Plagiarism: How to Avoid Plagiarism

When using someone else's words or ideas in your research paper, avoid plagiarizing by either quoting or paraphrasing them and then cite the author.

• ​Quoting means using someone else's exact words.
• Paraphrasing is putting someone else's words or ideas into your own words.
• Citing means giving basic information about the original source you used—enough that someone else could track it down.

Use direct quotes and paraphrasing to support your own ideas, not replace them — and be sure you always give the original author credit.