Biology 11A Research Project: Citation & Plagiarism

The librarians have created an instructional guide and step-by-step videos on signing up for an account, creating APA citations, and exporting citations using NoodleTools. For more information, see the NoodleTools page in the Citation Help & Plagiarism Awareness Guide.

The CCC Library has several resources to help you with citation. Below are a few resources.

• The CCC Library has a research guide much like this guide that is all about citation help and plagiarism. It provides resources including library books and videos. See the Citation Help and Plagiarism Awareness Research Guide here.
• The library also has a page on their website called How to Cite. It contains helpful resources including the Style Guide handouts we have in the library and links to the OWL Purdue organized by citation style.

Plagiarism definition from Oxford English Dictionary: "The action or practice of taking someone else's work, idea, etc., and passing it off as one's own; literary theft."

 It's plagiarism whether you use:

• a whole document
• a paragraph
• a single sentence
• a distinctive phrase
• a specialized term
• specific data
• a graphic element of any kind

You need to cite when you...

• Use or refer to someone else’s words or ideas
• Gain information through interviewing another person
• Copy the exact words or a “unique phrase”
• Reprint diagrams, illustrations, charts, pictures, videos, music
• Use other people’s ideas (printed, or through conversations or email)

You don't need to cite when you...

• Write about your own experiences, thoughts, and opinions
• Use "common knowledge" that most people know, such as myths, folklore, common observations, or historical events, e.g,, George Washington was the first president of the United States.
• Use generally accepted facts, e.g., exercise has positive health benefits.

Check out the following websites for more tips and tricks on avoiding plagiarism:

The CCC Library also has a module on Avoiding Plagiarism that you can take and earn a badge. The module takes approximately 30 minutes. Enroll in the class and click the "Modules" link to find the "Avoiding Plagiarism" module to get started.

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