Definitions
In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source. This can be deliberate or unintentional, and it can apply to texts published in print or on-line, to manuscripts, and to the work of other student writers.
- To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you use:
- any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings—any pieces of information—that are not common knowledge
- quotations of another person’s actual spoken or written words
- another person’s idea, opinion, or theory
- paraphrase of another person’s spoken or written
- You don't need to provide a citation for information in your paper:
- you are discussing matters of common knowledge, which most people would know without looking up. For example: The name of the current President of the United States.
- you are writing your own original observations, analysis, or opinions.
Citation Tool - Refworks by ProQuest
ProQuest RefWorks is a citation management tool that helps researchers gather, manage, store and share information, as well as generate citations and bibliographies in a wide variety of styles.
- Free online video to give you a quick start
- 1) Sign up for a free account; 2) to store citations, notes and quotes and create bibliographie
Writng Center
The Oberlin College Writing Center and the Oberlin College Libraries can provide assistance with the writing of your research paper and citations. The Writing Center provides assistance with writing mechanics, including citation, developing a research question or thesis, developing an argument to support your thesis, as well as, reviewing your paper for sentence-level corrections and editing for flow and clarity.. The libraries provide support for citation, including using citation management software such as Refworks, provides access to citation manuals, and assists with developing a research question or thesis relative to available sources, as well as, assisting in developing search strategies to find the best sources for your research.