Plagiarism Plagiarism is the unauthorized use of someone else's thoughts or wording either by incorrect documentation, failing to cite your sources altogether, or simply by relying way too heavily on external resources.

Plagiarizing does not give due credit to the party who really came up with the language and/or idea; plagiarizing also fails to inform the reader that the information originated from an outside source.

Failure to cite appropriately is the same as claiming those ideas or words as your own and is considered plagiarism.

Since teachers and administrators may not distinguish between deliberate and accidental plagiarism, the heart of avoiding plagiarism is to make sure you give credit where it is due. This may be credit for something somebody said, wrote, emailed, drew, or implied.

Remember! It is the writers responsibility to go back and check his/her work to make sure that the information has not been plagiarized. Check all information to make sure that it has been paraphrased, summarized or appropriately quoted as well as properly documented.

Strategies for Avoiding Plagiarism 1. Put in quotations everything that comes directly from the text especially when taking notes. 2. Paraphrase, but be sure you are not just rearranging or replacing a few words. Instead, read over what you want to paraphrase carefully; cover up the text with your hand, or close the text so you can’t see any of it (and so aren’t tempted to use the text as a “guide”). Write out the idea in your own words without peeking. 3. Check your paraphrase against the original text to be sure you have not accidentally used the same phrases or words, and that the information is accurate.

Bibliography “Avoiding Plagiarism.” OWL On Line Writing Lab. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html (March 25, 2004). “Introduction to APA Style.” OWL On Line Writing Lab. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/apa/print/wholew orkshop.html (March 25, 2004). “Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It” Writing Tutorial Services. http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml#original (March 4, 2005). “Writing a Research Paper: Genre.” OWL On Line Writing Lab. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/ResearchW/plag.html (March 25, 2004). Created by Tammy Vann March 25, 2004