The Writer's Handbook

Avoiding Plagiarism

In this section, you will find many instructional materials we've developed for our Writing Center teaching.

However, there are limitations to these materials. Assignments vary, and different instructors want different things from student writers. Therefore, the advice here may or may not apply to your writing situation.

Finally, handouts can give only a fraction of the customized guidance that an individual conference with a Writing Center instructor can provide. If you have questions about the information in our handouts, please make an appointment to see a Writing Center instructor.

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Quoting and Paraphrasing

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College writing often involves integrating information from published sources into your own writing in order to add credibility and authority--this process is essential to research and the production of new knowledge.

However, when building on the work of others, you need to be careful not to plagiarize: "to steal and pass off (the ideas and words of another) as one's own" or to "present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source."1 The University of Wisconsin takes very seriously this act of "intellectual burglary," and the penalties are severe.

These materials will help you avoid plagiarism by teaching you how to properly integrate information from published sources into your own writing.

1. Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed. (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1993), 888.