Ways to Avoid Plagiarism by Citing Sources

¶ … Academic and Community Support Resources at Walden U. and the Academic Skills Center are both useful for providing an understanding of plagiarism and how to properly cite source material in a paper. Plagiarism.org is also helpful and is easily accessible and simple to use for anyone looking for a quick synopsis of what constitutes plagiarism. Essentially, it is the theft of another person's words.

However, even if you use your own words but their ideas, credit should be given by using citations in the text and references/bibliography at the end of the paper. The APA manual is perhaps the best place to go for proper APA style citation and format writing. It is the authoritative reference, after all -- so it is important to read if one wishes to have the definitive method.

The strategy I would employ so as to improve my skills in the covered APA concepts would be to always give credit where credit is due. There is no shame in referencing many sources.

Sometimes we are pressed to be "original" and to have "original" thoughts -- but in research it is important to show where ideas and words come from, so while we can be original in our approaches or conclusions, it is okay to build upon the thoughts and words of others so long as we cite them properly.

I have learned that it is even more helpful in my own understanding of how my thoughts have been shaped if I reference where these ideas come from because it allows me to see how my thought process has been directed and by whom. It also compels me to look for contrasting views and to try to balance them, which can be done more easily if one seeks to properly reference and represent the views of others. Doing so opens the door for real originality, in my opinion.

Thus, my strategy in improving my skills in APA concepts is to take advantage of the tools offered by the APA style as a way of building a support for my own perspective and giving myself a powerful framework for my own research and insights. The resources I would use to improve my skills would be, of course, the APA manual (6th ed.), which gives a guide for how to write for the Behavioral and Social Sciences as well as a guide for how to credit sources.

These are exceptional point-by-point tools that I can use to hone my skills as both writer and researcher. Not only can I find here how to cite journal articles, books, Internet sources, films, etc., I can also learn which are most pertinent to the type of research I will be conducting as well as what will be the acceptable standard for the field in which I seek to establish myself (American Psychological Association, 2010).

I would use the APA manual as a reference for any time that I want to include a source but am not familiar with the medium, or any time I need a refresher on how to format a paper. Walden University is also helpful in providing a friendly, user base from which to access academic support. Sometimes it is necessary to get help from a person who has been there before (especially when you have a question that even the manual has failed to think of -- though.