Papers on ways to avoid plagiarism
There are many papers on ways to avoid plagiarism available, and each has a particular take on what counts as plagiarism in the first place.
Plagiarism is using someone else's work without giving them due credit. Students who plagiarize find themselves in very deep trouble because it is seem as about the worst possible academic crime.
 |
It is very important to understand this. At college or university, If a student is caught plagarising someone elses work they will probably be expelled. It is considered that seriously.
The two rules of avoiding plagiarism
- When you find a passage you wish to include in your own words you must include quotation marks and a proper citation.
- When you wish to re-write a piece of information you find in another's work you must cite them directly as a source.
However, most people are confused by the gray areas of what is a full citation and what counts as an idea.
If you read:
The causes of the civil war are many and varied. They include political dissent, economic decline, religious revolution and above all the personalities of noteable key figures.
You must not write a sentence such as " Themany and varied causes of the civil war include..." without citing the original author. This is plagarism, pure and simple.
Paraphrasing is stating someone else's ideas in your own words. This is something that we all do, all the time. In written work when we paraphrase someone elses ideas we must also cite the source.
