LibGuides: Extended Essay Guide: Academic Integrity

Concordian Academic Honesty Policy

Avoiding Plagiarism

FIVE TIPS FOR AVOIDING PLAGIARISM
1	First, use your own ideas. It should be your paper and your ideas that should be the focus.
2	Use the ideas of others sparingly--only to support or reinforce your own argument.
3	When taking notes, include complete citation information for each item you use.
4	Use quotation marks when directly stating another person's words.
5	A good strategy is to take 30 minutes and write a short draft of your paper without using any notes. It will help you think through what you want to say and not be too dependent on your sources.

Quick Examples!

From the U. of Idaho, CORE, Module 6

Why to Cite:

Give credit to the authors of the sources you used.
Provide evidence you did research -- good, credible sources give your work more authority.
Allows your reader to locate the sources you used.
Avoid plagiarism.

When to Cite:

You should cite a source if you reproduce, quote, paraphrase, or summarize ideas and/or media created by other individuals.

When in doubt, cite!

Plagiarism Has Consequences

Plagiarism may not seem like a big deal, but there can be some severe and/or long-lasting effects:

Failing grade (assignment and/or course)
Note on transcript for academic dishonesty
Loss of financial aid
Academic probation or expulsion
Limited career opportunities (can become a barrier to getting a job or can cause loss of employment)

Types of Plagiarism

Best practices for avoiding typical plagiarism traps. These tips are very handy!

Concise description of plagiarism.

How to Recognize Plagiarism
Specific examples on how to recognize and avoid plagiarism and a quiz. Indiana University, Bloomington, School of Education NOTE: The citation style they are using is APA, not MLA, but the examples are relevant!

What is Copyright and Fair Use?
Short presentation with exercise and video. From Michael Boll, MS tech coach at International School Bangkok

Find out more about copyright issues you may have not considered.

Stanford University Libraries explains "public domain" and exactly why it matters.

Directly quoting another person’s actual words, whether oral or written;
Using another person’s ideas, opinions, or theories;
Paraphrasing the words, ideas, opinions, or theories of others, whether oral or written;
Borrowing facts, statistics, or illustrative material; or
Offering materials assembled or collected by others in the form of projects or collections without acknowledgment.

A big "thank you" to the Librarians at the Chinese International School in Hong Kong, for the use of some of their resources in this page!