Resources
on
Avoiding Plagiarism
Department of Political Science
Concordia University
III. How Not to Plagiarize
C. Techniques for Avoiding Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a serious issue.
It is unethical,
unfair, and undermines your education. How can you avoid it?
These tips can
help:
1. Don’t procrastinate. Students who leave assignments to
the last
minute are more likely to plagiarize in desperation in order to
meet a
deadline.
2. Take careful notes. When taking notes, be careful to
indicate whether
they are direct quotes or your own summary of the source.
Students sometimes
plagiarize inadvertently by inserting material from their notes
in a paper,
forgetting that the notes were copied word-for-word from a
source.
3. Don’t work directly from sources. Students often write
papers with
books and other sources right in front of them. That increases
the danger of
inadvertently taking material directly from the source without
proper
acknowledgement.
4. Consult guides to writing with sources. It is a good
idea to own a
copy of The MLA Handbook 7th edition; A Manual for
Writers of
Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, by Kate L.
Turabian (University
of Chicago Press); or a writer’s handbook. Another excellent
resource is
Charles Lipson, Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare
Citations,
Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic Success 2nd
ed. (Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press, 2008.) (Charles Lipson is not
related to the
author of this site.)
Or consult:
Concordia University Library, Citation
Style
Guides.
5. Talk to a Writing Assistant. You can make appointments
for writing
assistance at Student Learning Services. You can make
appointments through
the portal. (See instructions here.)
6. Ask your professor or TA.
7. If you aren’t sure, cite it.