WRITING GUIDE & STYLE SHEET

Plagiarism is using someone else’s ideas and/or words without clearly giving credit to that person. It is the theft of ideas. Today, it is extremely easy to access a wide variety of essays and articles on the worldwide web; whether the source you use is an interview, a book, magazine, or newspaper, or an electronic source, you must document your sources and give credit where credit is due. To do otherwise is illegal as well as morally wrong. You wouldn’t steal a car; so, don’t steal words or ideas. To avoid plagiarizing, you must give credit when you use a quotation of a person’s spoken or written words; a paraphrase of someone’s spoken or written words; any information that is not common knowledge; and another person’s idea, opinion, or theory.