Citing Sources

Plagiarism is the use of another's words and ideas without giving credit and claiming them as your own.

Most cases of plagiarism by college students are unintentional and due to mistakes or misunderstandings about how to cite properly.

This guide will help with citing a variety of sources and using in-text citations.

If you didn't write it, you have to cite it.

For a fuller explanation of plagiarism and best practices on how to avoid it, visit Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL) website Avoiding Plagiarism

• Submitting another’s work as your own.
   
• Copying or rephrasing another’s work and not acknowledging the source.
   
• Using another’s idea or argument as your own without recognition of the source.
   
• Using text or information from Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, without acknowledgement and claiming it as your own.
   
• Using a paper you wrote previously and resubmitting for another class (self-plagiarism).

Common knowledge is factual information that is widely known and accepted and does not need to be cited.

• Abraham Lincoln was the 16^th president.
• The sky is blue.
• Broccoli is a vegetable.

Common knowledge can vary by your field of study.  What a science major knows as common knowledge may not be familiar to a business major.  Check with your instructor if you are unsure of whether or not something is truly common knowledge.