Ways to Avoid Plagiarism
A Note about Plagiarism
It is important to cite your sources properly. If you want to learn more about avoiding plagiarism, read the Plagiarism Guide.
When you are writing your paper, you can use several ways to present information you have found in the body of your paper, and consciously avoid plagiarizing.
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Direct quote
If you want to use a sentence or a passage exactly as it was written, you can include a direct quote, surrounded by quotation marks, and either using an inline citation, or a sentence before the quote referencing the author and work of origin.
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Summary
You can also write a summary (in your own words of course) of the ideas or text you want to use. It helps to write the summary from your memory rather than looking directly at the passage.
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Paraphrase
Paraphrasing is similar to a summary. It just means taking what you have read and rewriting it in your own words.
Need help?
Style Guide Links
AAA Style Guide from the American Anthropological Association
NOTE!! As of September 9, 2015 AAA announced this: "After much consideration of publishing standards and member input, AAA has decided to cease production of the AAA Style Guide. AAA style now adheres fully to the current edition of the Chicago Manual of Style (Author-Date)". See the Chicago/Turabian tab on this guide.
The Chicago Manual of Style Online
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- See their Quick Guide for the basics
- Writer's Handbook Chicago
- Chicago Guide from NW Missouri with examples from different databases.
Copies of The Chicago manual of Style are also available at the Alkek Library and the Music Library.
Also see the library's Writing & Citation Styles Guide.
For help writing your research papers, consult Texas State's Writing Center
How to cite images (photos, artworks, graphs, charts, etc.) in different writing styles
Understanding a Journal Citation
You'll see something like this:
It's important to know the parts of a citation so you can interpret it correctly. You must have at least the Journal name, volume, issue, and page number to be able to locate the article.
Which Citation Manager to Use
There are many citation managers that you can choose from, all with particular pros and cons. This guide will focus on three citation managers: Endnote, Zotero, and Mendeley.
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Citation Manager |
Cost | Storage | Does it extract metadata and pull in full text? |
| EndNote Desktop | Free for TXST students, staff, faculty | Unlimited | Yes |
| EndNote Web | Free | Up to 50,000 references; unlimited (when synced with EndNote Desktop) | Yes |
| Zotero | Free | 300 MB Free Online; unlimited with Zotero Desktop | Yes |
| Mendeley | Free | 2GB Free Online; unlimited with Mendeley Desktop | Yes |
Other than the basic chart on this page, there are many comparison charts on the internet. NOTE that many comparison charts review Endnote Desktop, NOT Endnote Web. Here are some helpful places to start:
Creative Commons and Other Open Access Definitions
You can use Creative Commons images and media without having to worry about copyright restrictions as long as you follow the license terms. On the Creative Commons website you can learn more about what Creative Commons is and about the Creative Commons Licenses.
Attribution = to give credit or attribution to a creative work or idea. Attribution vs. Citation from the Gettysburg College Digital Humanities Toolkit.
Public Domain = A work that is out of copyright and free to use. Works in the public domain may not need to be cited or given attribution, but the ethical thing to do is to cite and give attribution to another's work. "Information that is unrestricted and accessible by the general public - program which is in the public domain a program which is not copyrighted" - public domain. (2006). In P. H. Collin (Ed.), Dictionary of publishing and printing (3rd ed.). A&C Black. Credo Reference: http://libproxy.txstate.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/acbpublishing/public_domain/0?institutionId=1143
Openly licensed images or other creative content that have alternative terms to copyright can be used freely as long as any terms given are followed. See more about Open Content in this entry from the The international encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society. Haßler, B., & Mays, T. (2015). Open content. In R. Mansell, & P. H. Ang (Eds.), The international encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society. Wiley. Credo Reference: http://libproxy.txstate.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/wileydcas/open_content/0?institutionId=1143