Strategies to Avoid Plagiarism

Throughout your academic journey, you are likely to acquire a tip or two for avoiding plagiarism such as making sure you properly cite sources in your course assignments and research. Although very helpful, it still does not provide you with the key strategies needed to avoid plagiarism and produce original work. UNT Libraries understands how overwhelming it can be to tackle the nuances of plagiarism, so we have gathered very helpful tips to get you started.

If at any point you need support, please reach out to your subject librarian or the Ask Us Service.

Helpful Tips to Get You Started

1. Start your assignments and research early!

   • Assignments and research often take more time than you think and starting early ensures you won’t rush and make mistakes. It also allows you to plan your work allowing enough time to research and write on the topic.

   • Keep a research log of the databases, key words/subject terms, and limiters you use and record which ones have the most success. This research process will help you be strategic and systematic in your research.

2. List citations that you use in your paper.

   • Create a list of citations as you find useful articles. Using a citation manager, such as RefWorks, can make this step a breeze. When you are done writing, revise the list to only the sources you used and add it to the end of your research paper. Edit the citations to match the manual of style that you are using, and Voila!

3. Cite sources properly.

   • Whenever you use information, ideas, or direct quotes from external sources, make sure to cite them accurately and follow the citation style required by your instructor.

   • Familiarize yourself with the specific rules and formats of citation styles for referencing various sources, such as books, journals, websites, and multimedia.

4. Use direct quotations sparingly.

   • Properly quote sources by using quotation marks around word-for-word content AND cite the source.

5. Paraphrase information.

   • Rephrase specific content in your own words while maintaining the original meaning AND still cite the source.

6. Summarize information.

   • Summarize the main points or key ideas from a source by condensing the content AND citing the source.

7. Consult others for help.

   • If you have any doubts about citing sources or using external material, seek guidance from your subject librarian, Ask Us, instructors, or the Writing Center.

If you select "no," please send me an email so I can improve this guide.