When writing a research paper, you will need to incorporate other people’s statements and ideas into your writing, in order to provide expert support for your ideas. When you do this, you will need to make it clear to a reader where you found these statements and ideas, whether in a book, an article, on the internet, in a film, by talking to someone personally, or through any other means. This shows a reader that you did your research, and also allows her to find that same information if it interests her.
Plagiarism is when you don't cite your sources correctly. But how will you know what constitutes plagiarism? How can you avoid it?
This lesson is intended to help you learn about plagiarism. It will discuss ways to paraphrase others’ ideas when you do not want to quote them directly. It will NOT focus on the specific forms of citation, that can vary between different academic fields. For more information on specific citation styles, such as MLA, APA, and others, see the UHD Library’s Citing Sources page. Citations in this exercise will be in APA format.
Simply click on each tab at the top of the page to read through each section, ending with the Practice page.
Once you're done, if you have further questions, you may want to speak with your instructor first, since he or she will be most familiar with your scholarly work. You are also welcome to click on Ask a Librarian to ask about citation style specifics. The UHD Writing-Reading Center, in N925, will help you with the specifics of writing and editing your paper. Using all of these resources available to you will help to make sure you succeed in your college education!
