Cite
Using the right citations is like giving good directions! As a good student and ethical writer, you give credit where credit is due and lead the reader to your sources so they can see you are credible.
Seriously, if you learn one thing from Ms. Rodgers, it should be that she likes winning arguments on the internet by backing up her feelings with sources that are often from academic journals and peer-reviewed (peer-reviewed is a process where other scholars/professionals/experts look at the work and make sure all the facts are right and the research was done the right way).
Paraphrasing and Summarizing
Ms. Rodgers avoids plagiarism as a writer by reading the information and making sure that she understands what it is trying to say. Then, she closes the book and rewrites it in her own words (or switch tabs in Chrome, or shut the computer and write it on paper) Sometimes, she can really remember too much of it, so then she tries to re-write her words again so it sounds more like her own and less like she copied it directly and switched out a few words. Then, just to make sure that the reader doesn't think that she wrote this information or made it up, she uses in-text citations, or acknowledge the original work in some way in her writing.
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Paraphrasing means that you write it in your own words but it's almost the same size as the original piece.
- Summarizing means that you read a text and you are giving the reader a shorter version of it.
Neither of these is your own idea, you are just writing it in your own words!
Helpful Resources
Copyright and Fair Use Animation
Students are introduced to copyright, fair use, and the rights they have as creators.
What Are In-Text Citations?
This video explains what in-text citations are, why they are important, and examples of using them in instances of direct quotes and paraphrasing. Make sure to check out the MLA "quiz" from NoRedInk, linked at the end of the video!