Research Guides: Citing Sources: Preventing Plagiarism through Citing

Plagiarism Prevention

Make sure that you cite your sources correctly to avoid plagiarism. See the following resources to better understand how to prevent plagiarism in your writing.

Three Basic Varieties of Plagiarism

Using another's words without giving credit.
Using another's ideas -- paraphrasing or simply changing words around -- without giving credit.
Citing sources that weren't used in the paper, or making up references.

Avoid Plagiarism Section from Plough Library's How to Research a Topic guide.
Tutorial: Academic Integrity
Video: Plagiarism
Plagiarism 2.0: Information Ethics in the Digital Age [Video] 19 minute video from Films on Demand on behaviors that can lead to plagiarism and how to avoid them. Addresses both accidental copying and deliberate plagiarism.
Rutgers University Plagiarism Tutorial Videos Humorous four-part video tutorial warning students about the consequences of plagiarism.
You Quote It, You Note It!
Excellent tutorial from Acadia University for students, with specific examples of how to quote and paraphrase correctly, as well as instructions on source citation and good research habits.

Plagiarism Prevention Tips

Here are some tips on how to prevent plagiarism in your own writing:

Tip	How to do this	Why to do this
Cite sources	Use the Citing Sources Research Guide from Plough Library Use the tools from Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL) Use citation managers such as Mendeley and Zotero Use style guides, such as APA, MLA, and Turabian	It gives authors credit for their work It affects your grade It provides accurate references for your readers
Properly credit authors	Use parenthetical citations Use footnotes Use author's name in text	It provides a reference for where you got the idea It gives authors credit for their work It affects your grade
Properly quote authors	Use quotation marks around direct quotes Provide in-text or footnote citation (depending on the citation style) for direct quotes Paraphrase text, and include a citation for the paraphrase	It allows the reader to know which words are yours and which words are another person's words It give authors credit for their work It affects your grade