Best Practices so You Can Avoid Plagiarism
Don't procrastinate with your research and assignments. Good research takes time. ...
Commit to doing your own work. If you don't understand an assignment, talk with your teacher ...
Take good detailed notes on each source you use - poor note-taking can lead to problems
Formulate a thesis statement so you don't get off track
Create an outline to keep you organized
To avoid confusion about your sources, try using different colored fonts, pens, or pencils for each one, and make sure you clearly distinguish your own ideas from those you found elsewhere.
Make sure you sure you keep a running list of citations because when in doubt, cite your sources
Understand good paraphrasing.
A paraphrase is a restatement in your own words of someone else's ideas. Changing a few words of the original sentences does NOT make your writing a legitimate paraphrase. You must change both the words and the sentence structure of the original, without changing the content. Also, you should keep in mind that paraphrased passages still require citation because the ideas came from another source, even though you are putting them in your own words.
