2 Avoiding Plagiarism
When writing a research paper, lab report or any other type of academic assignment, you will likely use resources such as books, articles, and websites written by other people to support your argument. However, when using someone else’s information, you must indicate where that information came from (credit must be given where credit is due). If you fail to acknowledge your sources, you are guilty of plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious offence, which may lead to lost marks or a failing grade.
There are many different formats for providing credit, also known as bibliographic citation, to other sources within your research paper. This handout provides a brief summary of the APA style guidelines as outlined in the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2020). The examples presented illustrate the more common resource types.
Please note that this handout should only be used as a guide. For complete information and additional examples, consult the complete text of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Section numbers referring to the book are listed in brackets for additional information.
PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR PROFESSOR FOR ANY ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS THAT MAY DIFFER FROM THOSE OUTLINED HERE OR IN THE PUBLICATION MANUAL.
When to Cite
Before examining the specific formats of the APA citation style (which are explained in more detail in the following pages), it is important to understand when to cite to avoid plagiarism. A source must be cited or acknowledged when you:
- Quote material verbatim (word for word)
- Reword or paraphrase material
- Include statistics or findings from a survey or study
- Incorporate facts, ideas or opinions that are not common knowledge
When you summarize a concept that is not common knowledge, you must cite your source. It is not necessary to cite information that is widely known by your audience – such as “Canada is a country” or “Ontario is a province within Canada”.
What to Cite
Proper citation applies to all resource types and formats: books, journals, newspapers, magazines, works by associations or corporations, encyclopedias, dictionaries, technical reports, videos, websites, etc.
Due to concerns regarding plagiarism, students may feel that their essays are a string of cited lines and paragraphs. However, it is how you interpret the information from various sources and bring it together that is uniquely yours. No other individual will come up with quite the same combination. If you are in doubt if a citation is required, it is better to cite than to not cite.
Quotations (8.23-8.33)
While paraphrasing information (putting it into your own words) is generally preferable to having long quotations within your paper, there are times where you may choose to include a direct quote (taken word for word from the source).
When using a direct quote, provide the author, year and page number for the quotation. Indicate a single page using p. before the page number and multiple pages as pp. (8.25)
(Pecorari, 2013, p. 11)
(Pecorari, 2013, pp. 11-13)
Some electronic sources, such as websites or ebooks, may not have page numbers (8.28). Give your reader some way to find the quoted material by providing a heading or section name, a paragraph number (count the paragraphs manually if not numbered) or combination of the two.
(Findlay, 2015, para. 2)
(Rice, 2016, Complications section, para. 4)
For short quotations that are shorter than forty words, incorporate the quote into the text enclosed by double quotation marks, as in the example below (8.26).
When you are working under time constraints, it is very easy to accidentally copy and paste an author’s work without giving credit. In a case of true plagiarism, “the plagiarist must be aware of having copied” (Pecorari, 2013, p. 14).
Longer quotations of forty words or more are offset from the main body of the essay by indenting 0.5 inches (5-7 spaces) from the left margin. If the quotation is more than one paragraph in length, indent the first line of the second and subsequent paragraphs in from the new margin. Do not use double quotation marks. Double space the quotation (8.27).
In a discussion on the criteria involved in plagiarism, Pecorari (2013) found that:
Plagiarism requires intention. In fact, it requires intention of two sorts. First, the plagiarist must be aware of having copied. A legitimate error in copying and pasting (always assuming that it can be demonstrated that a legitimate error was involved) is not plagiarism. (p. 14)
If you wish to omit material from within the quotation, indicate this using an ellipsis – three periods in a row with a space before and after each one. ( . . . ). Use a period plus an ellipsis (. . . . ) to indicate an omission between sentences (8.31). Take care to ensure that the omitted material does not change the original meaning of the quoted passage.