In this module you will learn about
After working through the interactive tutorial, watching the video, reading the text, and working through the How to Recognize Plagiarism exercise, you are ready to research!
Citing sources is giving credit to the original author and publisher of the information you use in your research
Why cite sources?
Avoid Plagiarizing: You must cite any direct quotation, summary, or paraphrase of any idea or fact from your research. Citing sources is giving credit to the original author and publication where you found the information. Not citing sources is plagiarism and you may be subject to academic discipline.
Lend Authority to Your Paper: By referencing the work of scholars and other professionals, you demonstrate that your own research is based on solid, reliable information and that you are capable of critical thinking by being able to synthesize that research into your own.
Provide a Path: By citing sources, you provide the information readers of your paper need in order to locate the same sources that you did.
Acknowledge Other's Work: Part of your research is built upon the research of other people. It is respectful and fair to give them credit for their hard work (just as you would hope others would give you credit if they were quoting your own work!)
Video produced by Emily Nimsakont.
Work through the Demystifying Citing and Referencing interactive tutorial to learn about quoting, paraphrasing, citing, and plagiarism.
Test yourself using this How to Recognize Plagiarism exercise.
Copyright insures that the person who created something--whether a book or a piece of music--is reimbursed for his intellectual work. If there were no copyright protection, there would be no economic incentive to create these works.
A copyright is a set of legal rights that an author has over his work for a limited period of time. Copyright covers everything from using images or sound files from the Web to photocopying.
Most information is protected by copyright. The exception is work that is in the "public domain, " which can be reproduced or used by anyone. However, you still must credit the author. Some examples of public domain sources:
Public Domain Sources | Examples | |
Publications of the U.S. Government | U.S. laws and other publications of the Federal government, the U.S. Constitution | |
Copyright has been waived by the author. | Software called freeware or web pages with a Creative Commons agreement. | |
Works on which the copyright has expired | Works by William Shakespeare |