First Year Seminar: Plagiarism

"The following actions, among others, constitute a violation of the Standards of Academic Conduct:

• Intentional or accidental plagiarism in an academic exercise, which includes:
  • direct or literal copying of a source without proper attribution;
  • paraphrasing of a source without proper attribution;
  • resubmission of one's work in another academic exercise without the knowledge of both instructors;
  • submission of another's work in whole or part with intent to deceive.
• Giving or receiving unacknowledged, inappropriate, or unauthorized aid in an academic exercise.
• Intentional falsification of data, sources, or information in an academic exercise.
• Deceiving or lying to a faculty member or administrator in matters relating to an academic requirement, policy, or procedure.
• Acting in a disorderly or discourteous manner in an academic exercise or to a faculty member or students during an academic exercise."

To avoid plagiarism, all you need to do is use citations whenever you reference a thought that isn't your own. You need to use a citation in your work any time you:

• Refer to information from another source (other than your own experience)
• Mention statistics or data
• Use a direct quote from someone else
• Summarize an article or point of view
• Include an image in a presentation 

For most assignments, you will need to create both an in-text citation and a full citation in the references or works cited page of your paper or each source you use. An in-text citation goes in the body of your paper, usually in parenthesis, after you refer to someone else's idea or quote. The full citation goes at the end of the paper, in the references or works cited page, depending on what citation style you're using.

If you're not sure if you need to put a citation in a specific case, ask a librarian or your professor!

For more information on how to write citations for MLA, APA, and Chicago styles, check out our Citations Research Guide.