Plagiarism is using others' ideas or words without correctly crediting them for their work. When we create essays or papers for a class that require us to do research, we draw directly on others' words and ideas to build evidence for our paper. So, how do we ensure that when we avoid plagiarizing when we write?
- Don't procrastinate starting your research. Thorough research takes time, both to read sources and process the information. When we don't thoroughly digest what we've read, we tend to directly reproduce it and can't successfully paraphrase.
- Learn how to paraphrase. Good paraphrasing is more than just switching the order of a few words. Read the passage several times until you feel comfortable with its ideas. Look up any terms that are unfamiliar to you. Once you feel comfortable with the content, summarize the passage without looking back at the original. Then, use a citation to indicate you are drawing upon another's ideas.
- Take thorough notes as you read. When you come across an idea or a piece of information that is relevant to your topic, write down not only the quote, but the page number where you found it. Differentiate in your notes between your ideas and the author's. When you create an outline for your paper, you can plug these notes directly into that outline, which will make writing your rough draft much easier.
- Do your own work. Don't ask others to do work for you. Don't copy others' work and pass it off as your own. Period.
- When in doubt, cite. Any information you get from a source, whether factual or conceptual, that is not common knowledge must be cited. For example, we all know without researching it that George Washington was the first President of the United States. But, we may not all know that Washington had slaves' teeth, not wooden dentures. So, in this case, we would need to provide a citation to establish the truth of the information so that others could verify our claims. Even though both are historical facts. (MountVernon.org)
“George Washington and Slave Teeth.” George Washington's Mount Vernon, www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/health/washingtons-teeth/george-washington-and-slave-teeth/.