Research Guides: Social Studies Education: Avoid plagiarism

Web resources on plagiarism

Plagiarism Overview (Purdue OWL)
Explains plagiarism, FAQs, best practices to avoid it, and more.
Plagiarism.org
Sponsored by TurnItIn, this website has videos and written information on understanding and preventing plagiarism.
Plagiarism (The Writing Center at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Information on what plagiarism is and details steps on how to avoid it.
Using AI responsibly (University of Mary Washington)
Covers how to use AI responsibly to avoid plagiarism.

Tips for avoiding plagiarism

The only way to avoid plagiarism is to correctly give credit (or 'attribution') to words and ideas that you got from another person

Credit must be given when you quote, paraphrase, or summarize someone else’s ideas.

Follow these tips to help you stay on top of appropriately attributing sources.

Tips for preventing plagiarism

Start your assignment as soon as you can: If you leave your assignment to the last minute, you'll rush and may miss properly citing sources that you use.

Log in using your JagID credentials to the Libraries' GALILEO, Gil-Find Catalog, or the individual databases you frequently use (some databases may require you to create a free account). Save the sources you find to these accounts so you can easily cite them.

Record the citation details for each source you save, and record your own notes about each source you want to use. GALILEO and individual databases have a cite generator that can used to generate and save citations.

Write your rough draft in only your own words, and only quote sparingly. Add quotes after your main argument has been made.

Use quotation marks around phrases or sentences that you have cited verbatim from the source.

Consult the appropriate citation guide or handbook, e.g., MLA or APA, so you know how to paraphrase, quote, and cite correctly in that citation style.

Run your paper through TurnItIn* early if your professor has activated it for your course through D2L. Otherwise, you can run it through a free text-matching application (see suggestions below). Make any revisions if necessary.

Still aren't sure? If you aren’t sure how to do any of the above, ask your professor well before your paper is due.

*Turnitin is a text-matching web application to help you detect plagiarism so you can revise your paper before final submission. If your professor doesn't use TurnItIn or another text-matching application, you can test your papers on these free sites:

Paper Rater
"Every day, thousands of people use PaperRater to check for plagiarism, as well as spelling and grammatical errors. Unlike other plagiarism checkers, we require no logins or registration unless you choose to sign up for our premium services."
Viper
"Viper works just like Turnitin, the well-known plagiarism checker used by many universities. Accessible anywhere in the world via your web browser, Viper is incredibly fast, powerful and simple to use... Unlike Turnitin, however, you can use Viper whenever and as many times as you like – not just once when submitting your final piece of work!"

What is plagiarism and what are the consequences?

Plagiarism is:

Prohibited at Augusta University and is typically prohibited in all universities and colleges.
Ilegal; it is theft of another person's intellectual property.
Easier to recognize than you think.

Possible Consequences

The consequences of plagiarism can be severe. Some include:

Failing the assignment
Failing the class
Expulsion from university
Deprived of entrance into college programs or graduate school
Deprived of scholarships and grants
Getting fined
Inability / more difficult to obtain a job.

It is plagiarism if you...

Paraphrase or use some text from a generative AI tool like ChatGPT, Google Bard, or CoPilot, and don't cite it
Copy only part of someone else’s work, and don't cite
Don’t use the author’s exact words, but you still don't cite
Shorten two pages of text into one sentence, but still don't cite
Include the work in the Works Cited page but forget to include an in-text citation
Turn in a paper written for another class
Cite the author but not the book/article
Don't cite because you can’t remember where you found the information
Don't use quotation marks for something that you quote word-for-word, even though you cite it
Buy a paper on the internet and turn it in!
Plagiarize by accident.

Derived from Trish Hammond

References on plagiairism

Crawford, Mary and Rhoda Unger. Women and Gender: A Feminist
Psychology. 3rd ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000. Print.

Hammond, Patricia. "Augusta University Writing Center’s Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism." 2011. Microsoft Powerpoint file.

"Plagiarize." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 4th ed. 2005. Print.