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 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 pagination 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 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
It's not necessary to cite information you find and use from the Web.
For more information on plagiarism and copyright, see our
Information Ethics Tutorial.
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