1. Plagarism Avoiding Plagiarism, Citation, Getting Started
Used with permission from
Mr. Carmer

2. Plagiarism Defined Define Plagiarism:
“to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source”1
If you use someone else's words, ideas, phrases, thoughts, etc. without giving them credit through use of a citation you are plagiarizing their work
If the information, idea, phrase, etc. is either widely known or a well-known statement of fact then it does not need to be cited.
Example: The statement that ‘the Japanese military attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941’ is a well known fact and would not need citation.

3. Examples of Plagiarism2
Turning in another person's work as your own, and this includes a paper from free website
Copying a paper, an excerpt, a paragraph, or a line from a source without proper acknowledgement (these can be from a print source, such as a book, journal, monograph, map, chart, or pamphlet, or from a nonprint source, such as the web or online databases
Copying materials from a source, supplying proper documentation, but leaving out quotation marks
Paraphrasing materials from a source without proper documentation
Buying a paper from a research service or a commercial term paper mill.
Sharing or swapping from a local source (from student papers that were previously submitted)
Creating invalid or faked citations

4. How to Avoid Plagiarism
Organize yourself prior to beginning research
Use note cards to document every resource you take information from, whether the information is used in the final paper or not
For a direct quote: use quotation marks, copy the phrase exactly, cite the work, page number and author.
For paraphrased information: use your own words, cite the work and page number

5. Paraphrasing
What?
Using your own words to express or restate the ideas and/or expressions of someone else.
Why?
Effective paraphrasing helps you to better understand the original idea being researched
Allows you to write in your own words while avoiding ‘over-quotation’
How?3
1. Reread original passage until you understand its full meaning.
2. Set original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
3. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
4. Check your rendition with original to make sure your version accurately expresses the essential information in a new form.
5. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
6. Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

6. Additional Info/Help
Use MLA format for citing information within the paper (Author, Page #)
Look over the following site for creating an MLA Bibliography:
Look at the site: A+ Research & Writing for high school and college students at for help in getting started.

7. Helpful Hints
If you work together on a homework assignment that doesn’t mean you should have the same answers. Especially on opinion questions.
Homework assignments in this class are individual assignments and you are not to work with a partner on them anyway. If you need help come see me.
Copying other people’s work in MUN is doubly risky
I might catch you with turnitin.com
The author of the work might catch you! (the person that wrote the paper, resolution, etc. might still be in MUN and be in your committee or even be your chair!)

8. Footnote Page
“plagiarism.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=plagiarized (Jan. 18, 2005).
Amrita Madray, Student’s Guide to Preventing and Avoiding Plagiarism [on-line]; available from Internet accessed on 18 Jan 2005.
“Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words,” Purdue University On-line Writing Lab, 2004; available from Internet accessed on 19 Jan 2005.