Plagiarism and Citation

• Plagiarism is the act of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as your own. It's no small offense in the academic world. If you got into bad habits in the past, stop now! Citing your sources will reduce the chances of you being accused of plagiarism. In this folder, we'll discuss both plagiarism and citation together- the problem and the solution.

• I thought we'd start our discussion of plagiarism, the need for citing our sources, and parenthetical/ in-text citation with a spot-on skit on plagiarism from SNL.

• Even if you don't intend to plagiarize, you may accidentally stumble into the trap of plagiarism. This is called Accidental Plagiarism. And it could happen to you if you've not mastered publication ethics. This video has some tips on how to avoid accidental plagiarism.

• Just to hammer home the serious nature of plagiarism, check out BMCC's Policy on Plagiarism - Click HERE. Here's a quote to consider- "The instructor may, for example, require the work to be redone, reduce the course grade, fail the student in the course, or refer the case to the Faculty-Student Disciplinary Committee...[which] could result in suspension or expulsion from the college."

You know that instructors want you to cite your sources, but do you know why citations are so important?

• Understanding how to use parenthetical/ in-text citation is as important as understanding why you need to cite your sources regardless of how your paper is formatted. In our case, we'll only be examining MLA formatting of parenthetical and in-text citations.

For those who prefer to read the slides and presentation transcript, click HERE for the original PowerPoint and notes.

• This wonderful site run by University of North Carolina is designed to introduce you to citing information in a variety of citation styles.

• In this class you'll be required to cite and format your papers according to the standards of MLA8, but in other courses, the formatting method required will vary. It's important to have some familiarity with the other methods out there and always check with your professors as to which method they require before submitting work.

• This vidcast explains how to create in-text citations using MLA 8th Edition, which was published in 2016. As always, head over to the Purdue OWL website for answers to all your writing questions!