Keeping yourself safe
from plagiarism

Introduction    
What is plagiarism?
Is plagiarism a problem?
So if everyone is doing it...
Montgomery College &
      plagiarism
Montgomery College
      sanctions for plagiarism
Avoiding plagiarism
Citing others' exact words
Paraphrasing others' words
What you don't need to cite
Keeping yourself safe...
Evaluation and Quiz
   

MC Library Tutorials

MC Libraries
    

Last Updated:  1/23/06[bsb]

Obviously, everyone knows it is wrong to download and/or buy a paper from the Internet or other source.  Not only is it wrong, but many of the papers are of extremely poor quality and likely to result in a bad grade.  In many cases, however, plagiarism results from careless research and/or sloppy notetaking.  In order to keep yourself safe from plagiarism, follow these simple guidelines:

• When taking notes, write down everything very carefully and mark exact quotes, phrases, and unique words or concepts and make sure that you put down all of the information you will need for your footnotes, like the page number, and the information you will need for your works cited page.  (In addition, some instructors at MC now require original xerox copies of pages quoted or paraphrased from.)

• If you are going to paraphrase a section, read the passage over several times very carefully and then write your note card from memory.  You still need to be careful to write down all of the information you will need for your footnote, like the page number, and the information you will need for your works cited page.  Remember, even when you paraphrase, you need to give credit to others' words and ideas.