MLA Documentation Guide: Avoiding Plagiarism

You always want to distinguish CLEARLY your words and ideas from the words and ideas of your sources, and you want to accurately include other's information or words inside your own writing (without altering it).

The DON'Ts that will help you avoid plagiarism (or "Academic Dishonesty")

1) DON'T include "direct borrowings" of words from a source inside your own writing without putting those words in quotation marks

--example 1

--example 2

--example 3

2) DON'T include a paraphrase that is too close to the phrasing of the original

--example

3) DON'T include information or direct borrowing inside your text without "documenting" it correctly

--example

4) DON'T alter the original text; Quote EXACTLY
(unless you clearly indicate cut or added text)
-- example