Citations & Plagiarism

Source: Emily Myers, University of Connecticut, 2022 

Academic honesty is expected of all students. Plagiarism (and other misconduct outlined by the Student Code of Conduct) may result in:

• "0" (or equivalent) grade on plagiarized assignments
• "F" or failure of course
• Suspension from the college for one or more semesters

...in an academic context?

• Copying exact words/sentences from an article without citing the source
• Paraphrasing or describing an idea you learned about from an article without giving credit
• Not providing complete or accurate information in your citations

...in everyday life*?

• Copying someone’s tweet (or other social media post) and reposting it as if you wrote it
• Sharing a picture but deleting the caption or other information about where it came from (such as who took the photo, who is in the photo, etc.)

*These are often social norms/expectations that may or may not be enforced. Consequences may be legal or purely social (social rejection or being seen as rude, a liar, or clueless about a community’s culture).

...for class assignments (academic contexts)?

• Information about your sources provided in a standardized format
• Citation styles such as APA or MLA
• In-text citations (APA and MLA)
• Footnotes or endnotes (Chicago)
• List of references (APA) or works cited (MLA)

...for everyday life?

• Source: URL
• Photo credit: @myfriendjohn
• “Shoutout to my mom for taking this pic!”
• via *hyperlink to original post*
• Other options that allow people to trace back to the original
  • Retweet or Quote Tweet (Twitter), Repost (Instagram), Share (Facebook), Forward (email)

Still have questions? Ask a librarian, or check out this playlist of videos about plagiarism created by Scribbr, a team of experts that create tools and content to guide students in academic writing.