Research is a very systematic process wherein all the activities are carried out in a very systematic manner in order to find solutions of problem. It should be an original work on the part of the researcher. But, sometimes, it is seen that some people do use other authors’ ideas, thoughts, expressions or wordings into their texts without giving them proper acknowledgement and credit which falls under the act of plagiarism. It is pivotal to give acknowledgment and credit to the original authors while using their ideas, thoughts, expressions or wordings into the new texts. In this article, the meaning of plagiarism, its important definitions, characteristics, types, reasons of doing plagiarism, the UGC’s regulations regarding plagiarism and lastly, the ways to be followed in order to avoid plagiarism have been discussed elaborately in a very systematic manner. This paper may help one to understand the broad concept of plagiarism efficiently so that he/she is able to produce quality research work without doing plagiarism