Failure to properly credit sources is considered plagiarism. According to UCF's Rules of Conduct, plagiarism falls under "Academic Misconduct" and can have serious consequences.
To avoid plagiarism:
- Include complete citations for all materials you use in your research papers. This includes acknowledging the source of both text and graphic content from all sources, whether you obtained this from online or print resources.
- Changing a few words around (paraphrasing) does not make the concept yours: sources must be cited.
- There are very few exceptions to citing information: information that is common knowledge (i.e., the capital of Ohio is Columbus) or proverbial sayings ("The early bird catches the worm.") do not need attribution.
- A direct quote is in quotation marks. Example: "Information literacy is an important competency for all students in higher education." (Nuhn, 2020).
- Paraphrased information is still acknowledged as coming from another source, but is not in quotation marks, because you are putting the information in your own words. Here are two examples of how to paraphrase and provide attribution:
- All college and university students need to be proficient in information literacy (Nuhn, 2020). OR
- According to Nuhn (2020), all students need to acquire information literacy competencies.