Early Childhood Education

Plagiarism is defined in Brock University's Academic Integrity Policy as "…presenting work done (in whole or in part) by someone else as if it were one's own". Plagiarism can be intentional (for example, buying or stealing another students' paper) or unintentional (for example, citing improperly), but is a serious academic offense. 

You can avoid plagiarism by:

• taking careful notes to ensure you know which thoughts are yours and which are someone else's
• learning how to cite properly (visit our Style Guides page for help with APA, MLA, and other citation styles)

Watch this video to learn more:

Tips for avoiding plagiarism

Give yourself enough time: you might be tempted to plagiarize if you are panicking about completing your assignment on time! 

Take careful notes and keep track of your sources.  Consider using a citation management tool to help you organize your sources. Consider some of these strategies on how to take notes when you are researching.

Know when and what to cite:

• Direct quotations or unique phrases
• Paraphrased ideas, summaries of ideas and opinions from another's work
• Factual information, including statistics or other data

Adapted from: Avoid Plagiarism. (n.d.). Retrieved June 06, 2016, from http://learningcommons.ubc.ca/resource-guides/avoiding-plagiarism

What is paraphrasing?

• restating an author's words using your own words and sentence structure
• a method for integrating others' ideas into your paper

When paraphrasing:

• ensure you have used your own words and that you haven't changed the author's meaning
• cite the source accurately

For examples of paraphrasing, see Successful vs. unsuccessful paraphrases (University of Wisconsin-Madison).

What is summarizing?

• similar to paraphrasing, but includes only the main points
• condenses a long argument or passage into a shorter, more succinct statement

What is quoting?

• copying an author's work exactly, with quotation marks around the sentence(s)
• used more sparingly than paraphrasing or summarizing
• useful when language of passage is particularly complex or eloquent, or inherently essential to your argument

When quoting:

• cite the source accurately
• use judiciously; make sure your own voice and ideas are still heard

For more about using direct quotations, see Using Quotations (University College Writing Center, University of Toronto).