Plagiarism is when you present someone else's work or ideas as your own. Plagiarism is a form of cheating and is taken very seriously as academic misconduct. So, you must acknowledge and cite when you use information taken from other people.
Plagiarism takes many forms, including:
- Copying someone's words without giving them credit.
- Taking a quote from a source, changing a few words, and then presenting it as your own.
- Using or repeating someone's ideas or concepts without giving them credit.
- Copying images or music without permission or without proper attribution.
- Intentionally presenting someone else's work as your own, including copying other students' works or submitting papers you did not write.
Avoiding plagiarism in your writing:
- Are your own words and ideas being used? You are not plagiarizing.
- Are you copying someone else's phrases or sentences? Did you use quotation marks and cite the source in the text and the bibliography? You are not plagiarizing.
- Are you presenting someone else's ideas using your own words? Did you cite the source in your text and the bibliography? You are not plagiarizing.
For more help with citing and organizing your sources, visit our Citation Tools.
