Citations Methods
There are 6 main citation styles AMA, APA, ASA, CMS Notes & Bibliography, CMS Author-Date, and MLA. Typically each academic discipline or department has a preferred citation style but ask your instructor which method they want you to use.
UNT Libraries subscribes to citation manager called RefWorks, and it is free to students. In this platform, you can create research folders and min-libraries of all your research and use features to help you write abstracts and annotate bibliographies. You can keep your research indefinitely.
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Plagiarism is a serious offense at UNT. Even if you don't mean to plagiarize, you can still commit academic dishonesty. The university has many resources for students to help them ensure that their work doesn't contain violations, one of which is the UNT Libraries.
What can the UNT Libraries help you with to avoid plagiarism?
In addition to helping you locate materials for your research projects, librarians can help you with citations. (We can't proofread your paper or help you with writing summaries or abstracts, but we can direct you to people who can, like the Writing Center.)
Avoiding Plagiarism
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is the use of someone's words (verbal and written), ideas (concrete and implied), physical works (including artwork and photography), and digital content (including images, video, audio, etc.) without giving them credit. Plagiarism can be deliberate or unintentional.
Citing your sources is first step to ensure that you are not plagiarizing someone's work. If you're not sure about if you need to cite something, you can ask a librarian, your instructor, or the Writing Lab ... or cite it anyway. It's better to be safe than regret it later.
Purdue OWL has a great webpage to get you started on understanding plagiarism in more detail.
Quick Tips to Avoid Plagiarism
Be sure to give yourself time to conduct research as well as to write your paper. The more time you give yourself, the less rushed you will be and the fewer errors you will make.
Provide a list of citations for all the resources that you used at the end of your paper
Provide "internal citations" every time you use a resource within the body paragraphs of your paper
Properly quote resources when you use a resource word-for-word AND cite your source
Properly paraphrase resources by putting the content into your own words and syntax AND cite your source
Properly summarize the main points of a resource AND cite your source
Cite your sources, cite your sources, and cite your sources.
UNT Libraries
The UNT Libraries has information on their website to help you with citation styles.
Writing Practices to Avoid Plagiarism
Purdue OWL has great suggestions on both preparing your research for writing and writing methods to help you avoid plagiarism. Below you will find a list of topics to help you:
From the Writing Lab
The Writing Center also has great resources for you.
