How Do I...Avoid Plagiarism?
When writing a research paper or designing a presentation based on research, you use information, words and ideas you discover in various sources. Gaining understanding as you move through the research process, you support your own ideas by drawing upon the works of others.
Using the words and ideas of others and citing your sources is called scholarship.
Using the words and ideas of others without citing your sources is called plagiarism.
If you are suspected of plagiarizing, your instructor may require you to show your sources. Your instructor may run your paper through a computer program designed to identify plagiarism, or request that the library staff scrutinize your paper and sources.
Penalties for plagiarism may include a failing grade for the assignment, a failing grade for the course, or expulsion from the college.
The stakes are high, so
Know what plagiarism is
Prepare to cite
Know what to cite
Know how to cite
Know what plagiarism is:
You commit plagiarism when you use the words or ideas of another, presenting them as your own, without giving credit to the author.
Plagiarism may be intentional, like copying some one else’s work ; buying, stealing or borrowing a paper ; turning in a paper you found on the internet ; or deliberately falsifying in-text citations or Works Cited lists.
Plagiarism may be unintentional. Perhaps your notes don’t include the source of the information you want to use, so you use it without giving credit to the author ; or you’ve cut and pasted from the internet without keeping track of the original web pages. Perhaps your citations are incomplete or inaccurate, or you’ve rearranged what someone else has written without giving credit to the author.,
Avoid plagiarism through proper use of parenthetical in-text citations and Works Cited or References lists. Citing a source is a two part process:
Parenthetical citations are placed within the text of your paper each time you use information from one of your sources. They usually include the author’s name and may include the publication date and the page on which the information was found.
Works Cited or Reference lists include full information on each source you cite within the text of your paper, usually providing the name of the author, title, and publication information, with additional information required for sources found online.
There are many rules governing the proper use and formatting of parenthetical citations and Works Cited lists – read Know how to cite, below.
Prepare to cite
Develop a system of note taking that identifies the source and page number of each piece of information. When you incorporate something from your notes into your paper, you’ll need the author and perhaps the page number or publication date to cite the source of the information.
You will use information from your sources in 1 of 3 ways - quote, summarize or paraphrase:
Quote – use someone else’s exact wording. (Use quotation marks for shorter quotes, indent longer quotations.)
Summarize - state the essence of someone else’s idea in just a few words. Summaries are usually much shorter than the passage in the source.
Paraphrase – state the entirety of someone else’s idea in your own words. Paraphrases are usually about the same length as the passage in the source. You will probably paraphrase more often than you quote or summarize.
If you copy an author’s exact words into your notes, be sure to identify it as a quote. Don’t expect to remember which parts of your notes are quotes, which are summaries or paraphrases from sources, and which are your own thoughts. It is easy to forget which words or ideas are an author’s and which are yours - be sure to distinguish between them as you go along.
For more information on citing quotes, summaries and paraphrases, check: http://library.duke.edu/research/plagiarism/cite/index.html
Create a working bibliography. As you find useful sources on your topic, create a full citation for each one – author, title, publication information, etc. – even before you get into serious reading and writing. If you use information from a source when you write your paper, you’ll already what you need for your Works Cited List!
Noodlebib, a bibliography composer available from the library homepage, formats citations for your Working Bibliography and Works Cited (MLA) or References (APA) Lists. You answer a series of questions about each of your sources and NoodleBib formats the citation based on your responses. Find NoodleBib on the library homepage under Find databases, articles – General Reference, or link to NoodleBib here.
Know what to cite:
What kinds of information need to be cited?
- What kinds of information need to be cited?
- Direct quotes
- Ideas that are not your own
- Facts
- Statistics
- Pictures and photographs
- Charts, graphs, diagrams, etc.
- Maps
What kinds of sources need to be cited?
- Books
- Periodicals
- Websites
- Speeches, Interviews and conversations
- Films
- Music
- Blogs, email and letters
- Advertisements
What doesn’t need to be cited?
Your own ideas and conclusions, your own drawings or photographs, results of your own experimentation, etc.
Common knowledge. Common knowledge is variously defined as something a person could find easily in a reference book (like an encyclopedia) ; generally accepted facts ; something you can find, undocumented, in at least 5 credible sources ; facts that a reasonably well educated person could be expected to know. Ask your teacher for additional guidance about common knowledge.
When in doubt, cite.
Know how to cite:
MLA or APA?
At Chesapeake College, you will use either MLA or APA format when you construct your in-text citations and Works Cited or References lists. Both MLA APA format consist of lots of rules governing how and where citations go. MLA format, from the Modern Language Association, is generally used in English and History classes. APA format, from the American Psychological Association, is generally used in science and psychology. Your teacher will specify which format you should use.
There are 2 parts to proper application of MLA or APA formats to avoid plagiarism:
MLA (MLA Style Sheet)
Parenthetical citation – In the text of your paper, identify the source and page number when you incorporate information from one of your sources into your paper. For complete information on how to format your parenthetical references, check: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c08_s1.html
Works Cited list – At the end of your paper, give full information on all the sources you cited parenthetically within the text of your paper.
For complete information on how to format your Works Cited list, check: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c08_s2.html
APA (APA Style Sheet)
In-text citation – In the text of your paper, identify the source and publication date, and sometimes the page number when you incorporate information from one of your sources into your paper. For full information on how to format your in-text citations, check: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_s1.html
References list – At the end of your paper, give full information on all the sources you cited parenthetically within the text of your paper. For complete information on how to format your References list, check: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_s2.html
NoodleBib
Very popular with students, NoodleBib is a computer program that formats MLA Works Cited lists and APA Reference lists. Noodlebib complies with all the complex rules of MLA and APA formats. It poses a series of questions about your sources then formats each citation based on your responses. Noodlebib also suggests formats for your in-text references. Find Noodlebib on the Library homepage under Electronic Databases, General Reference.
If you’ve already done a Working Bibliography using NoodleBib (read Prepare to Cite, above), you can simply edit it, deleting those sources you did not cite in the text of your paper, to produce your Works Cited or References list.
Help
If you have questions about citing, ask for help well in advance of your paper’s due date. Properly formatting in-text citations and Works Cited or Reference lists can be demanding and time consuming. Rushing without full understanding of proper application of MLA or APA rules can lead to plagiarism. Ask your teacher, a librarian, or a writing consultant in the Academic Support Center for help avoiding plagiarism.
If there is inaccurate information on this page, please send correction or comments to: lrcdesk@chesapeake.edu