Dual Credit Students

Avoiding Plagiarism & Using Citations

Check out the information below for a definition on plagiarism, tips for avoiding it,

and ways to use information ethically.

It's easy to understand most types of cheating because we learned about them as children. It's harder to understand plagiarism, though.

Take a look at McLennan Community College's Academic Integrity policy to learn how the college defines cheating and plagiarism and discover the penalties for each.

Afterward, read the information on this page. Then, visit Purdue OWL's Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing or its Best Practices to Avoid Plagiarism to make sure you know how to avoid accidental plagiarism. (Yes, you can accidentally commit plagiarism!)

The video below also offers some useful information on plagiarism and tips for avoiding it.

To use information ethically, you must cite, or give credit to, your sources. Even if you put the information into your own words, the evidence to support your statements came from someone who deserves to be acknowledged.

So, how do you use another author's ideas or words ethically? The three ways are quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. Anytime you quote, paraphrase, or summarize, you need to document it with an in-text citation in the body of your paper, and provide a complete entry in your references list (which may be called a works cited list or bibliography, depending on the citation style you use).

• Quoting: Quoting is when you a repeat a person's ideas word-for-word. When you quote, you must use the author's words exactly as they are. Quotes should not be overused! Only use quotes that are especially powerful.
• Paraphrasing: Paraphrasing is when you take a passage from another person's work and restate it in your own words. The passage you use is usually only a part of the larger work.
• Summarizing: Summarizing is like paraphrasing. It involves restating someone else's ideas in your own words, in a shorter version. However, a summary is broader than a paraphrase, covering more original material, and is usually more condensed.

Anything that is not common knowledge, your opinion, or your lived experience requires a citation!

1. Close the internet tab or turn your source face down so that you cannot see it. Then, write what you remember - in your own words.

• Not looking at the original source while your write will make it less likely that your own wording will be too similar to the original wording.

2. Explain your topic to a friend or family member.

• Explaining your topic to someone else will help you put your ideas in your own words and will ensure that you truly understand your sources. 

The following videos from Scribbr are helpful for understanding plagiarism, quoting and paraphrasing.

What is Plagiarism?

How to Avoid Plagiarism with 3 Tricks

How to Paraphrase in 5 Easy Steps

How to Quote in Under 5 Minutes

Academic Support and Tutoring (AST) provides free tutoring to MCC students (including writing and citation assistance) and free support and tutorials for college-related software.

AST offers in-person support in the Learning Commons, located on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Learning Technology Center (LTC). You can also reach out to AST via phone, Zoom, or email.

Use the link above to learn more about AST and locate its contact information and hours. 

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.