Avoiding Plagiarism in your Writing

Awareness

• Plagiarism is not a passive act. It doesn’t happen TO you.

• As the researcher and writer, it is your responsibility to make sure that your work does not contain plagiarism.

• If you are caught plagiarizing, your punishment will be the same regardless of whether it was intentional or due to carelessness or laziness.

How to avoid plagiarism• Pay attention when you’re taking notes

– Use quotation marks whenever necessary– Carefully record where you found each piece of info

(source and pg #)– Use a consistent system to distinguish between

different types of info (see next slide)

• Pay attention when you’re writing your paper– Include quotation marks whenever necessary– If you’re not sure whether or not you copied from one

of your sources, look back at the source to see– Include parenthetical citations whenever necessary

• Read your TurnItIn.com report carefully– Look at each highlighted section– Fix any spots that need to be fixed

In your research paper, you will include 6 types of information

1. Information from sources that you copy word for word

2. Paraphrased specific pieces of information3. Paraphrased original ideas / arguments /

conclusions4. Paraphrased general / commonly known

information5. Your own analysis of the facts / ideas you cited6. Your own thoughts and ideas

Each type will require different things to avoid plagiarismType of Info

1. Information from sources that you copy word for word

2. Paraphrased specific pieces of information

3. Paraphrased original ideas / arguments / conclusions

4. Paraphrased general / commonly known information

5. Your own analysis of the facts / ideas you cited

6. Your own thoughts and ideas

What’s Required1. Quotation Marks AND

a Parenthetical Citation2. Parenthetical Citation

3. Parenthetical Citation

4. Nothing

5. Nothing

6. Nothing

Quoting vs. Paraphrasing

You are quoting whenever

you copy any single word or series of words that is unique or original

To paraphrase, your must provide your own– Word Choice– Sentence Structure– Flow of Ideas

Changing a couple of words, but copying the sentence structure, flow of

ideas, and remaining word choice is

PLAGIARISM