Plagiarism can be a problem in the university setting. First, in order to avoid this problem,

one needs to know how plagiarism is defined. It is also helpful to know the difference between

plagiarism and paraphrasing. And, finally, there are benefits in knowing how to put information

one's own words and in accurately citing one's sources.

Plagiarism is defined by the Council of Writing Program Administrators (1) as follows: “In an

instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else's language,

ideas, or other original (not common knowledge) material with out acknowledging the source.”

The key is not to take credit for some else's work. Always know who your source is and accurately

acknowledge that source. The Perdue Online Writing Lab (2)has charts and other helpful information

for accurately citing several different types of sources.

Paraphrasing is defined by the Perdue Online Writing Lab (3) as “your own rendition of essential

information and ideas, expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.”

2

In other words, use your own words to talk about the information. And, again, give credit to the

source of the information.

Finally, accurate source citation fives the writer credibility and paraphrasing allows the writer

to present several differing points of view. These tools can also be used to highlight the

position the writer wishes to support and to present work that leads up to work the writer is

currently doing (Perdue Online Writing