How can u prevent urself from doing plagiarism?

Question

like i really dont wanna do it. i just dont know how to do a research paper without doing it. if i read a paragraph on something can i switch a few words around add some of mine then at the end cite it? is that considered plagiarism or not? i really need help. thanks in advance

Answer 1

Think for a moment. What point are you trying to make in your paper? If you find something in another work that says what you want to say, great! Introduce the quote with something like, "In support of my position, President Warren Harding said in his state of the union speech delivered in January of 1925, "........"

What you described is paraphrasing. It is a perfectly fine way of giving support to your argument, and it is not plagiarism as long as you give credit for your source of information. You might want to run an example of your paraphrasing by your teacher. That would do two things, give you an idea of what (s)he wants, and let them know you are working to do things correctly. You can't lose.

Good luck.

Answer 2

You have to learn how to paraphrase. You must take the main idea, COMPLETELY rephrase the sentence or paragraph. Switching a few words here or there is still considered plagiarism, though the work is different. If you want to incorporate a quote, you need to place quotation marks around the sentence and cite it.

Answer 3

The example you give would be plagiarism.  "Switch[ing] a few words around" and adding some of your own at the end doesn't change the fact that you used someone else's words rather than your own.

My rule was always "if there's any doubt in my mind at all, footnote it".  You can't be accused of plagiarism if you say "this is where I got it".  You might, of course, get a lousy grade because you didn't write any of your paper yourself, but you can usually tell when that's going to happen.  Any time you're footnoting every or almost every paragraph, you're not doing the work yourself.

Answer 4

When doing a paper for school you are able some sentences word for word from another author as long as you "" around the sentence, put a small 1 at the end of it, and in the footer insert the 1 ans cite the source. Sometimes you just have to use sentences as they are written in the source. I know this is a very tricky subject. Hope this helps and good luck to you during this school year!

Answer 5

when taking notes, write them in your own words, or write down the source next to each note you take down

Answer 6

Make sure you don't copy any body else's work, and if you do, use parenthesis and reference them in you works cited page. Plagiarism is more than just copying someone word-for-word, but it is also copying someone's general idea. Read up on it at these cites below. Plagiarism is a major offense that can get you a zero in Highschool and kicked out of college.

Hope I could help!