First Things First . . .

What is plagiarism?

Who cares?

Why is plagiarism difficult to avoid?

Definite don'ts

What happens if you are accused?

How to Avoid Plagiarism

Use valid, credible sources for information

Take careful notes

Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing

Giving Credit

► Papers

Presentations, websites, etc.

Citation styles

Is it plagiarism? (interactive game)

Copyright

What's the deal with the © ?

Is it copyright infringement? (interactive game)

Giving Credit - Papers

When you incorporate someone else's work (words, statistics, charts, graphs, images, etc.) into a paper you are writing, it is extremely important to give credit where credit is due. 

Why?  First of all, it is just common courtesy.  If you have used someone else's work, the least you can do is offer thanks by acknowledging him/her.  In addition to courtesy, giving credit will help you to avoid plagiarizing.  Using someone's else's ideas, words, or other creations without clearly acknowledging where they came from is plagiarism.  (It may also be an infringement of copyright.  While plagiarism is unethical, infringing copyright is illegal.  For more information on copyright, see the What's the deal with the © ? section of this tutorial.)

To avoid plagiarizing, you must give credit whenever you use any piece of information that is not common knowledge.   This includes

• the words, ideas, opinions, or theories of others whether quoted, summarized or paraphrased (For more information, see the Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing section of this tutorial.)

• facts, statistics, graphs, charts, images, etc. generated/created by someone other than you

When writing research papers, documented essays, etc. you give credit within your paper with either in-text parenthetical references (if you are using MLA or APA style) or footnotes (if you are using Chicago style.)  If you are unsure which citation style to use, check with the faculty member who is teaching the course.

Below are examples of in-text parenthetical references and footnotes.  For more information and examples, see the Citation styles section of this Website.

In-text Parenthetical References (MLA and APA)

With this method, you identify the resource within the text of your paper and then provide an alphabetical list of the resources you used at the end of the paper where the full publishing information is provided.  You would use a parenthetical reference any time you quote, paraphrase, or summarize. 

MLA

Excerpt from a research paper:

The Ku Klux Klan has a website, as do many other groups who are prejudiced against others - whether on the basis of race, sexual orientation, religion, etc.  "The World Wide Web has allowed marginalized extremist groups with messages of hate to have a more visible and accessible public platform" (Leets 287).

OR, with a signal phrase

The Ku Klux Klan has a website, as do many other groups who are prejudiced against others - whether on the basis of race, sexual orientation, religion, etc.  According to Leets, "the World Wide Web has allowed marginalized extremist groups with messages of hate to have a more visible and accessible public platform" (287).

MLA citation from Works Cited list:

Leets, Laura.  "Responses to Internet Hate Sites:  Is Speech Too Free in Cyberspace?"  Communication Law & Policy 6.2 (2001):  287.  Academic Search Premier.  EBSCOhost. Mantor Library, UMF.  24 May 2002 <http://www.epnet.com>.

(This citation does not look exactly as it should in your list of works cited. It should be double spaced with hanging indents. To see proper format of citations, go to Citation styles.)

APA

Excerpt from a research paper:

The Ku Klux Klan has a website, as do many other groups who are prejudiced against others - whether on the basis of race, sexual orientation, religion, etc.  "The World Wide Web has allowed marginalized extremist groups with messages of hate to have a more visible and accessible public platform" (Leets, 2001, p. 287).

OR, with a signal phrase

The Ku Klux Klan has a website, as do many other groups who are prejudiced against others - whether on the basis of race, sexual orientation, religion, etc.  According to Leets (2001), "the World Wide Web has allowed marginalized extremist groups with messages of hate to have a more visible and accessible public platform" (p. 287).

APA citation from References list:

Leets, L.  (2001).  Responses to Internet hate sites:  Is speech too free in cyberspace?  Communication Law & Policy, 6(2), 287.  Retrieved May 24, 2002, from Academic Search Premier database.

(This citation does not look exactly as it should in your list of works cited. It should be double spaced with hanging indents. To see proper format of citations, go to Citation styles.)

Footnotes (Chicago)

This methods uses superscript (raised) numbers at the end of a quote, paraphrase, or summary to link the reader to the resource which is located at the bottom of the page (footnote.)

Chicago

Excerpt from a research paper:

The Ku Klux Klan has a website, as do many other groups who are prejudiced against others - whether on the basis of race, sexual orientation, religion, etc.  "The World Wide Web has allowed marginalized extremist groups with messages of hate to have a more visible and accessible public platform."¹

Footnote at the bottom of the page:

 ¹ Laura L. Leets, "Responses to Internet Hate Sites:  Is Speech Too Free in Cyberspace?,"  Communication Law & Policy 6, no. 2 (2001): 287.  EBSCOhost: Academic Search  Premier [database online].  EBSCO Publishing. EBSCO Information Services Group, accessed 24 May 2002.

(The note above does not look exactly as it should in your paper.  The first line needs to be indented.  If the note falls onto subsequent lines, they should align to the left and be double-spaced.)