Ethical Use of Information

How to Recognize and Avoid Plagiarism?

Why Discuss Ethical Use | Academic Integrity | Data on Cheating
What Is Plagiarism | How to Avoid Plagiarism | Related Links

Although some individuals plagiarize the work of others intentionally, many simply do not understand how to properly document and note their sources, causing them to commit plagiarism unintentionally.

The following web sites provide realistic examples of student-like plagiarism. In addition, they provide examples of how to refer to the ideas of others within the text and proper methods of citing the sources of those ideas, thus avoiding plagiarism. Often, the examples given show how the original source can be both plagiarized in a variety of ways and how the same source can be cited properly.

• Using Sources (Hamilton College Writing Center)
• PLAGIARISM: What it is, and How to Avoid It by Colin H. Gordon, Peter Simmons, and Graeme Wynn (University of British Columbia, Faculty of Arts)

Simple Advice to Researchers Wanting to Avoid Plagiarism

Copy source information down carefully in your notes:

• Print and Media Resources: write down author, title, publication place, publisher, date, pages, and any other identifiying information about the source.
• Web Resources: note who's responsible for the site, the URL of the site, and the date you visited the site.
• E-mail messages: note author of the message, date of the message, listerv information if appropriate, and any other identifying information about the message.

Take careful notes from the text of your sources:

• Identify in your notes which notes are exact quotes, paraphrases, or lists of ideas.
• When using information from your notes, be careful to attribute (cite, footnote, refer to) the ideas to the original author as you incorporate them into your text.

Follow a writing style manual for examples on how to cite sources:

• Many professors assign a specific style manual, such as the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, etc.
• If you don't have a specific manual assigned to you, ask a librarian for suggestions for style manuals available to you in the Libraries.
• There are also some style manuals on the web, listed on the College of Wooster Libraries' Writers Guides page, if you prefer to consult a style manual online.
• The Five Colleges of Ohio Libraries Information Literacy Tutorial provides a sections on Understanding Citations and on Citing Your Research to help you out as well.

Ask for help on citing sources properly when you're confused. Useful people to ask are:

• Your professor.
• A librarian.
• A staff member in the College's Writing Center.

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