In all the writing you do, it is important to avoid plagiarism — using other people’s words as your own or handing in information you gather from another source as your own. Your instructors are aware of plagiarism and know how to look for it. Writers who plagiarize, either on purpose or by accident, risk failing a course or losing their jobs and damaging their reputations.
TIP For more on avoiding plagiarism, and citing and documenting outside sources, see Chapter 14.
To avoid plagiarism, take careful notes on every source (books, interviews, television shows, Web sites, and so on) you might use in your writing. When recording information from sources, take notes in your own words, unless you plan to use direct quotations. In that case, make sure to record the quotation word for word. Also, include quotation marks around it, both in your notes and in your paper. When you use material from other sources — whether you directly quote or put information in your own words (paraphrase) — you must name and give citation information about these sources.