Documenting Information Sources & Avoiding Plagiarism: Key Points for Writers

When you write: §You must tell your readers the sources of your ideas and information. §Tell your readers if you have permission to use others’ words or ideas. Don’t presume that permission is unnecessary or implicit. §In most cases you are not required to document well-known facts or dictionary definitions. However, when in doubt, you should always document your source of information.

Plagiarism is using someone else's words or ideas and claiming them as your own, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Actions that might be seen as plagiarism (From Purdue University Online Writing Lab):

Strategies for Avoiding Plagiarism: §Put into quotations everything that comes directly from the text. §Paraphrase, but be sure you are not just rearranging or replacing a few words. Excerpted from: Indiana University, Bloomington, Writing Tutorial Services:

Strategies, continued: §Check your paraphrase against the original text to be sure you have not accidentally used the same phrases or words, and that the information is accurate. §Each time you directly quote an outside source or restate it in your own words (paraphrasing), identify that source with a citation. Bullet 1: Indiana University, Bloomington, Writing Tutorial Services: Bullet 2: Steal This Handout... Montana State University Libraries:

An example of paraphrasing: §Original source: “…the biggest problem we have in public discourse today is, there’s plenty of information out there, but you don’t know what’s true and what’s not, and it’s hard to access it.” §Bill Clinton, “Bill Clinton: The Rolling Stone Interview,” interview by Jann S. Wenner, Rolling Stone, (December 28, 2000-January 4, 2001):128

An inappropriate paraphrase: §Today, people have too much information coming at them. It’s hard for them to access information and to tell what’s true and what isn’t. §Problems: l There is no citation or indication in the text to tell readers the source of the paraphrase. l The first sentence of the paraphrase does not accurately represent President Clinton’s statement. l The second sentence mirrors the original quote too closely and might be considered plagiarism.

An appropriate paraphrase with citation: l President Bill Clinton has said that the public now faces a glut of information that is difficult to navigate, making it hard for one to judge what is true or false. §Bill Clinton, “Bill Clinton: The Rolling Stone Interview,” interview by Jann S. Wenner, Rolling Stone, (December 28, 2000-January 4, 2001):128

Common style manuals to consult for citation styles: §Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: The Association, §Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA style manual and guide to scholarly publishing. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1998.

Sources for help: §UNR’s Writing Center: E.J. Cain Hall Room §Style Manuals (MLA, APA, Turabian & others) UNR Main Library Reference Desk

This guide was created by: Patrick Ragains Business & Government Information Librarian Mail Stop 322 University of Nevada, Reno phone: (775) , ext