Tips to Avoid Plagiarism and Cite Sources
Plagiarism for the purposes of your paper for this course will be defined
as representing any work or idea that you have not created as your own.
It is especially easy when using electronic sources that allow you to cut
and paste text to forget to cite a source. It is also especially easy when
cutting and pasting text to forget that you have directly quoted a source.
Plagiarism includes but is not limited to:
- taking an entire paper or portions of a paper from another on-line
or off-line source (even with a citation of a source this is not appropriate
- a paper should represent your intellectual efforts not someone else's)
- not citing a source when you have taken an idea from an author
- not citing a source and taking an entire sentence or group of sentences
from an author
- closely paraphrasing what an author said without giving credit
- following the general format that an author used in terms of breaking
down a topic without citing the author.
- making up citations
- falsely using a citation that does not belong to the topic being discussed
How to avoid plagiarism
- be sure to cite a source any time you use a quotation or an idea from
- be sure to keep accurate records as you conduct a search of where you
are getting information from. Take a minute when copying an off-line article
to be sure that you have the information that you will need to cite your
source. This is also especially important when using on-line material -
be sure to copy down the url.
- if you cut and paste information take a second to put quotations around
information so that you remember that something is a quotation. Also be
sure that you record where you found the information - this will save you
time in the long run.
- most of the time plagiarism comes from hurried work - the feeling that
you have to get something done because it is due tomorrow. Try to plan
to give yourself a week to look over and perform a final edit. This is
especially true for the group projects because everyone in the group should
read over the final copy and make editing suggestions.
- you will also avoid plagiarism if you try to break down ideas into
your own words. If you do this then then you are not likely to copy entire
sentences or groups of sentences. You still need to cite the source in
- In your final edit look for large sections of the paper that have no
citations, look for writing that sounds overly technical (as if an expert
in a particular field wrote something), look for technical words or phrases
that have no citation, look at the list of references and make sure that
the article has been used correctly.
Ok, if I do this my paper will be nothing but citations
- this is partially true, you will have a lot of citations
- one way that you work your own ideas into a paper is in the way that
you organize a topic. Don't read an article and just adopt the way one
author broke down a topic. Think about how you want to break down the topic
into smaller parts and what you think is important that your readers understand.
Discuss why you broke the topic down in the way that you did. The goal
is to promote understanding on the part of the reader.
- another way of working in your own ideas is in being critical of the
way other present their ideas. What information did the author leave out
that you can add? What was useful about the way the author presented
their topic? What was wrong with the author's perspective on a topic
and what would you add?
- you will avoid a paper with citation after citation if you avoid writing
a paper that is just a series of cut and pasted text from different sources
that you have organized in some way. This may be a starting point but part
of the way you add your own voice to a paper is thinking deeply about the
issues and adding your own analysis to what others have said. Good papers
require a lot of analysis and synthesis of ideas on your part.
- Avoid using lots of quotations in a paper. A quotation serves as an
attention getting mechanism in a paper. With a quotation you are highlighting
the fact that an issue is so important that it deserves special attention.
Use quotations only when you are trying to make an important point in the
paper and someone has said something so well that there is no other way
to say it. If you use a quotation then be sure to cite it.
- If you only change one or two words then you should just quote the
entire sentence and cite the author.
- In general you should avoid trying to rephrase what an author is saying
sentence by sentence. Think about what the author is saying in an entire
section and try to identify key issues and paraphrase these (along with
citing the source).
How do I Cite My Sources:
- In the paper there are a lot of ways to cite your information.
- One way is to directly say - Smith (196) reported that ....
- Another way is to talk about a particular idea and then put a reference
to the author or authors & the date of the article at the end of the
sentence - Ex. One common cause of stress among seniors is trying to find
a job upon graduation (Smith, 1995; Williams, 1997).
- You can also cite multiple authors - Ex. Several authors (Smith, 1995;
Thomas, 1990, Williams, 1997) have reported that one of the leading causes
of stress for seniors is trying to find a job upon graduation.
- Common styles for citing references are APA and MLA. There is also
a guide for citing on-line sources available at: Electronic
Sources: APA Style of Citation
The Penalty for Plagiarism:
If any section of the paper for this course is plagiarized then entire
group will receive an F (0 points) for the project. Even if you did not
work on the section that is plagiarized you will receive an F. All group
members are responsible for reading all sections of the paper to make sure
that they are consistent, well integrated, and contain correct citations.
All incidents of plagiarism will be reported to the Speech Communication
Department and the Student Conduct Board.
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