Academic Integrity & Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the most frequent academic integrity violation. It is a serious issue, because properly citing sources is an essential component of academic research and discourse. Original ideas or concepts are considered to be a person's property, and not crediting the contribution of others is seen as ethically wrong. If you do not cite a source, you do not acknowledge the creator's rights and contributions and are committing intellectual theft.

Quoting

• Use quotation marks whenever quoting an exact phrase, sentence or short paragraph
• Longer quotations should not be included in quotation marks, but indented, as indicated by the citation style in use
• Always include a citation

Paraphrasing and Summarizing

• To correctly paraphrase or summarize, you must change both the language AND sentence structure
• Always include a citation

Citing

• Acknowledge ALL sources of borrowed ideas and materials, whether they are written, spoken, visuals or in any other format
• Make sure that the reader can clearly distinguish between your thoughts and information you borrowed by placing your citations in the appropriate place
• Properly format your in-text citations (or footnotes if using Chicago Style) and your reference list (also called works cited or bibliography)
• Cite your sources both in your text AND in your list of sources

• The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism
• Understanding plagiarism and its consequences (DVD)
• What every student should know about avoiding plagiarism

• How to Recognize Plagiarism
• The .art. of Synthesis
• You Quote It, You Note It!