| 1 | Learn to make good notes |
| | Use any note-taking method to write and organize your notes. However, an effective way is the split-page method whereby the first column is used for notes, second column for page numbers and the third column for your comments/questions or ideas. This will enable you to differentiate between your ideas and the author. Write the bibliographic information (author, title, publication details, date accessed and URL of website) at the top of the page to clearly indicate where the information was sourced. You should write down the source even before you start reading the material. Failure to do so may cause you to make an unscheduled visit to the library or searching the Internet at the 11th hour to trace back the vital missing information that is needed for you to complete your writing. |
| |
| | When you are making the notes, try to use your own words. Summarise or paraphrase and then compare your writing with the original text. If you had copied the original phrases, make sure they are between quotation marks. Try to rewrite the copied phrases in your own words. |
| | Use 'in-text' referencing in your notes to help you in your citation if you do decide to use the source. This consists of writing the author's name and page number in brackets at the end of each paragraph. |
| |
| 2 | Acknowledge your sources |
| | To help you with formatting citations and bibliographies, the University has produced its citation style guide, [Click here] which closely follows the University of Chicago system. Please consult the style guide for help in preparing your footnotes, endnotes, bibliography or references page at the end of your paper. |
| |
| | You may also consult the following manuals for further guidance:
- American Psychological Association. 2005. Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington: American Psychological Association. [Call number : BF76.7 P976 2001 (Reference)]
- Fisher, C. 2004. Researching and writing a dissertation for business students. Essex: Pearson Education. [Call number : LB2369 F528 2004]
- Gibaldi, J. 2003. MLA handbook for writers of research papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America. [Call number LB2369 G437 2003]
- Houghton, P.M., T. J. Houghton and M. F. Peters. 2005. APA: the easy way! a quick and simplified guide to the APA writing style. Flint, Mich.: Baker College, 2005. [Call number : BF76.7 H835 2005]
- Turabian, K. L. 1996. A manual for writers of term papers, theses, and dissertations. 6th ed. Revised by John Grossman and Alica Bennett. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [Call number : LB2369 T929 1996]
- The University of Chicago Press. A manual of style. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. [Call number : Z253 U58 2003]
|
| |
| |
| 3 | Evaluate your information resources |
| | Don't depend on materials available on the Internet as your primary sources of information as the Internet is a fine source of plagiarized materials. The quality of information varies, ranging from high quality to dubious. As there is a plethora of information available on the Web, you must develop skills to evaluate what you find. Use the library resources as your primary sources of information because the books and journals available have been evaluated in one way or another by scholars, publishers and librarians. When you are using the Internet, none of this applies. The Internet has no such filters. It does not restrict anyone from posting a document on the Web. Anyone can publish a Web page. |
| |
| 4 | Organise your time |
| | Avoid working on your research paper at the last minute as in your haste to make the dateline, it is likely that you will unintentionally copy materials. Allocate enough time for finding the background information and reading them because not only it will help you understand the topic, it will also expose you to a variety of opinions by other scholars. You are less likely to plagiarise when your answers are not focused on a single source. |
| |
| 5 | Address the issue |
| | A paper that has been cobbled together from different sources does not really address the research questions posed. The copied texts may be written from various angles for different purposes. Moreover, your work will appear patchy with little flow to it. It will be much better for you to address the questions posed by providing your own responses than by copying other authors' work. |
| |
| 6 | Review your paper |
| | It helps to get someone else to read through your paper and spot the mistakes you made. It will be easier for that someone to notice your language mistakes, the missing quotation marks, the inconsistent flow etc. You may not notice these errors as you have been looking at your paper for so long. |
| |
| | Recommended resources |
| (a) | Purdue University Online Writing Lab. 2008. Avoiding plagiarism. |
| (b) | Westphal, D. 2004. Plagiarism. St. Cloud State University. |
| (c) | Bruce T. Halle Library, Eastern Michigan Uniiversity. 2003. Plagiarism and citing reference sources. |
| (d) | University of Alberta Libraries. 2009. Guide to plagiarism and cyber-plagiarism. |
| |
| | |
| |
| | Plagiarism |
| | Types of plagiarism |
| |
| |
