Plagiarism and the Web
Students increasingly use the Web to do research. With a wealth of
information available, including everything from pre-written essays
to scientific papers, the potential for plagiarism is enormous. Keep
in mind that as easy as it is for students to find and copy information
from the Web, it is just as easy for instructors to find the same information.
To avoid plagiarizing, remember that the same rules apply to information
found on the Web as to information found in print sources:
- When you take ideas or quote from a source, you must paraphrase
accurately and give credit by appropriately citing to the original source.
- If you take a sentence or phrase directly from a source, you
must indicate it by using quotation marks around the direct quote and
citing the original source.
- Because of paging and other issues, citing online sources can be
confusing. For more information on how to cite Web-based sources,
see the Citing Information tutorial or contact a reference librarian. A number of newer citation sources, such as
the 6th edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers,
go into detail on the best way to accurately cite electronic sources.
Quick Review
When paraphrasing information found on the web, it is necessary
to cite the original source.
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