Avoiding Plagiarism

Welcome to the Cypress College Library and the research process! This guide will help you avoid common mistakes when it comes to plagiarism. Follow these guidelines and you are on your way to completing your paper successfully. 

First of all, what is plagiarism? Plagiarism is using someone else's words, thoughts, and ideas as your own. It is ok to incorporate what you learn through the research process, but you need to make sure and give credit to the author. Plagiarism is a serious offense and violates the Cypress College Academic Honesty Policy. You could jeopardize your grade and your academic standing. 

Some of the common mistakes made by students include submitting someone else's work as your own, rewriting someone else's work without giving proper credit (citations), using quotations but not including the original source (citations), and restating other's research without incorporating your own thoughts. You can even plagiarize from yourself! That's called self-plagiarism. If you use a section of a paper you wrote for another class, you must cite your original paper. 

Your instructor may have you use Turnitin before submitting your research paper. Turnitin is a web-based plagiarism checker and ensures that the work you are submitting is original. Your instructor will provide instructions on how to access Turnitin if it is a requirement for your paper.