Avoiding Plagiarism/Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism

Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism

1) If in doubt, cite the material (you won’t be penalized for over-citing material)

2) When deciding whether information is very specific, or whether your audience would consider it general knowledge, ask some friends with a variety of backgrounds and see if they already knew about the information; if they hadn’t, you should cite it

3) i) Summarize material when you first read it and paraphrase it yourself to avoid copying what others have written (cover up the original work before writing your own paraphrased summary)

ii) Re-read the original material and then read your paraphrased version to make sure your version is an accurate assessment of the original thought/idea

4) Credit any source for images and/or figures as well as ideas (think about media and how you always see images credited)

5) Do not copy your own work from previous semesters or classes!