The document provides guidance on conducting research and avoiding plagiarism. It discusses finding reliable sources, properly citing sources using MLA style, and what constitutes plagiarism. Examples are given of properly citing sources within the text and in a works cited list, including books, encyclopedia articles, magazines, newspapers, interviews, and websites. Plagiarism is said to be stealing others' ideas without credit and can have legal and academic consequences.

1. RESEARCH MATERIALS & PLAGIARISM To search for information, fact, or truth

2. Where to begin… There are many reference materials: Books Newspapers Encyclopedia- look up key words Bible- look up key words in the topical index Internet- search engines Magazines- Not Teen Magazine ! Try Time or National Geographic

3. But how do I know the info. is true? Are my sources reliable? 1. Check your information against another source 2. Check the tone- Is the author biased/trying to sway your opinion? They should be OBJECTIVE! 3. Is the information up to date? 4. Be a detective- Scope out the author! Look up the author! Are they an expert in the field which they are writing about? Tip: Is your author a hairstylist writing on new medical technologies? –OR- a doctor writing on new medical technologies?

4. Get your own Original Idea! Plagiarism…

5. Plagiarism Plagiarism is using another person's words or ideas without giving credit to that person. Plagiarism is much like lying. But…who are you really cheating if you plagiarize? YOU! You don’t learn the skills if you don’t actually do the work! You’re cheating yourself out of your own education.

6. Is it really a BIG deal? YES! Plagiarism in school/college is grounds for failure or even expulsion. Plagiarism goes on your permanent academic record! Legal punishments for plagiarism range from up to $50,000 in fines or 1 year in prison. Plagiarism in your job= “You’re fired!” Professor John Broderick, ODU English Chair

7. You are plagiarizing if… You don’t put the words of another in quotation marks. You paraphrase the words of another = simply changing a word or phrases here and there. You don’t clearly acknowledge the source of ideas or material taken from another. You don’t make it clear how much you depended on your sources. Can the reader tell the difference between your research and your original ideas? You don’t document sources adequately You purchase a paper online, or “borrow” a friend’s You copy and paste from the internet Even if you give the original author credit, if your work is made up mainly of another’s ideas…YOU ARE PLAGIARIZING!

8. What To Do? Give Credit where Credit is Due! Write down all of the titles, authors, dates, website addresses, publishers, etc. of all the reference materials you use! But…Where do I find this information?

9. Documenting your sources!

10. Don’t get BUSTED! How to document your sources of information… In English, we will use MLA style: 1. all information is arranged in alphabetical order by the author’s last name! 2. all information should be double spaced with all lines after the first indented! 3. Punctuation is very important! Your documentation is not correct unless your punctuation is correct!

11. What should my documentation look like? for books: author's last name, author's first name or initial, Title . where it was published: company it’s published by, date published. (Print) Article in Encyclopedia: Author (if there is one). “Topic.” Title of Encyclopedia . Edition. Year published. (Print) Article in a magazine: Author’s last name, first name. “Title of article.” Title of Magazine date article was published: pages of article. (Print) ***(notice double spacing and hanging indent)

12. What should my documentation look like? Newspaper article: author’s last name, author’s first name. “Title of article.” Title of newspaper printing date (day month year), edition of newspaper: pg. (Print) Online Newspaper article: Author’s last name, author’s first name. “Title of Article.” Title of newspaper . Day of publication month of publication year of publication. date of access (day month year) <url>. (Online)

13. What should my documentation look like? An entire website: Title of site . Ed. Followed by name of editor. Date of publication or update. Date of access (day month year) <url>. (Online) Interview: Last name of person interviewed, first name. Personal Interview, date. (Interview) *** (notice double spacing and hanging indent)

14. But what if I use someone’s words or ideas in my paper? In-text citations: use in-text citations/parenthetical documentation after the quote, idea, or information from another author. In-text citations look like this: (Smith 5) the author’s last name and the page number go in parenthesis in-text citations go right inside the period. * If you write an entire paragraph of info. from another source- you don’t need these at the end of each sentence…only at the end of the paragraph! Note: If you mention the author’s name in your info. Then you only need the page number in ( ).

15. “ I can’t find all the info!!!” If you cannot find an author- cite the title or a shortened version of the title and the page # Ex: ( American Cars 67). (“Dolphin in the Atlantic” C5). After your information from an online source, simply cite the author (Davidson). Or the article title (“Boat Sinks Off Coast”) because there are usually no page numbers

16. In-text Citation Examples In his article, White explains that an unnoticed puck is very familiar to the Admirals. It seems late goals have been common for the Admirals this year (C2). “ Sunday, Gordon charged from 16 th to first in five laps” (Long C3). Moves like this helped Gordon surpass Earnhardt’s career total.