Library Guides: Avoiding Plagiarism: Home

What is Plagiarism?

According to JCU Academic Policies, "plagiarism is any use of another's ideas, words, or created product without crediting the source". This can include also charts, stats or drawings.

Even paraphrasing a part of a text without giving credit properly is considered plagiarism.

The MLA Handbook states that using another person's ideas, information, or expressions without acknowledging that person's work constitutes intellectual theft. Passing off another person's ideas, information, or expressions as your own to get a better grade or gain some other advantage constitutes fraud.

Plagiarism can be:

Intentional: claiming ideas as yours when they are not, copying a portion of text without giving credit, or hiring someone to write for you.

Unintentional: not correctly citing your sources, attributing a work to the wrong author, not verifying the primary sources.

Re-using your own works (or parts of them), papers or statements multiple times without authorization can be self-plagiarism.

Be sure to ask your Instructor about the right to proceed with using your previous works and also about what citation style is preferred to use.

To Learn More on Plagiarism:

Check these online resources if you want to know more about Plagiarism and how to avoid it:

Avoid Plagiarism: A Guide by the OWL at Purdue University
A guide on how to avoid plagiarism by Purdue OWL at Purdue University.
Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It
A short but comprehensive guide from Indiana University Bloomington with examples and tips on how to avoid plagiarism.
Learning Center
Plagiarism.org, sponsored by Turnitin, is a resource for both students and instructors. There are several short but useful articles, tips, trivia and videos.

Are You in Doubt? Contact a Reference Librarian!

Book an appointment with a Reference Librarian!
If you're unsure whether you've properly cited sources, paraphrased sufficiently, avoided self-plagiarism, quoted incorrectly or have other concerns about plagiarism, please do not hesitate to contact a reference librarian or book an appointment with us here! (available both in person or online)

How to Avoid Plagiarism?

(video from Scribbr)

There are multiple ways to avoid plagiarism:

Properly giving credits to the original author: writing any piece of information that is not common knowledge; quoting written or spoken words and even paraphrasing requires the writer to give credits to the original author, either with an in-text citation, or by referencing the original source in the bibliography, following the Citation Style you are using.
Putting in quotation marks anything that is a direct quote (and is directly taken from a text) and write it as it is written.
Paraphrasing effectively to avoid plagiarism. As the 9th Edition of MLA Handbook states: "a paraphrase should convey the important information in a passage in your own words and sentence structure." Maintaining the same sentence structure and using synonyms in your paraphrase IS NOT sufficient to paraphrase.
Also, some terms cannot be paraphrased because they represent a definition or are a proper noun.

How to Paraphrase

Here there is an example of an incorrect paraphrase and a correct one:

Original Quote:

"English explorer, probably b. Genoa, Italy. He became a citizen of Venice in 1476 and engaged in the Eastern trade of that city. This experience, it is assumed, was the stimulus of his later explorations. Like Columbus (though there is no evidence that either influenced the other), he apparently believed that the riches of East Asia might be more easily reached by sailing west. He went to England, probably in the 1480s, and resided chiefly at Bristol, a port then promising as a base for discovery. Under a patent granted by Henry VII (Mar. 5, 1496), Cabot made a first voyage in 1496, but turned back because of bad weather. In 1497 Cabot again sailed from Bristol and discovered the North American coast, touching at Cape Breton Island or Newfoundland. " (The Columbia Encyclopedia.)

Incorrect Paraphrase (only changes some words with synonyms and also maintains the same sentence structure, and also doesn't cite the source in the end)

Like Columbus, John Cabot seemed to think that sailing west was a quicker way to get to East Asia's wealth. He moved to England, likely in the 1480s, and lived mainly in Bristol, a port city that looked good for exploration. With a patent from Henry VII (Mar. 5, 1496), Cabot tried a voyage in 1496 but returned due to storms. In 1497 he sailed once more from Bristol and found the coast of North America, landing at either Cape Breton Island or Newfoundland.

Correct Paraphrase (restructures the sentences and uses a different wordings, maintaining the important facts and information)

"John Cabot, sharing Christopher Columbus's conviction, thought a westward sea route offered the fastest access to East Asia's riches. Sometime around the 1480s, Cabot relocated to England, establishing himself primarily in the port city of Bristol due to its potential as a launching point for exploratory voyages. After receiving a royal patent from King Henry VII in March 1496, Cabot attempted his first transatlantic journey that same year; however, severe weather forced him to abort the mission. Undeterred, Cabot embarked again from Bristol in 1497, successfully reaching and exploring the North American shoreline, making landfall at what is believed to be Cape Breton Island or Newfoundland." (The Columbia Encyclopedia)