Research & Citation Tools: Citing Sources & Avoiding Plagiarism

What is MLA?

MLA Style is a standardized format for writing that has been established by the Modern Language Association. MLA Style is currently in its 9th Edition. It is generally used by students and scholars working within disciplines related to language and literature but is also used in many other humanities disciplines.

MLA Style Book

The 9th Edition of the MLA Style Manual is available on the shelf at the call number listed above and also behind the Circulation Desk.

MLA Websites

MLA Tutorials

What is Turabian?

The Turabian citation style, based on the manual written by Kate Turabian, is a condensed version of Chicago citation style from The Chicago Manual of Style. Turabian is designed for student papers whereas the Chicago style includes additional information for authors who are in the process of publishing. Chicago/Turabian is currently in its 17th Edition.

Chicago/Turabian Book

Chicago/Turabian Websites

Citing for Religious Classes

Signal phrases help introduce quotations and/or paraphrased information into your writing. Using signal phrases makes your academic writing more sophisticated and clearer to the reader. The use of signal phrases helps to identify the writer of the quotation and/or paraphrased information as well as adding in-text citation information in a less intrusive manner.

Websites:

These sites that walk you through how to incorporate a signal phrase and give you many examples of signal phrase verbs from which to choose.

Dropped quotations, those quotes that are inserted into your writing as a stand alone sentence, are confusing to a reader and show evidence of unsophisticated writing skills. By including a signal phrase in the sentence which contains the quote, you make the intent of the quote much more evident to the reader and you incorporate the in-text citation information in a less intrusive, more polished manner.

Websites:

Moye Library Resources:

PLAGIARISM:
Plagiarism is the intentional and unattributed theft of others' words, ideas or work. Its purpose is to misrepresent others' intellectual property as the plagiarist's own work. Plagiarism is undertaken with the intent to misrepresent the work as one's own and to deceive the recipient(s) of that work. Plagiarism is the most egregious form of cheating. An instructor making the charge of plagiarism has the burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence. Because of the severity of the accusation and potential consequences, no accusation of plagiarism shall be made without proof or compelling evidence.

Any accusation of plagiarism must be supported by the original or a copy of the plagiarized document(s) and/or other compelling evidence.

• A student’s inability to explain key concepts or vocabulary in the paper,
• lack of knowledge regarding the research or sources cited,
• an admission of guilt by the student, or co-conspirator,

All shall be considered compelling evidence and acceptable grounds for an accusation of plagiarism to proceed.

Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Using someone else's words ideas, or work without attribution, i.e., quotation marks, parenthetical citation, and/or an entry on the Works Cited page;
• Cutting and pasting/copying text from any source whatsoever without attribution;
• Buying papers and representing the product as one’s own work, whether citations exist within the work or not;
• Buying papers and representing their products as one’s own work, even if portions of the work have been changed or material has been added to it;
• Paraphrasing someone else's work without attribution;
• Submitting another person's work as one’s own, i.e. using work done by another student; and/or
• Receiving inappropriate help, i.e. having someone else write large and unattributed portions of the submitted work.

The intention of the University of Mount Olive is not to unjustly accuse students of plagiarism. Therefore, it is important to understand what plagiarism is not. Plagiarism is not

• a mistake in citation or citation format,
• use of a citation system different from the stated course requirements,
• an incomplete citation,
• an incorrectly done citation,
• making mechanical/formatting errors.

The key concept of plagiarism is the intent to deceive. Without the demonstrable intent to deceive, the issue of plagiarism does not exist.

Tutorials

Quizzes

Quoting & Paraphrasing

Tutorials