Library 101: Avoiding Plagiarism

"The presentation of the works or ideas of another as one’s own work is plagiarism" (Sweet Briar College Student Handbook, 2017).

Plagiarism can come in many shapes and sizes. Common forms include: 

Direct Plagiarism: copy & pasting word-for-word from another source without indicating the owner of those ideas with quotation marks, citation, or in-text attribution. 

Mosaic Plagiarism: substituting synonyms, changing word order, or borrowing bits and pieces of one source while keeping the meaning and construction largely the same, without indicating the owner of those ideas with quotation marks, citation, or in-text attribution.  Mosaic plagiarism often presents like a patchwork quilt of borrowed ideas.

Accidental Plagiarism: occurs when the author forgets or neglects to cite all sources properly.  Accidental plagiarism may also occur if source material is quoted out of context, or paraphrased without attribution. 

Self Plagiarism: can occur if a student recycles or remixes their own prior work for multiple assignments without acknowledgement or attribution.

Understanding Plagiarism. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.plagiarism.org/understanding-plagiarism