Plagiarism

Actions that are considered plagiarism:

Hiring someone to write your paper
Buying, stealing, or borrowing a paper
Copying from another source without citing (on purpose or by accident)
Using the source too closely when paraphrasing
Building on someone’s ideas without giving them credit

Are you confused about when to give credit to your source? This chart might help; if you’re still unsure, it is always better to cite the work. See your teacher or librarian for specific situations or if you have questions.

Need to Document:

When you are using or referring to somebody else’s words or ideas from a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, web page, computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other medium
When you use information gained through interviewing another person
When you copy exact words or a unique phrase from any source
When you reprint any diagrams, illustrations, charts, or pictures
When you use ideas that others have given you in conversations or through email, including parents, tutors, etc.

No Need to Document:

When you are writing your own experiences, your own observations, your own insights, your own thoughts, or your own conclusions about a subject
When you are using “common knowledge” – folklore, common sense observations, shared information within your field of study or cultural group (e.g. Mars is known as the Red Planet.)
When you are compiling generally accepted facts that can easily be found in a dictionary or encyclopedia (e.g. George Washington was born February 22, 1732.)
When you are writing up your own experimental results

(from Purdue University Online Writing Lab)

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