Research Guide

HOW TO: find and use reliable Internet sources

Modified from “Research Guide” created by ElizabethThoreson-Green

Credibility of source:

◦ Why was this site created? Is there any bias?

◦ Who is responsible for this site? What are their credentials?

◦ Does the author document his/her own sources?

Reliable source checklist

Relevance of source:

◦ Can you understand what is being said?

◦ Is the site user-friendly? Do the links work?

◦ Does it give a date the information was created or last updated?

What is the URL ending?

.com (Commercial websites)

.org (Non-profit websites)

.edu (Academic websites)

.gov (Government websites)

Types of Sources

Primary Source Secondary Source

The author or creator of the work is the one who produced the original ideas

When the author of a work is citing another person’s ideas

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?

Plagiarism is the act of using someone else's work and presenting it as your own.

WHY SHOULDN’T I PLAGIARIZE?

REASONS NOT TO PLAGIARIZE You’re Stealing from Another Author

◦ Would you want someone else to steal your work?

It Hurts You◦ You don’t learn anything when you plagiarize,

including how to think for yourself.◦ Plagiarism prevents you from creating your

own ideas and opinions.◦ You can’t cheat forever. Eventually you will get

caught and the consequences will be serious.◦ Cheating damages your reputation and

academic and professional careers.

TYPES OF PLAGIARISM: COPYING Copying is the most well-known and

most common type of plagiarism. If you:◦ Copy another person’s work word-for-word◦ Do not credit him or her for the work◦ And put your name on it

Then you have plagiarized!

TYPES OF PLAGIARISM: PARAPHRASING PLAGIARISM Paraphrase: The restatement of

information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented using different words.

Paraphrasing plagiarism occurs when you paraphrase or summarize another person's work without citing the source.

If you keep the author's essential thoughts, sentence structure, and/or style without citing the source, this is plagiarism!

TYPES OF PLAGIARISM: PARAPHRASING PLAGIARISM Examples:

◦ Bob Kane, co-creator of Batman, felt that as a child, “growing up in the Bronx, [he and his friends] used to be vigilantes to survive” (Benton, 69).

◦ Plagiarism: Bob Kane, co-creator of Batman, felt that growing up in New York, he and other kids had to seek their own justice to survive.

◦ Not Plagiarism: Bob Kane, co-creator of Batman, felt that growing up in New York, he and other kids had to seek their own justice to survive (Benton, 69).

TYPES OF PLAGIARISM: UNINTENTIONAL

Unintentional plagiarism occurs when the writer incorrectly quotes and/or incorrectly cites a source they are using.

So how do I avoid plagiarism?

HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM Use your own words and ideas as often as

possible.

Put anything that comes directly from the text in quotations.

If you write something that is not your original thought, or include a fact that is not common knowledge, then use a citation.

When in doubt, CITE IT!

HOW TO CITE: MLA IN-TEXT CITATIONS Indirect Quote: Some researchers note

that "children are totally insensitive to their parents' shyness" (Zimbardo, 62).

Direct Quote: Zimbardo notes that “children are totally insensitive to their parents’ shyness” (62).

Paraphrasing: Some researchers have observed that children seem unaware that their parents are considered bashful (Zimbardo, 62).

HOW TO CITE:WORKS CITED At the very end of a paper, you include a

list of all of the sources that you used in your paper.

The format for the works cited list is different than your in-text citations.

Good resources to use◦ http://www.bibme.org/◦ http://www.citationmachine.net/ ◦ These websites generate your works cited list

for you and they’re free!

MLA WORKS CITED FORMATS Book

◦ Author Last Name, Author First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

Essay or Chapter in Book◦ Author Last Name, Author First name. “Title of

Essay/Chapter.” Title of Book. Ed. Editor's Name(s). City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium of Publication.

Article◦ Author Last Name, Author First Name. “Title of

Article.” Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of publication.

MLA WORKS CITED FORMATS Entire Website

◦ Author/Creator’s Name (if available). Name of Website. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.

Page on a Website Author Name (if available). “Name of Article.”

Name of Website. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.

“Research Guide”: Created by Elizabeth Thorseon-Green (Fulbright English Teaching Assistant)

“Plagiarism”: Created by Lauren Johnson (Fulbright English Teaching Assistant)

http://www.aresearchguide.com/6plagiar.html www.ulm.edu/~lowe/plagiarism.ppt https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ http://globalclassrooms.weebly.com/avoiding-

plagiarism.html

Sources