Don't procrastinate. Students who rush their work can make careless mistakes, such as forgetting to include a particular citation, or not having all the information needed for documentation. Students under pressure may also make poor choices, such as not documenting sources and hoping the professor won't notice. Believe us- your professor will notice, and you won't like the long-term consequeneces.
Take careful notes. You need to be very clear in your notes whether you are writing down word-for-word what you found somewhere else, or if you are jotting down your own idea. You should take down all the information you will need to create your citations.
Cite your sources. Whenever you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or share an unusual fact, tell your reader where the information came from.
Get comfortable with the required citation style. The most commonly used citation styles on our campus are APA, MLA, and Chicago/Turabian. While they share many similarities, they also have differing requirements in regards to what and when to cite.
Ask your professor. If you're not sure about citing something, check with your instructor. Ultimately, they will be the one grading your assigment- or bringing you up on plagiarism charges.
[Radford University, Avoiding Plagiarism: Tips for Preventing Plagiarism Libguide]
