How to Avoid Plagiarism
What is plagiarism?
- presenting ideas or information that was created by someone else as if it is your own
It includes:
- Copying, quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing from any source without citing the source
(this includes rearranging words, or exchanging an occasional word)
- Purchasing a pre-written paper (either by mail or electronically)
- Letting someone else write a paper for you
- Paying someone else to write a paper for you
http://library.duke.edu/research/plagiarism/index.html
The most simple way to avoid plagiarism is to put everything you copy from another source into quotation marks, and citing the source.
BUT...
You can’t put your whole essay into quotation marks! So what can you do?
Paraphrasing: putting information into your own words
1. Read a passage and try to understand it.
2. Jot down notes about the passage in the words you might use to explain what you just read to a friend.
3. Don’t look at the passage while you are writing your notes; check for accuracy when your notes are completed.
Summarizing: condensing information into a considerably shorter form than the original version
1. What is the author’s most important idea?
2. How does the author support this idea?
3. Include only the most important points of the passage.
http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase2.html
http://mrsbrownjhs.blogspot.ca/p/research-assignment-information.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2165700_summarize-reading-assignment.html
You can use an on-line bibliography site such as EasyBib to create your bibliography.