A Beginner's Guide to Library Research

The following definition of plagiarism can be found in the University of Winnipeg Academic Misconduct Policy:

“Plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty in which students present published or unpublished work (written, digital, or other) of another person or persons, or one’s own prior work, in its entirety or in part, as their own original work.”

Every student is expected to produce work that follows the rules of academic integrity, so avoiding plagiarism is a fundamental skill in university. To be clear, you will generally be expected to use other people’s ideas to support the points in your paper, but the source of every idea that isn’t your own needs to be cited in a suitable format.

There are two ways that plagiarism can happen: intentionally and unintentionally. We’ll talk about each here.

Intentional Plagiarism

With the abundance of information available online, it’s incredibly easy to take credit for something you didn’t write, if that’s your intention. However, simply copying information from a website or blog and pasting it into your paper without crediting the source is considered plagiarism. Add this to the act of getting someone (or paying them) to write your paper for you, which is clearly unethical, and you have an idea of how intentional plagiarism happens.

As easy as it is, though, it’s also very easy to detect. If you plagiarize something, your professor only needs to do a couple of simple Google searches to figure it out. Also, in recent years years, professors have started using software programs (e.g. Turnitin) to detect how original their students’ work is, so catching plagiarizers has also become much easier.

Unintentional Plagiarism

Plagiarism can also happen by accident. This usually results from sloppy note-taking or by writing your paper in a rush. Even if you accidentally use another person’s idea without credit, you are still plagiarizing them. Also, most students don’t realize it’s possible to plagiarize yourself, by using your own published ideas without citation.

Basically, any idea that comes from a source (books, articles, websites, videos, previous papers, etc.) needs to be cited.

There can be serious penalties for plagiarism (again, see the Academic Misconduct Policy). It isn’t worth it to try, and taking the time to properly cite and reference your sources isn’t too difficult once you get in the habit.

Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism

• Don’t procrastinate.
• Create a reference for all your sources, in the format outlined by your prof.
• Take detailed notes as your read each source, noting the page numbers for each idea.
• Paraphrase major points and indicate if an idea is a direct quote.
• In your paper, properly cite all the ideas from your sources.
• Create a bibliography or works cited, including references for all your sources.

It's your responsibility to keep your sources organized and to cite them correctly in your paper. Modern students enjoy the convenience of using online reference managers to make this process easier. The library provides access to a reference manager called Refworks. You can create an account and use this tool to organize your readings, share them within a group, and automatically generate bibliographies.

Refworks Sign-up/Login

Exporting to Refworks

Most library search tools and databases will include an option to cite or export references. Each interface is different, so be on the look-out for Export, Share, or Refworks links. The process is generally straightforward, but if you need assistance, consult this page or contact the library.

Adding References to Folders

It’s a good idea to keep your sources organized in relevant folders. You can create a folder using the button near the top of the screen. To add a reference, select it by checking the box, then hover over the add to folder icon and select the desired folder. You can access your folders from the left-hand menu.

Staying Organized

Continue adding any interesting or relevant sources you find. Having these sources organized in your account will come in handy later on when you begin reading, note-taking, and eventually writing your paper.