Little Confidence in Yourself Can Spell an F in the Course

If you are taking others’ thoughts because you don’t feel confident enough to write out the meaning yourself, then you either need more time to digest this material or a visit to your professor’s office to have him or her explain concepts to you.

Non-Native Speakers: Memorization as Learning Can Lead to Plagiarism

If you’re from countries that foster memorization as learning, plagiarism can seem not wrong at all—but it is—you need to reword the material.

Other examples of plagiarism:

• Failure to correctly cite a source because of careless note-taking or citation skills
• Submitting the same paper for more than one class without the permission of your professors
• Falsifying a bibliography (e.g., making up citations or including a citation to a real source that you did not actually use).

Putting Information in Your Own Words Still Needs a Citation

Some students think that if they reword a passage, that they no longer need to cite it. This is what’s called paraphrasing—an important skill that lets the writer’s voice shape the text instead of too much direct quoting. Paraphrasing requires a citation. It’s still someone else’s work.

Cutting and Pasting Require Direct Quotes

One student who had little training in research thought she could cut and paste various portions of a research paper without citing or quoting. She thought because her material was factual, that it didn’t need citations. Sources do not have to be cited for 'common knowledge' - that is, for factual information readily available, for proverbs or common sayings, or for your own observations and experiences. Direct cutting and pasting, however, is stealing unless you give credit to the source.

Putting Information in Your Own Words Still Needs a Citation

Some students think that if they reword a passage, that they no longer need to cite it. This is what’s called paraphrasing—an important skill that lets the writer’s voice shape the text instead of too much direct quoting. Paraphrasing requires a citation. It’s still someone else’s work.

Never Assume That You Can Use What You Find Online Without Citing Its Source

Nothing releases you from the duty to acknowledge your use of anything you did not personally create yourself, even if it's free and publicly available online (A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate L. Turabian, section 4.2.3). This means that you must cite all online sources. For images "freely" available on the internet, be sure to determine the owner of the copyright and attribute the source in your papers. For easier access to properly credited sources, search for images using Creative Commons or use a search engine such as Google advanced image search (under Usage Rights be sure to choose "free to use or share.").