Citing Sources

The Council of Writing Program Administrators gives the following definition:

"In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledg­ing its source" (WPA, 2009).

Examples of Plagiarism

• Forgetting to cite one or more sources.
• Swapping out a few words from a copied paragraph even if you cite the source (called patch writing).
• Stringing together individual sentences from different sources and not citing them.
• Paraphrasing one or more sources and not citing them.
• Citing a source incorrectly.
• Inserting a citation for a source you didn't use or that doesn't exist.
• Using portions of another paper or project you wrote/created and not citing yourself.
• Handing in a paper or project you wrote/created for a different class.
• Copying whole paragraphs from another source and not citing it or citing it incorrectly.
• Copying, purchasing, or taking another person's entire paper or project and claiming it is your own.