As you begin to take notes for your research, it is important to understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. Interestingly, the word plagiarism is derived from the Latin word Plagiarus meaning kidnapper. Every college student knows that purchasing a commercially prepared research paper or "borrowing" a previously used paper from another student is plagiarism; however, many students do not understand that they can plagiarize in other ways. Using another's ideas or concepts, wording, and paragraph organization without documentation also constitutes plagiarism. Often students inadvertently plagiarize by making minor changes in an author's wording. Also, some students incorrectly believe that paraphrased material does not need to be documented.

Plagiarism is a form of intellectual dishonesty. The penalty for intentional plagiarism is usually substantial and can extend from failure of the paper, failure in the course, to expulsion from the institution. You may recall in recent years that notoriety regarding plagiarism has often followed people into the work world as it has in the case of a well-known senator and some business people.

Your research paper reflects your scholarship. Since your paper demonstrates the knowledge you have gained and your ability to synthesize and organize, you will want it to represent your best efforts. Inadvertent plagiarism can be easily avoided if you take a few precautions. First, remember to take careful notes with the source and page number recorded on each notecard. Second, if you quote, accurately transcribe the material with quotation marks. Third, paraphrase or summarize most notes. Remember that paraphrasing means changing more than a few words. People express ideas differently and when you use other people's words, the various styles will be apparent. Thus, the careless weaving of different writing styles is akin to driving a car while braking erratically. These problems can be avoided if you record ideas and concepts in your own words rather than those of the author. Recall that your notes do not always need to be in complete sentences, but they do need to be clear enough that you will understand them when you are ready to write the first draft.

Materials which are common knowledge with the subject area(CKSA) should be paraphrased but need not be cited. The problem arises when deciding what constitutes CKSA. There is no magical number of sources which indicates CKSA, so an educated judgment must be made. If particular ideas or concepts are frequently mentioned, you usually do not need to use in-text documentation, endnotes or footnotes. However, if a nagging doubt persists, you would be advised to document, for it is better to cite too frequently rather than be accused of plagiarism.

Certain guidelines for citations should be used.

1. Cite all quotations.

   	Modern Language Association (MLA) Sample MLA in-text form (Jones 56) Remember to indent ten spaces from the left margin when using the block form for quotations of more than four lines
   	American Psychological Association (APA) Sample APA in-text form (Sansone, 1990) The block form is used for quotations of more than 40 words and is indented five spaces.

2. Cite statistics, diagrams, concepts and ideas of others which are not CKSA
3. Cite paraphrased or summarized material which is not CKSA.