Have you ever told a story, a really good story, and then you heard someone else tell your story and not give you credit? That was your story. You told it. You made it funny or sad or memorable. This is why citation matters.
Professors need you to cite the information you find for research papers and presentations so that they know where you found the sources you used, what that information was updated, and when you used them - you are essentially showing your professor all of the hard work you did to find the facts you used to make your points.
What is Plagiarism? Plagiarism is when you take someone's ideas and you do not give that person credit. Like the story above, the person who told your story did not give you credit as the original story teller. Research works the same way. If you take ideas from a book or journal article and do not cite it, that is plagiarism. Plagiarism can be taking the exact words of a text and citing them without quotes or paraphrasing the idea and forgetting to put in a citation. To avoid plagiarism, you need to keep track of where you found your information, include parenthetical citations within your paper, and cite all of the sources you used in your Works Cited / References at the end of your project. For more tips about avoiding plagiarism, see Purdue OWL's Plagiarism Overview - https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/avoiding_plagiarism/index.html.
For great tips about how to write in your own words to avoid plagiarism, check out Purdue OWL's Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words tips: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/quoting_paraphrasing_and_summarizing/paraphrasing.html.
The MLA Handbook is available in the CCM Library both as a reference book (REF LB2369 .M52 2021) and at the Circulation Desk as a Reserve item for 3-hour (ask at the desk for the MLA Handbook). Both items are for in-library use only.
Many of our databases offer a cite link that gives you an MLA citation. Caution: use the citation only as a draft. Many database generated citations contain errors in spelling, formatting, order, and more. Do not blindly trust these citations. Always refer to the manual above or to the MLA Style Center website: https://style.mla.org/works-cited/citations-by-format/.
The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University also has a user-friendly guide to MLA style:
Purdue's 1-page MLA Style Guidelines Overview is a great document to print and keep next to you as you write:
The CCM Writing Center is a great place to get help with writing your paper or preparing for a presentation. They offer subject specific sessions and individual appointments. All appointments must be scheduled at least 24 hours before the session. For more information, visit them in DeMare Hall, DH 156 inside the Tutoring Center.
214 Center Grove Rd, Randolph, NJ 07869
