Subject and Course Guides: CHEM 2181: Plagiarism

What is Plagiarism

“The unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work”
From the Latin word: plagiarius (“kidnapper”) MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 5^th ed.
Using or passing off someone else’s work as your own AND not giving them credit
Paraphrasing others words and/or changing the word order without acknowledgement or citing properly

Acknowledge or properly cite sources you use:
Someone’s own ideas, or theory
Facts or statistics
Graphs or drawings
Quotations of someone’s actual spoken or written words
Paraphrase of someone’s spoken or written words
Not “common knowledge” – not known by a lot of people or information that is not easily attainable
When you don’t have to cite:
Using “common knowledge” (known by the general public, i.e. George Washington was the first president of the U.S.) or easily attainable (quick fact(s) found in an encyclopedia)
An original idea (your own idea or theory)
When in doubt CITE!

Wondering why you need to cite your sources? Take the Acknowledging Sources tutorial.