Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of someone else’s work.

Plagiarizing, whether intentional or not, is using some else’s words or ideas as your own or using material without crediting the source.

Intentional plagiarism is…

• Copying or stealing an article from online
• Hiring someone to write your paper
• Copying a large section of text without quotations or proper citations
• Claiming someone else’s words as your own
• In academia, repurposing your own work for multiple classes without the instructor’s permission is considered plagiarism

Unintentional plagiarism is…

• Incorrectly citing sources
• Misattributing the incorrect source to a quotation or paraphrase
• Attempting to paraphrase an idea but directly quoting without quotation marks

Always cite your sources!

Best Practices to Avoid Plagiarism
The Purdue OWL offers tips and best practices to make sure you avoid plagiarism in your work. 

Follow the tips to avoid plagiarism in this guide from Catholic University’s Writing Center.