Avoiding Plagiarism

Creating a works cited page

What is plagiarism?

• Using another’s work as your own• Copying and pasting anything from the internet without

citation• Retyping or rewriting work from other students, authors,

websites, books, etc.• Failing to document, through the use of parenthetical

references, the words of others• Failing to submit a Works Cited Page.• Including an incomplete Works Cited Page (one that

does not list all sources used within the paper) - from the NWLSD Research Manual

Print Source

• Author

• Book Title

• Place of Publication

• Publisher

• Year of Publication

• Medium of Publication (print or web)

Finding the Information

• Author• Book Title• Series Title (if

applicable)• Place of Publication• Publisher• Year of Publication

Sample Source Card

Feinstein, Stephen. The 1990s From the Persian Gulf to Y2K. Decades of the 20th Centruy. Berkeley Heights: Enslow, 2001.

Internet Source

Not every Web page will provide all of the following information. However, collect as much of the following information as possible both for your citations and for your research notes:

• Author name (if available)• Title of web page • Title of the web site• Publisher/Sponsoring organization• Date updated/Publication Date• Date you accessed the web site

Finding the Information

• Author• Title of web

page• Title of web

site• Publisher /

Sponsoring organization

• Date updated• Date

accessed

Sample Source Card

“CIA World Fact Book India.” The World Factbook. CIA. 26 April 2010. Web. 10 May 2010.

Creating a Works Cited Page

• Once you’ve found a resource with information that you want to use, you should take down some information about that source.

• Use the NWLSD Research Manual to assist you. It’s available in the library and online at http://nwhslmic.wikispaces.com/.

Works Cited Page

• The words Works Cited should be centered at the top of the page.

• Entries should be listed alphabetically by first word.• The first line begins at the left margin and all other lines

are indented five spaces.• Entries should be organized exactly as they are on your

source card (author’s last name followed by the first name, the source title, and the publishing information).

• The whole page should be double-spaced.• Correct punctuation should be used.

Sample Works Cited Page

Works Cited

“CIA World Fact Book India.” The World Factbook. CIA. 26 April 2010. Web. 10 May 2010.

Feinstein, Stephen. The 1990s From the Persian Gulf to Y2K. Decades of the 20th Centruy. Berkeley Heights: Enslow, 2001.

What information must be cited?

• Summary – a brief restatement of the main ideas in a source, using your own words

• Paraphrase – restates information from a source using your own words

• Quotations – the record of the exact words of a written or spoken sour, set off by quotation marks

In-text Citations

Each time you use notes that you took from one of your sources (whether it is a summary, paraphrase, or direct quote) in your paper, you must provide a citation for it, which should include the author’s name (or title if author’s name is not available)and the page number(s).

Sample In Text Citations

India’s form of government is a federal republic. India gained its independence from the UK on August 15, 1947 (“CIA World Factbook India”).

On January 16, 1991, television viewers worldwide saw the beginnings of Operation Desert Storm (Feinstein 38).