Research Guides: How to Cite Sources with Styles: Avoid Plagiarism

How to Avoid Plagiarism

Why cite your sources?

Why do you have to cite your sources when doing papers, presentations, and other scholarly work? Academic writing is a conversation among scholars (and would-be scholars) about a topic or question. As part of that conversation you cite your sources:

to give credit to others when you use their words, thoughts, or other intellectual work. Research and writing are hard and the person who does it deserves to get credit for it. It may be the only reward they receive. Not citing properly can lead to suspicion ofplagiarism, which is not a good thing.
to give your readers some assurance that your work is authoritative. Part of their evaluation of your work is based on the sources you use, and the correctness and reliability of the people you cite. If the people you use are recognized as good sources, your work is more likely to be seen as valid.
to show your readers what other research has been done on your topic. This also shows how your research fits into the traditions of the subject area and how you have approached your topic. You can cite something in order to disagree with it, critique it, or expand on it, as well as using it to support your argument.
to help your readers follow up and continue your research. Some researchers may check your citations to make sure of your accuracy in using them, but many others will use your sources as starting points for their own research -- just as you probably did when you started your research.

How to be careful

To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you use

another person’s idea, opinion, or theory;
any facts, statistics, graphs, images—any pieces of information—that are not common knowledge;
quotations of another person’s actual spoken or written words; or
paraphrase of another person’s spoken or written words.

Here are some links to tutorials that will help you understand more about plagiarism and how to avoid it:

Plagiarism Court: You Be The Judge (Fairfield University)
You Quote It, You Note It! (Acadia University)
A helpful video from Duke University. Whose Idea was That?

Additional links:

Plagiarism - Marshall University Libraries
Aims to explain plagiarism through examples and definitions.
Avoiding Plagiarsm - Harvard College Writing Program
Citing Sources: Overview - MIT Libraries
Avoiding Plagiarism - Purdue OWL
Plagiarism - Writing Center at UNC-Chapel Hill
Understanding Plagiarism - Plagiarism.org

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.)

For more information on plagiarism, and how to prevent it, see the Avoiding Plagiarism section of Guide to Research at JSRCC

Plagiarism tutorials - more

Academic Integrity Tutorial - http://www.yorku.ca/tutorial/academic_integrity/case1.html
Plagiarism Game - Lycoming College - http://www.lycoming.edu/library/instruction/plagiarismgame.html
Plagiarism Tutorial from Cornell - http://plagiarism.arts.cornell.edu/tutorial/exercises.cfm
YouTube video from Grammar Bites - http://youtu.be/tUSaQ5-mDRI
A fun Plagiarism Tutorial from Clark College
Cool video and tutorial on Plagiarism from Rutgers


Avoiding Plagiarism - http://www.writing.northwestern.edu/avoiding-plagiarism/: This site, created by Northwestern University, gives a definition of plagiarism, tips on avoiding accidental plagiarism and examples of the most common forms of plagiarism.
Avoiding Plagiarism - https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/: This site, while it has the same title as the one above, was created by Purdue University and breaks down the contradictions in student's may feel about academic writing. This site not only gives students guidelines on how to avoid plagiarism, but also provides practice questions for students to test their citing and paraphrasing knowledge.
Combating Plagiarism (CQ Researcher) - http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2003091900: In the September 19, 2003 issue of the CQ Researcher, dedicated to the topic "Combating Plagiarism," students will find an excellent overview of the plagiarism issue, including a discussion of (in)famous writers and journalists who have been accused of plagiarism. Includes a chronology and bibliography. See also the updated report from 2013: http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2013010400
Examples of Plagiarism (Academic Integrity at Princeton) - http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pub/integrity/pages/plagiarism/: Part of the Academic Integrity website at Princeton University, this website provides concrete examples of plagiarized text and computer code. The website presents a primary passage and three plagiarized essays, with explanatory notes about the plagiarized text. An excellent teaching tool!
Plagiarism: What it is and How to Recognize and Avoid it - http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml: This site, from Indiana University, provides students with the tools to avoid plagiarism. Among these are examples of acceptable and unacceptable paraphrasing and definitions of terms such as Common Knowledge.
Plagiarism 101 - http://www.plagiarism.org/: This site, developed by the company that created TurnItIn, defines plagiarism and uses concrete examples to show how proper citation and paraphrasing are necessary in order to avoid plagiarism. You can take a Quiz here: https://en.writecheck.com/plagiarism-quiz
What is Plagiarism? - http://honorcouncil.georgetown.edu/whatisplagiarism: This site, created by Georgetown University's Honor Council, walks students through the many types of plagiarism that they may encounter and why it is important to use proper citation practices.

DCC Academic Integrity Policy

As listed in the current Student Handbook - see the section on Student Conduct
(found here: http://www.dcc.vccs.edu/Documents/STUDENTHANDBOOK.pdf )

ACADEMIC HONESTY / INTEGRITY

Academic Honesty: Students will be expected to maintain complete honesty and integrity in their experiences in the classroom. Any student found guilty of dishonesty in academic work is subject to disciplinary action.
A. The college may initiate disciplinary proceedings against a student accused of any form of academic
dishonesty including, but not limited to, the following:
1. Copying from another student's test paper or other academic work.
2. Using materials not authorized by the person giving the test.
3. Collaborating, without authority, with another student during an examination or in preparing academic
work.
4. Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting, in whole or part, the contents of an
un- administered test.
5. Substitution for another student, or permitting another student to substitute for oneself, to take a test or
prepare other academic work.
6. Bribing another person to obtain an unadministered test or information about an unadministered test.
7. The appropriation of another's work without acknowledging the incorporation of another's work in one's
own written work (plagiarism).
B. Procedures for discipline due to academic dishonesty will be the same as specified in Section 7, except that all academic dishonesty actions will be first considered and reviewed by the appropriate faculty member. If the student does not accept the decision of the faculty member, the student may discuss his/her concerns with the Division Dean. If the student does not accept the decision of the Division Dean, the College will then follow the normal disciplinary procedures in Sections 6 and 7.
C. Plagiarism Policy: A student who receives a failing grade (“F”) in a course as a result of academic dishonesty (such as plagiarism) may not withdraw from that course with a “W” or receive a refund. This policy applies to any student in a particular course deemed to have committed an act of academic dishonesty during any part of a semester, and regardless of whether he/she has turned in any graded work. Mitigating circumstances do not apply in such cases. If the student does not accept the decision, the College will then follow the normal disciplinary procedures in Sections 6 and 7.