Plagiarism and APA format

Plagiarism & APA Format

A Brief Tutorial

Plagiarism Consequences: You will be given a zero

for plagiarized work.

You can be dropped from the course.

You can be expelled from school.

Plagiarism Is: a. Representing the ideas, expressions, or

materials of another without due credit.

b. Paraphrasing or condensing ideas from another person’s work without proper citation.

c. Failing to document direct quotations and paraphrases with proper citation.

Sounds scary, doesn’t it? But it doesn’t have to

be if you know how to avoid it!

And the best way to avoid plagiarism is to give credit where credit is due!

But, how do we give credit where credit is due?

Always cite your sources in the body of the report.

Always create a reference page.

Always use quotation marks when quoting.

Avoid Plagiarism Always: To avoid plagiarism, you must cite your

sources within the body of your paper and create a properly formatted reference page.

Even if you paraphrase from a source, you still must cite – you are borrowing someone else’s ideas, so you must give him/her credit!

So, how do we do that? By using APA format

to add in-text citations and a reference page at the end.

It is easier than it sounds! For paraphrased material, just do the following: Cite the author in the body of the text where you use the source

information. Use the author’s last name and the copyright date (Peterson, 2010).

If the source is online without a copyright date, use the retrieval date (Peterson, 2010).

If the source does not have an author, use a word from the title (“Report,” 2010).

When in doubt, cite!

For in-text citations after a quotation, just do the following: Cite the author after every direct quote you include in your paper.

“Use the author’s last name, the copyright date, and the page number” (Peterson, 2010, p. 5).

“If the source is online without a copyright date, use the retrieval date” (Peterson, 2010, p. 5).

“If the source does not have an author, use a word from the title” (“Report,” 2010, p. 5).

Don’t use more than three quoted sentences per page of text.

Reference Page Your reference page belongs at the end of your

paper, but before an Appendix if you have included one.

For APA format, title your reference page, References.

Place the title, References, at the center of the page, two spaces below the header.

Format each reference according to APA guidelines. Do not EVER make a list of website addresses and

use that as a reference page!

Wrong1. http://www.wronganswer.com

2. http://www.neverdo.com

3. http://www.bigtrouble.com

4. http://www.bigfatzero.com

5. http://www.failinggrade.com

Cox, A.M. (2000). Study shows colleges' dependence

on their part-time instructors. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 47, A12-A14.

Hrebiniak, L.G., and Alutto, J.A. (2005). Personal and role-related factors in the

development of organizational commitment. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17, 555-572.

McCain, T., & Jukes, I. (2001). Windows on the future: Education in the age of

technology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.

McCracken, H. (2005). The importance of learning communities in motivating and retaining on-line learners.

Motivating & Retaining Adult Learners Online, 1. Retrieved Sep 29, 2005, from

http://www.geteducated.com/books/motivatingstudents.asp.

Correct

Was that so hard? Just follow those

simple rules and you will never get into any trouble!

And remember, when in doubt, cite!