Research Skills for Developing Writers: Summary & Additional Resources

Students plagiarize for many reasons.  Sometimes, they are tyring to cheat or take the "easy way out" of an assignment and other times, they are not familiar with the expectations and standards of borrowing information in an American university.  Either way, it is important to become familiar with how to appropriately borrow information and cite it in your work because plagiarism comes with consequences.  Plagiarism can be avoided by using proper quotes, paraphrases, and summaries of borrowed information in addition to providing a citation of the source.  Students are responsible for checking their own work to make sure they have not plagiarized.  If you have any questions about plagiarism and how to avoid it, please talk to your instructor, the Writing Center, or a librarian.