution or originality, and they’re important to recognize in order to maintain academic and professional integrity.