The bedford researcher chapter 7 summary

William Hoffmann
English 102
4/21/14

The Bedford Researcher Chapter 7 Summary

        A writer should avoid plagiarism at all costs when writing a research paper, however sometimes plagiarism is unintentional. Many of the basic ways to prevent plagiarism is to surround sentences/phrases in quotation marks or include a paraphrase that differs in sentence structure from the original passage. Citing sources is a type of research ethic. Having a good research ethic can lead up to minimal or no problems is a research paper. Good ethics include acknowledging a source by citing it properly and accurately represent the information. However, sometimes you wont need to cite a source because it is just common knowledge, knowledge in which most people know about. You can assume information is common knowledge if many sites do not cite it. 

       Plagiarism often occurs because the writer did not take good notes. Taking good notes includes: surrounding quotations with quotation marks, avoiding making summaries, including publication information, and double-checking. Also identifying everything you get from a source is a good idea otherwise someone like an instructor might get suspicious. There are many reasons why plagiarism happens such as students saying: I ran out of time, its easier to copy, I'm no good at writing, I didn't think I would get caught, or I hate this course. Regardless of what the issue is, citing your sources not only gives you a better grade but also saves you time from going back and finding those sources again.