Academic Integrity and Library Research

This guide contains a video, a PowerPoint presentation, Web links and library resources to help students understand academic integrity and avoid plagiarism.

Last update: Nov 19th, 2009 URL: http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/academic_integrity Print Guide RSS Updates

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When To Cite?

Click above for a video on differentiating between your own knowledge, common knowledge, and an original work which needs proper citation.

Academic Integrity

At Michigan State University, it is the student's responsibility to understand and comply with academic integrity standards. See MSU Ombudsman's plagiarism policies here.

Paraphrasing

Suppose you want to add information to your paper from an article you found at the MSU Libraries. Here are some examples of proper and improper paraphrasing.

Types of Plagiarism

Verbatim copying without using quotation marks
Not using in-text or reference list citations to attribute quotations to the original author
Paraphrasing or summarizing other works without using in-text or reference list citations to attribute the paraphrased material to the original author
Quoting and paraphrasing a large portion of others' works without adding critical analysis; no new contribution to knowledge
Making errors in the reference citations so that the original source of information cannot be checked
Using fictitious references so that your project appears to be well-researched