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ENG 102 & 111: College Composition II

The research process.

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is using another person’s ideas or words without clearly acknowledging or citing the source of that information.  You must give credit whenever you use:

  • Another person's idea, opinion, or theory.
  • Direct quotes from another person's actual spoken or written words.
  • Paraphrasing of another person's spoken or written words.
  • Any piece of information this is not common knowledge (e.g., fact, figure, statistic, chart)
  • Multimedia created by another person (e.g., photo, drawing, film clip, music, etc.)

Types of Plagiarism

Obvious Plagiarism

Less Obvious Plagiarism
  • Turning in someone else’s paper as one’s own.
  • Turning in a paper that was bought from a service on the Internet.
  • Reusing a paper previously turned in for one class and then submitting the same paper or portions of it for subsequent classes without permission of the instructor (self-plagiarism).
  • Cutting and pasting entire sections from other authors’ works into one’s own paper.
  • Using another author’s exact words but not putting quotation marks around the quote and citing the work.
  • Failing to differentiate between common knowledge and something that needs to be cited.
  • Failing to include complete and correct citations.
  • Sticking to closely to another author’s words by only changing a few words around when paraphrasing.
  • Using another author’s exact words but not putting quotation marks around the quote even if one cites the work.

MSSU's Statement of Academic Integrity

Student Handbook, 2010-2011, pg. 4

Why Should I Cite My Sources?

The primary reason to cite your sources is to avoid plagiarism and give proper credit to the original author or creator.  Other reasons for citing your sources:

  • Enables a reader to locate the sources you cited.
  • Demonstrates the accuracy and reliability of your information.
  • Shows the amount of research you’ve done.
  • Strengthens your work by lending outside support to your ideas.

Terms to Know

Citing:  Also called documenting or referencing.  The recording of information (e.g., author, title, publisher, publication date, page numbers, database name, URL address, etc.)  from a source (e.g., book, magazine article, web site) which allows an instructor or anyone to identify and locate a source.  By citing your sources, you are also giving proper credit to those sources. This information is then formatted to a citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago) specified by your instructor and inserted into your essay.

 

Common knowledge:   Facts or ideas that are well know by many people and that can be found in numerous sources (e.g., Barack Obama is our current president of the United States).

 

Quotation:  Also called a quote.  Using someone's exact words.  When you use a direct quote, place the passage in quotation marks and cite the source according to the citation style specified by your instructor (e.g., Using a direct excerpt from Barack Obama’s January 2009 inaugural address).

 

Paraphrasing:   Using someone's ideas, but putting them in your own words. This is probably the skill you will use most when incorporating sources into your writing. Although you use your own words to paraphrase, you must still cite the source of the information (e.g., Using an excerpt from Barack Obama’s January 2009 inaugural address and putting it in your own words).

Avoiding Plagiarism in Research Papers with Paraphrases & Quotations

Introduction to guest lecture on plagiarism, paraphrases, direct quotations and source citations for students at the UMUC (University of Maryland University College).  Uploaded to YouTube by on Mar 20, 2009

Citing Sources

This video from the Pollak Library at California State University, Fullerton, offers an introduction to citing information found in books and articles, and to managing citations.

Citation Style Guides

MLA Format

 The OWL Purdue's Online Writing Lab for MLA.

APA Format

The OWL Purdue's Online Writing Lab for APA.

Chicago Style

 The OWL Purdue's Online Writing Lab for Chicago Style.

Citation Management

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