Avoiding Plagiarism

Whenever you include another person's information or wording in a document, you must acknowledge the source and include a citation that will tell the reader where you obtained it. If you do not do so, you deprive your reader of the ability to locate information that he or she might want to explore further. In addition, you may be committing intellectual theft, plagiarism.

Mechanisms that allow a reader to verify the information presented in a document are essential parts of most types of technical and scientific writing. Procedures sections of technical and laboratory reports, for example, provide the reader with information sufficient to replicate both the method and the data described in the document.

There are two basic and universal rules regarding the use of information in professional and, especially, academic writing:

1. If you use the language of your source, you must quote it exactly, enclose it in quotation marks, and cite the source.
2. If you use ideas or information that are not common knowledge, you must cite the source.

-The Mayfield Handbook of Technical and Scientific Writing.

The following off-site Web pages offer information and help on avoiding plagiarism.   k
 

• How Not To Plagiarize

Source: University of Toronto
 
• Citing Sources

Source: Texas A & M University