Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of representing someone else’s words or ideas as your own. Whether deliberate or unintentional, it is a serious breach of academic integrity that carries serious consequences. The best protection against unintentional plagiarism is to educate yourself :
- Learn about the various forms of plagiarism, and how to avoid them. The Penn State Department of English Types of Plagiarism document includes excellent definitions and examples of plagiarism by paraphrase and mosaic plagiarism.
- Practice responsible research techniques. The Penn State Information Literacy and You website (through the University Libraries) provides a wealth of information on identifying and locating resources, use of periodicals and journals, using online sources, citing your sources, and more.
A Writer's Reference by Diana Hacker provides very thorough information on how to cite your research materials. Specific samples illustrate the appropriate style for works cited, in-text citations, manuscript formats, and more.