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Archmere Academy Library: 6. CITE

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What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is considered a form of intellectual theft and fraud. It involves using someone else's words or ideas and passing them off as your own by not providing credit, either deliberately or accidentally. However, it can also involve reusing your own work from a previous course, and passing it off as new work.

Plagiarism can include:

  • Copying and pasting from a source without enclosing the text in quotation marks and providing a citation.
  • Summarizing or rewording someone else's ideas without providing a citation.
  • Reusing an assignment you submitted for a previous course.This is called self-plagiarism.
  • Submitting an assignment completed by someone else.
  • Collaborating on an assignment with a classmate or friend on an assignment meant to be completed individually.
  • Writing a paper that strings together quote after quote or paraphrases, even if cited correctly. Your work must include your own original expression of ideas. To add originality to your assignment, include your own critical analysis, interpretation, and examples.
  • Incorrect paraphrasing. When a paraphrase too closely resembles the original it is considered patchwriting. 

Plagiarism can be:

  • accidental - accidental plagiarism happens when you are not sure when to cite, paraphrase or quote. This tutorial is meant to help you understand when you need to cite! 
  • blatant - this type of plagiarism happens when you purposefully use another person's words and try to pass them off as your own.
  • self - self plagiarism occurs when you reuse a paper you wrote in a previous semester for a different course. You must submit original, new work for each course! 

Adapted from Plagiarism Tutorial: 1. What is Plagiarism? Columbia College, Vancouver

Avoid Plagiarism!

A Plagiarism Rap (no, really...)

MLA Citation Print Examples

Library of Congress MLA Citation Examples 

Includes single authors, magazine articles, works in an anthology (English students, this is especially helpful for citing the Poetry, Novels, and Short Stories for Students anthologies!), editors, reprints, and more!

MLA Citation Tutorial

Effective Citations

MLA IN TEXT CITATIONS

Avoiding Plagiarism


Pirillo & Fitz, Comic about plagiarism, Grammarly.com, URL.https://www.grammarly.com/blog/5-most-effective-methods-for-avoiding-plagiarism/

6 Ways to Avoid Plagiarism in Research Papers

  1. Paraphrase - So you have found information that is perfect for your research paper. Read it and put it into your own words. Make sure that you do not copy verbatim more than two words in a row from the text you have found. If you do use more than two words together, you will have to use quotation marks. We will get into quoting properly soon.
  2. Cite - Citing is one of the effective ways to avoid plagiarism. Follow the document formatting guidelines (i.e. APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) used by your educational institution or the institution that issued the research request. This usually entails the addition of the author(s) and the date of the publication or similar information. Citing is really that simple. Not citing properly can constitute plagiarism.
  3. Quoting - When quoting a source, use the quote exactly the way it appears. No one wants to be misquoted. Most institutions of higher learning frown on “block quotes” or quotes of 40 words or more. A scholar should be able to effectively paraphrase most material. This process takes time, but the effort pays off! Quoting must be done correctly to avoid plagiarism allegations.
  4. Citing Quotes - Citing a quote can be different than citing paraphrased material. This practice usually involves the addition of a page number, or a paragraph number in the case of web content.
  5. Citing Your Own Material - If some of the material you are using for your research paper was used by you in your current class, a previous one, or anywhere else you must cite yourself. Treat the text the same as you would if someone else wrote it. It may sound odd, but using material you have used before is called self-plagiarism, and it is not acceptable.
  6. Referencing - One of the most important ways to avoid plagiarism is including a reference page or page of works cited at the end of your research paper. Again, this page must meet the document formatting guidelines used by your educational institution. This information is very specific and includes the author(s), date of publication, title, and source. Follow the directions for this page carefully. You will want to get the references right.

Checking Research Papers

Be sure to edit your research paper carefully and check for plagiarism before turning it in to the class. The steps above are essential for research paper writing. Using plagiarism checker services such as WriteCheck is a great way to assess your paraphrasing and other anti-plagiarism skills. Most educators and educational institutions are using some kind of plagiarism checker software to check students’ papers. Do not take the chance of not checking your research paper. Plagiarism could mean the loss of your academic degree or career.
 

Ways To Avoid Plagiarism - Plagiarism Checker: Writecheck By Turnitin

http://en.writecheck.com/ways-to-avoid-plagiarism

Citation Generators & Tools

REMEMBER!

Citation tools are great for formatting, but you have to make sure the information included is correct. Always check your final citation before you use it!