Plagiarism: HELP or Plagiarism Avoidance Techniques

Having trouble formulating or expressing that original idea for that paper or project? Need a second set of eyes to determine if you cited a source in-text or if subjects and verbs agree? (Most people do; its how and why editors and proofreaders exist).

Shepherd's Academic Support Center (located in the Learning Commons on the first floor of Scarborough Library) can provide face-to-face help for these difficulties as well as resources for review.

Keeping track of sources--and useful sections in them--is tedious but necessary. As you gather sources and review them for use, take good notes about what information you might use. . .and make certain that the following six elements below have been recorded by you in some way for future referral.

THE PROMINENT SECTIONS OF A CITATION

Any sources used should have the following items listed about them, depending on whether they are a book or an article:

These six items and their variations (depending on whether the source is a book, a journal article, a section from a website, or a chapter from a sacred text) are the standard foundations of a proper citation.

These elements (and their variations) are described and shown in various style guides; these style guides are somewhat based on the subject area or discipline of the class or the instructor's preference. For more assistance with creating correct citations for papers, see the Citation Style libguide.

 If you need more explicit directions on writing well, there are other OWLs (online writing labs) available on the Web that can provide assistance through examples and tutorials. One of the largest and most used of these guides is Purdue University's OWL which covers everything from citation in APA and MLA formats to subject-specific and job search writing.

A further list of writing labs and other writing resources is provided on the Additional Resources page: OWLS and Writers' Help