International Student Orientation: Academic Honesty & Avoiding Plagiarism

Cite it if....

• If you get a quote or idea from a book, eBook, internet site, TV show, newspaper, RSS feed, journal, ad, song, computer app, journal, letter, video, email--anything that did not originate from YOU.

• If you copy and paste something from somewhere--that's a quotation--cite it!

• If someone tells you something you want to use.  If you interview or do an oral history, in person (or by phone or email or text) with someone.

• If you reuse a table, chart, diagram, photograph, illustration, map or other material in a paper or PowerPoint.

• Any time you quote someone else's exact words or copy a "unique phrase" from somewhere.

There is no need to cite a source if....

• If you did an experiment or conducted an original survey and are presenting your own results.

• When you gather and state "generally accepted facts."

• If you are incorporating "common knowledge" into your paper -- make a common-sense observation, restate an adage or folklore (that is not a direct quotation), use a bit of regional language or slang or other general vernacular saying or phrase.

• If you are simply stating your own thoughts or opinion or insights, or if you are recounting a personal experience, or if you make an original observation or are stating your own conclusion on the topic.

Plagiarism is using someone else's work without crediting the original author or creator.  This includes the use of any ideas, research, or analysis of a topic, that were written by someone else, even if you have not used their exact words. 

Obvious examples of plagiarism are copying and pasting parts of an article or online encylopedia essay into your own paper. However, even the accidental omission of a citation for a source is regarded as plagiarism. 

No one has ever failed a class for using too many citations, however you could fail a class, or even be expelled, for failing to cite the sources you have used.

For more information on these concepts, see the guide Ethical Use of Information.

This short video, posted by PhilosophyFreak, takes the form of a simply flow chart.  Other videos from the Critical Thinker Academy on avoiding plagiarism and citing sources properly can be found on YouTube here.

There are several Sawyer Library LibGuides that address particular citation styles, and others which link to books and web materials related to citation and grammar, or which offer tips on citation tools right in our research databases.

The books below are all available online.