Avoiding plagiarism
In academe, plagiarism is avoided by using a citation style, such as MLA style, Chicago style, or APA style. Generally speaking, facts that are common knowledge (for example, the date that WWII ended) need not be referenced, while facts that are not considered common knowledge in one’s field must be cited. Similarly, a quote from any source, words or information, even if paraphrased, or any ideas not one’s own must be cited.
For instance, while it is acceptable to copy several paragraphs of text from a book and place them in a paper, if the source of the text (the author’s name and title of the work) is not identified, even if the text is well known this is plagiarism.
Similarly, it is considered plagiarism to take someone’s idea and then present it as one’s own work. However, it is not considered plagiarism when two (or more) people independently come up with the same thing. This is commonly termed simultaneous inspiration, and comes about as the result of people exposed to the same source and interpreting it similarly.
