Plagiarism

One of the best ways to avoid plagiarism is to work with a Learning Commons writing tutor or a librarian. Writing tutors can help you make sure that you are properly using quotations, summarizing, etc. A librarian can help to make sure that your citations are done correctly. Learn more about tutoring on their website. 

You can use the acronym SEPI as a way to make sure that you are using your own voice and connecting your sources to your own work.

• S - signal phrase: 
  • A signal phrase identifies the author, typically by last name, and includes words like argues, asserts, stated, demonstrated, acknowledged, disputes, etc. to introduce the evidence. 
• E - evidence:
  • This would include the quotation, summary, paraphrase, or some factual information. 
• P - parenthetical citation
  • After the signal phrase and evidence, you would include the in-text citation. (See the APA, MLA, or ASA guides for more examples of how to do in-text citations.)
• I - interpretation
  • This is where the you connect the information from your source to your own work. Explain the connections and draw parallels between your conclusions and the work of experts in your field. 

Example: Dr. Jones implied that chocolate cake is better than funfetti cake (Jones, 2021). This does not align with the findings from the American Funfetti Coalition that claims all Americans prefer funfetti (Funfetti Nation, 2020). 

Now let's break down that example: 

• S - signal phrase - "Dr. Jones implied"
• E - evidence - "chocolate cake is better than funfetti cake"
• P - parenthetical citation - "(Jones, 2021)"
• I - interpretation - In the next sentence, Dr. Jones assertion was compared to another source. This could be built upon to further prove a point and demonstrate the connections. 

Whenever you are preparing for a research paper, make sure to keep as detailed notes as possible and save all the resources in an organized way. You can email it to yourself, download it, or print it out. 

If your instructor has set-up a SafeAssign checker, you can use that to self-verify that you have not accidentally plagiarized. Here is a video explaining how to do that: