What is Plagiarism and how to avoid it

1. Plagiarism is using others’ ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information. As a result, it is very important that we give credit where it is due.

2. To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you use: • another person’s idea, opinion, or theory; • any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings—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.

3. The preceding passage is considered plagiarism for two reasons:

• The writer has only changed around a few words and phrases, or changed the order of the original’s sentences. • The writer has failed to cite a source for any of the ideas or facts.

4. This is acceptable paraphrasing because the writer:

• accurately relays the information in the original • Uses her own words. • Lets her reader know the source of her information. • Records the information in the original passage accurately. • Gives credit for the ideas in this passage. • Indicated which part is taken directly from her source by putting the passage in quotation marks and citing the page number. . 5. Strategies for Avoiding Plagiarism: • Put in quotations everything that comes directly from the text especially when taking notes. • Paraphrase, but be sure you are not just rearranging or replacing a few words. • Check your paraphrase against the original text to be