Understanding Plagiarism

It's easy to lose track of sources or forget which source information came from. Make sure you keep your notes organized and create a bibliography or works cited page so you don't lose track of sources you've found during research.

Using a made-up format to cite a source, or including an incomplete citation, can be considered plagiarism.  If you aren't sure which citation style to use (MLA, APA, Chicago, CSE, AMA) ask your faculty member.

Proofreading is an important step to make sure you’re using and citing your sources correctly.

Check the sources listed at the end of your paper to make sure they match the ones used in the body of your paper. If you're missing parts of a citation, or don't have the information you need, ask a librarian to help you track down the source.

Try This!

If you want to use information from a source but don't have time to summarize or paraphrase it while you are drafting your paper, put the phrase in [brackets] and include URL/link to the source. Then you can continue writing without losing your train of thought. Then go back to summarize or paraphrase (and cite) the passage later!