What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism occurs when all or part of another person's work or ideas is presented as one's own, or used without giving credit to the original author or source.
Even if unintentional, plagiarism constitutes a serious academic offense.
Tips to help you avoid plagiarism:
Make sure you understand the material you've obtained through your research. This makes it easier to write about it in your own words, and to come up with your own thoughts and views about the material.
Keep track of all your sources as you do your research. Save copies of articles, write down citations, or add to your bibliography as you do your paper.Leave yourself time to do a complete bibliography. If you have to rush to get your paper done on time, you can easily miss a reference and be accused of plagiarism.
If you're not sure whether you should cite something, check one of the sites or reference books listed below - these provide many different examples that should help make things clearer for you.
Know how to cite your references using the citation style required for your course. For help with citing sources, see Citation and Style Guides.
Please see the following links for more information:
Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It, with permission from Indiana University Writing Tutorial Services, Bloomington, IN.
Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing, from the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL).
Avoiding Plagiarism, from the Academic Writing Help Centre at the University of Ottawa.
Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism, from Duke University Libraries, Durham, NC.
You Quote It, You Note It!, an interactive tutorial from Vaughan Memorial Library, Acadia University, Wolfville, NS.
Nipissing University's Policy on Academic Dishonesty.
Suggested Library books for help with quoting and paraphrasing:
The Little, Brown Handbook PE1112 .F64 2004
A Canadian Writer's Reference PE1408 .H268 2008
Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers PE1408 .T725 2002
Quick Access: Simon & Schuster Reference for Writers PE1408 .T6955 2004
