When you want to use the ideas and words of others to strengthen the points that you are making in your own writing, you must indicate this to your reader. Referencing appropriately whenever you use someone else's work to support yours.
Plagiarism is when you present someone else's work or ideas as your own, and it can be accidental or intentional. Students, academics and business people who are caught plagiarizing, face serious consequences such as failure, dismissal and legal action.
Plagiarism can be:
- Copying someone's words without giving them credit;
- Using someone's ideas or concepts without giving them credit;
- Misrepresenting someone's ideas or concepts;
- Copying images or music without permission or without proper attribution;
- Citing incorrectly by citing the wrong source or having incomplete or inaccurate citations;
- Failing to acknowledge the contribution of others in work produced collaboratively.
Watch this video from York St. John University for more information about plagiarism.
Take a look at the webpage Integrate Sources into Your Paper for more guidance.
