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Research Help: Avoiding Plagiarism

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is using another person's work without crediting the source of the information. We usually think of malicious plagiarism -- copying and pasting from Wikipedia. But it can be unintentional, such as when quotation marks are left out by accident or citations aren't formatted in the proper manner. This guide will orient you so you know when, where, and how to cite your sources.

You MUST cite:

  • Quotations- when you copy the exact words
  • Paraphrases
  • Summaries
  • Someone else's ideas
  • Numbers, statistics
  • Visual materials (images, video, charts, graphs)
  • Internet materials, even if there's no author

You don't need to cite:

  • Your own ideas, observations, research, artwork, etc.
  • Common knowledge (such as "Columbus landed in the New World in 1492").

When in doubt, cite!

Academic Resource Center

Mary Baldwin Academic Resource Center (ARC)

Through face-to-face and online sessions, the ARC helps students with all stages of writing:

  • narrowing a topic
  • organizing an essay
  • crafting a thesis
  • writing an initial essay
  • revising a draft
  • editing a final draft

Schedule an Appointment