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Chowan University

History Research Guide

Help finding primary and secondary sources for history classes.

Plagiarism Tutorials

What are common types of plagiarism?

Plagiarize:

To reproduce or otherwise use (the words, ideas, or other work of another) as one's own or without attribution.

From The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

  1. Failure to cite your sources.
    1. Copying and pasting something and not citing it
    2. Incorrectly citing your source
    3. Not citing photos or graphics used in presentations
  2. Not paraphrasing your sources properly
    1. Using spinbots- computer programs that change words in your paragraph
    2. Patchwork writing- changing a word here and there from the original text
  3. Sharing your work with other people
  4. Reusing work from another class
  5. Purchasing papers and submitting it as your own work

How do I avoid plagiarism?

What do I cite?

Anything that you did not write, is not your original idea or artistic work that you did not create. This includes but is not limited to: Books, Articles, Pictures, Videos, and Musical Recordings.

It is permissible to not cite something that is common knowledge. If you are not sure that something is common knowledge then cite it. You will not get in trouble for over citing your project.

How do I cite?

All citation styles have two common elements for a proper citation.

1. An In-text citation or a footnote in the body of your text.

2. A bibliography, work cited or reference page at the end of the document.

The most common citation styles are APA, MLA, and Chicago/ Turabian. Your teacher will specify what citation style to use for your paper.

How do I paraphrase?