The best way to avoid plagiarism is to have a clear understanding of what plagiarism is.

Check out the website plagiarism.org, it will help you understand what constitutes plagiarism, some terms you should know the meaning of, and how to avoid plagiarism.

Start by clicking on Plagiarism 101.
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This site is created by the same company that created Turnit In, the plagiarism detection program that we use here at WVSS.  The information on “fair use” is American, so see the library webpage on copyright for more information on Canadian rules.

Remember, it doesn’t matter whether the plagiarism is intentional or as a result of poor research habits.  The best way to avoid plagiarism is to develop good note-taking habits and to keep track of your sources as you go.  Remember to differentiate between notes you took “word for word” and those you paraphrased. Do this when you are making your notes as you may not remember after.  Avoid copy/pasting large sections of text.

If you are not sure what paraphrasing is or how to do it, review the plagiarism.org page on paraphrasing or check out Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) pages on Paraphrasing, or their information page on Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing. 

The Plagiarism.org website also has information on citing sources that will be helpful in avoiding plagiarism.  See the citing sources section of the library website for help with citing your sources using Noodle Tools, and using intext citation as well.