A checklist on how to avoid plagiarism:
- Learn how to cite your sources using the appropriate style manual.
- Using a sequence of sentences or word language of another author's work is considered an act of plagiarism.
- Keep careful notes and documentation as you do your research.
- It is advisable not to "overquote" in your paper. Remember the paper should be made up of your own ideas and arguments.
- Downloading information from the Internet or any other electronic database product to include in your paper, without citing its source, is considered an act of plagiarism.
- Cite ideas from other sources when they add weight to your own argument or ideas.
- Learn how to paraphrase wisely using your own words and citing the source appropriately.
- Use quotation marks even if a footnote is provided.
- Know the difference between a bibliography and a reference list. Your reference list is where your source material cited in your paper is listed. The bibliography includes general background material which you read but did not cite in your paper.
- Paraphrasing does not mean you do not need cite the source.
- Always quote the exact words of an author and surround them in quotation marks, citing the source within the body of the text and in the reference list.
- If you are not sure whether to cite a source, cite it.
- Changing a few words of another author's work it still considered an act of plagiarism.
- Do not start your paper the night before your paper is due. This may cause you to stress out enough to "cut corners."
This checklist was adapted from the StarQuest tutorial, ethics module, by Elizabeth Hogue, http://www.lib.odu.edu/research/tutorials/starquest/ethicsmodule/ .
2010-2012 Copyright Old Dominion University -- ODU Libraries, updated September 2012