Citing Your Sources: Avoid Plagiarism

• What kinds of activities are considered plagiarism?
• Can I get in trouble if I accidentally plagiarize?
• When (and where) do I need to cite sources of information in my writings and assignments?

Avoiding plagiarism and properly crediting the originator of your sources is an essential skill for success in both college and the workplace. Knowing when and how to give credit when using someone's ideas is the very first step in being a good writer, but also in being a responsible citizen and continuous learner. You certainly wouldn't want someone else taking credit for your hard work. Ensure your writing properly credits the work of those sources you've used.

Whether done on purpose or accidentally, plagiarism and academic dishonesty can come with serious academic consequences. These are all examples of plagiarism or academic dishonesty:

• Submit work that someone else wrote or created, in whole or in part.
• Submit work that does not fully attribute your sources of information (in other words: copying or paraphrasing others' ideas and not citing them).
• Submit the same work for two different courses or assignments (without the explicit permission of your instructor).
• Write or create work and allow someone else to submit it as their own.
• Fabricate or change data for a research assignment.

Best practices for avoiding plagiarism:

• Give yourself plenty of time to complete your assignments. Use the Assignment Calculator to help you plan this out.
• Ask your instructor if you have any questions about an assignment. You can also contact Academic Support for tutoring and writing help options, and the librarians (right side of page) for questions about using the library or citing sources.
• Take notes and track all your possible sources of information while searching for and reading sources.
• Cite every instance of an idea or information that isn't your own in the text of your papers. Every in-text citation should also point to one or more full citations at the end of your paper. Proofread your citations in addition to your writing.

In academic writing, there are several required citation elements, using a standardized format like APA or MLA (ask your instructor if unclear about a specific assignment or activity requirements):

1. The idea you took from the original source (in the form of a direct quote or a paraphrase).
2. A brief, in-text citation, containing at least author last name and date of publication.
3. The full citation at the end of your paper.

Optional Readings/Viewings: