You Quote it, You Note it! an interactive slideshow that tells you what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.

Quoting giant blocks of text from different sources doesn't really show the reader your expertise in your topic. This is why people tell you to "put it in your own words" when you are writing, unless the quote is the most amazing quote EVER and MUST be included.

Paraphrasing and Summarizing

I avoid plagiarism as a writer by reading the information and making sure that I understand what it is trying to say. Then, I close the book and rewrite it in my own words (or switch tabs in Chrome, or shut the computer and write it on paper) Sometimes, I can really remember too much of it, so then I try to re-write my words again so it sounds more like my own and less like I copied it directly and switched out a few words. Then, just to make sure that the reader doesn't think that I wrote this information or made it up, I use in-text citations, or acknowledge the original work in some way in my writing.

Paraphrasing means that you write it in your own words but it's almost the same size as the original piece.

Summarizing means that you read a text and you are giving the reader a shorter version of it.

Neither of these is your own idea, you are just writing it in your own words!

In-Text Citation guide from Purdue OWL

Play the Plagiarism Game from Lycoming College!