JMU Resources
- JMU Honor CouncilThe James Madison University Honor Council is committed to instilling, promoting, and upholding individual and collective academic integrity.
- JMU Writing CenterThe Writing Center offers writers help with all types of writing, including arguments, scholarly articles, fiction and personal narratives, business writing, formatting and citation, grammar and punctuation, and research strategies. We welcome the brainstormer, the procrastinator, the perfectionist, the disorganized, the perplexed, and you.
We empower students, faculty, and staff to develop writing skills and confidence by providing one-to-one consultations, resources, and programming that support and enhance writing across campus. Come see what our team of professional writing consultants, graduate assistants, and peer tutors has to offer:
-Free, individualized writing consultations
-Faculty consultations for designing assignments and for responding to student writing
-Online resources
-Online tutoring for those who have trouble visiting the center
-Computer lab and study space - JMU Learning CentersThe Learning Center houses the following:
-Science and Math Learning Center
-Communication Center
-English Language Learner Services
-University Writing Center
-Peer Assisted Student Sessions
Madison Research Essentials Toolkit
Citation Resources
- Citing SourcesThis guide contains information on how to cite sources in a variety of styles (including MLA and APA) as well as why you should care.
- Excelsior Online Writing LabThis section features instructional videos that show you how to set up your papers in APA, MLA, and Chicago formats, interactive checklists, and visual support for both in-text documenting and referencing at the end of your paper.
- Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue UniversityThe Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.
Avoiding Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of taking another person's writing, conversation, song, or even idea and passing it off as your own. This includes information from web pages, books, songs, television shows, email messages, interviews, articles, artworks or any other medium. Whenever you paraphrase, summarize, or take words, phrases, or sentences from another person's work, it is necessary to indicate the source of the information within your paper using an internal citation. It is not enough to just list the source in a bibliography at the end of your paper. Failing to properly quote, cite or acknowledge someone else's words or ideas with an internal citation is plagiarism.
Once you understand that plagiarism is using another's words/work or ideas and claiming them as your own, you should have an idea how to avoid plagiarising.
Understanding Plagiarism
View the following video from the Madison Research Essentials Toolkit to learn more about the value of information.
Still Unsure?
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Avoiding Plagiarism - University of Wisconsin's Writer's Handbook details paraphrasing and common knowledge.
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Plagiarism - Indiana University's Writing Tutorial Services page shows unacceptable and acceptable paraphrasing.
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How not to Plagiarize - University of Toronto's guide covers many of the frequently asked questions about plagiarism.
Content Credit
Credit for the compilation of select lists of resources is given to the University of Memphis.
Bookshelf
Teaching plagiarism prevention to college students : an ethics-based approach by ISBN: 9781442264403
Stop plagiarism : a guide to understanding and prevention by ISBN: 9781555707163
