MLA Citation Guide: Plagiarism

At Quinnipiac, our community has chosen integrity as one of its guiding principles. Please follow this link to QU's Academic Integrity page.

According to the Academic Integrity Policy at Quinnipiac University, "plagiarism refers to representing another person’s words or ideas as one’s own in any academic exercise."

The Quinnipiac University Academic Integrity Policy states four common types of plagiarism. They are:

• "Copying information word for word from a source, without using quotation marks and giving proper acknowledgment/citation.

• Paraphrasing (i.e., putting into one’s own words) a source’s text, without providing proper acknowledgment/citation. This violation occurs when the ideas or arguments of another are paraphrased in such a way as to lead the reader to believe that these ideas originated with the writer.

• Presenting as one’s own any work (or portion thereof) that which has been prepared in whole or in part by someone other than oneself. This includes using unauthorized assistance in preparing one’s work, and acquiring written work from an outside source. Outside sources include other persons, commercial organizations, electronic sources, and other sources.

• Reproducing (without proper citation) any other form of work of another person, such as a graphic element, a musical phrase, a proof, experimental data, experimental results, data, or laboratory reports, in full or in part. This includes turning in work of another student as one’s own work."

Academic Integrity Policy. (2007). Retrieved from https://myq.quinnipiac.edu/Academics/Academic%20Integrity/Document%20Library/Academic%20Integrity%20Policy.pdf

• You use a direct quotation, even if it is in quotation marks
• You use facts that are not common knowledge
• You paraphrase the author’s idea(s)
• You have changed some of the author’s words (i.e., used synonyms)
• You use the key words or phrases from the author
• You mention the author’s name in your sentence
• You have written a sentence that mostly consists of your own thoughts, but you have made a reference to another author’s idea.

Grappling with the definition of plagiarism and how to avoid it? In this short video, identify the different types of plagiarism and how you can ensure that you are not plagiarizing someone else’s content. All forms of plagiarism are clearly articulated and defined so you can better understand the act of plagiarism as well as why it is important to properly cite your references.

Click here to view the video from the QU Online & Learning Center.

• Take careful notes. Make sure you mark the citation information for all the items you use in your notes. Careless note-taking can lead to unintentional plagiarism.

• Put quotation marks around words that are taken from someone else or highlight them in your notes so that you remember that they are exact quotes.

• When creating a paraphrase, read the text that you would like to reference then put it aside and without looking rewrite the text. This will help you from copying exact wording or sentences from the original.

• Create a working bibliography so that you have the full citation that corresponds with each reference.

• When you create your reference page, double check to be sure that you have included all your resources.