Watch the video below to learn some tips on how to avoid plagiarism when writing an academic assignment. To learn more, join us for the Avoiding Plagiarism Workshop. Check out the Workshops & Office Hours Schedule by clicking here.
Why to Avoid Plagiarism:
- Giving Credit: Citations help your readers distinguish your own ideas from someone else's.
- Support Ideas: Citations make your arguments and analysis stronger because they show that you've done your research. Use citations to back up your main ideas.
- Help Others: Citations can help others find the sources that you used. Plus, this means that when you are doing your research, you can check an author's Works Cited or References page and find the articles they've cited to potentially use in your research.
- Avoid Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the act of using someone else's ideas and pretending that you came up with them. It's unethical because you are taking credit for someone else's hard work.
Cite:
- Facts and ideas that you found while you were researching a topic, even if you are summarizing what these sources said.
- When you take the exact words from a source (also called a direct quote). Be sure to use quotation marks around the beginning and end of all direct quotes.
- If you have any doubts or questions about whether you should cite something, you should probably be safe and cite it.
Don't Cite:
- Facts and ideas that are common knowledge - meaning basic information that the reader is likely to know already.
- Common sayings or phrases. If there's no way to know who originally said the quote, it doesn't need to be cited.
- Your own original ideas and analysis. These ideas belong to YOU, so they don't need a citation.
After this review, practice your skills here.
Need More Help?
Want additional support? Sign up for our group sessions. Take a look at the full workshop schedule. For help signing up and accessing the Academic Support Center, see the How to Book ASC Sessions Page.