Research Guide: Write Your Paper

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"Plagiarism is the act of taking the writings of another person and passing them off as one’s own. The fraudulence is closely related to forgery and piracy—practices generally in violation of copyright laws." (Encyclopedia Britannica Online.)

There are, however, two things that are not plagiarism:

1. Common Knowledge, which are things most people know without having to look them up. For example, The capital of France is Paris.
2. Opinions or ideas, for example, "I believe abortion should be a woman's choice."

But what about fair use? Fair use allows some exceptions, for example, as a teacher I can photocopy small portions of a book for my class for educational purposes but I couldn't copy the whole book or sell it for a profit, despite my intentions.

All quotes (or photos, or videos, etc.), even paraphrases, must be attributed to their author/creator.

     Paraphrasing is re-writing someone's thoughts in your own words. See, How to Paraphrase. 

• A Guide to Plagiarism, Florida State University Libraries
• Guide to Copyright and Fair Use, Florida State University Libraries
• Tips to Help Students Avoid Plagiarism from Grammarly 

• How to Write a Scientific Article
• A Guide to Writing a Scientific Paper: A Focus on High School Through Graduate Level Student Research
• How to Write a Good Scientific Paper

H o n o r   C o d e   P l e d g e

"As a member of the Thomas University student body, I will not lie, cheat, or steal in any endeavor related to my academic pursuits, nor will I tolerate that behavior in others."

Each member of the university community is responsible for abiding by the Academic Honor Code at all times.

When writing a research paper, you will need to analyze and incorporate the ideas and concepts of your sources into your paper. Learn more about the process from the links below.  

Synthesizing Sources: From the Purdue Owl Writing Lab

Synthesis:  From the University of Arizona Global Campus Writing Center

Synthesize: From the Harvard Gutman Library