{"id":242,"date":"2023-09-19T20:10:25","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T20:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/businesscommunication\/chapter\/avoiding-plagiarism\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T17:48:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T17:48:14","slug":"avoiding-plagiarism","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/businesscommunication\/chapter\/avoiding-plagiarism\/","title":{"raw":"Learn It 4.5.2 Ethical Use of Information","rendered":"Learn It 4.5.2 Ethical Use of Information"},"content":{"raw":"<h2>Avoiding Plagiarism<\/h2>\r\n<section class=\"textbox keyTakeaway\">\r\n<h3>plagiarism<\/h3>\r\n<p>Plagiarism is the act of using someone else's work or ideas without giving them proper credit, presenting it as if it were your own.<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<p>Incidents of plagiarism and other ethical violations are unfortunately common, both in and out of our work environments.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>Both intentional and unintentional plagiarism are problems, and you should do everything you can to keep them from happening.\u00a0As the UNSW Sydney\u2019s page for their current students describes, \u201cmost incidents of plagiarism are the product not of deliberate cheating, but of underdeveloped academic skills.\u201d[footnote]\"How Does Plagiarism Happen?\" <em>UNSW Sydney<\/em>. Web. 18 June 2018. https:\/\/student.unsw.edu.au\/how-does-plagiarism-happen[\/footnote] Often the problem isn't with the ethical standing of the author but with something else, such as lack of time, lack of clear notes, and lack of understanding of proper referencing.<\/p>\r\n<section class=\"textbox proTip\">\r\n<p>Three rules for avoiding plagiarism:<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you even suspect the idea is someone else\u2019s, take the time to go back through notes, Google, or other reputable sources, and search for the author.<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Allow enough time to plan, write, and revise your reports.<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are not sure of authorship, consider using other evidence or sources to articulate your idea.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<p>There are, however, very few things that don't require attributions: scientific or mathematical equations and \"common knowledge.\" You don't have to provide a citation if you include the equation E = mc<sup>2<\/sup>, but you do need to attribute a quote that explains the history of the equation's discovery. You don't have to provide a citation if you include the fact that gravity exists, but you do need to provide a citation for a study that discusses how gravity impacts astronauts on the International Space Station.<\/p>\r\n<h2 style=\"position: static !important;\">Documenting and Citing Sources<\/h2>\r\n<p>Proper citation of sources is essential to avoiding plagiarism or copyright violations. There are several <strong>citation styles<\/strong> used for academic writing:<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/owl.excelsior.edu\/citation-and-documentation\/apa-style\/\">American Psychological Association (APA) style<\/a>, commonly used for psychology and social sciences<\/li>\r\n\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/owl.excelsior.edu\/citation-and-documentation\/mla-style\/\">Modern Language Association (MLA) style<\/a>, commonly used in the humanities<\/li>\r\n\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/owl.excelsior.edu\/citation-and-documentation\/chicago-style\/\">The Chicago Manual of Style<\/a>, also used in the humanities<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>When doing writing for school, always check with the instructor for the citation style that they want you to use.<\/p>\r\n<p>While academic writing requires a proper citation in accordance with generally agreed-upon rules, business writing might not need to be so precise. The intention of attribution and not taking credit for someone else\u2019s work is still necessary in business writing. However, the form of the citation will be determined by your organization and may not follow the above citation styles exactly.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>Style and visual considerations are often important for business writing as well. Business reports might use footnotes or citations in a smaller font so as not to distract from the main text and graphics. This is reasonable for the type of document.<\/p>\r\n<p>The key here is proper attribution and doing it in a manner that conforms with the visual and general use of your sources. The closer to academic work you are, the more precise and formal it needs to be. If, however, you worked for something like a startup or a smaller company, overly formal and precise citations might not be required. Use your best judgment and always ask if you are unsure.<\/p>\r\n<section class=\"textbox tryIt\">[ohm2_question height=\"500\"]14731[\/ohm2_question][ohm2_question height=\"500\"]14732[\/ohm2_question][ohm2_question height=\"500\"]14733[\/ohm2_question]<\/section>","rendered":"<h2>Avoiding Plagiarism<\/h2>\n<section class=\"textbox keyTakeaway\">\n<h3>plagiarism<\/h3>\n<p>Plagiarism is the act of using someone else&#8217;s work or ideas without giving them proper credit, presenting it as if it were your own.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>Incidents of plagiarism and other ethical violations are unfortunately common, both in and out of our work environments.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Both intentional and unintentional plagiarism are problems, and you should do everything you can to keep them from happening.\u00a0As the UNSW Sydney\u2019s page for their current students describes, \u201cmost incidents of plagiarism are the product not of deliberate cheating, but of underdeveloped academic skills.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;How Does Plagiarism Happen?&quot; UNSW Sydney. Web. 18 June 2018. https:\/\/student.unsw.edu.au\/how-does-plagiarism-happen\" id=\"return-footnote-242-1\" href=\"#footnote-242-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a> Often the problem isn&#8217;t with the ethical standing of the author but with something else, such as lack of time, lack of clear notes, and lack of understanding of proper referencing.<\/p>\n<section class=\"textbox proTip\">\n<p>Three rules for avoiding plagiarism:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you even suspect the idea is someone else\u2019s, take the time to go back through notes, Google, or other reputable sources, and search for the author.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Allow enough time to plan, write, and revise your reports.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are not sure of authorship, consider using other evidence or sources to articulate your idea.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<p>There are, however, very few things that don&#8217;t require attributions: scientific or mathematical equations and &#8220;common knowledge.&#8221; You don&#8217;t have to provide a citation if you include the equation E = mc<sup>2<\/sup>, but you do need to attribute a quote that explains the history of the equation&#8217;s discovery. You don&#8217;t have to provide a citation if you include the fact that gravity exists, but you do need to provide a citation for a study that discusses how gravity impacts astronauts on the International Space Station.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"position: static !important;\">Documenting and Citing Sources<\/h2>\n<p>Proper citation of sources is essential to avoiding plagiarism or copyright violations. There are several <strong>citation styles<\/strong> used for academic writing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/owl.excelsior.edu\/citation-and-documentation\/apa-style\/\">American Psychological Association (APA) style<\/a>, commonly used for psychology and social sciences<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/owl.excelsior.edu\/citation-and-documentation\/mla-style\/\">Modern Language Association (MLA) style<\/a>, commonly used in the humanities<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/owl.excelsior.edu\/citation-and-documentation\/chicago-style\/\">The Chicago Manual of Style<\/a>, also used in the humanities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When doing writing for school, always check with the instructor for the citation style that they want you to use.<\/p>\n<p>While academic writing requires a proper citation in accordance with generally agreed-upon rules, business writing might not need to be so precise. The intention of attribution and not taking credit for someone else\u2019s work is still necessary in business writing. However, the form of the citation will be determined by your organization and may not follow the above citation styles exactly.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Style and visual considerations are often important for business writing as well. Business reports might use footnotes or citations in a smaller font so as not to distract from the main text and graphics. This is reasonable for the type of document.<\/p>\n<p>The key here is proper attribution and doing it in a manner that conforms with the visual and general use of your sources. The closer to academic work you are, the more precise and formal it needs to be. If, however, you worked for something like a startup or a smaller company, overly formal and precise citations might not be required. Use your best judgment and always ask if you are unsure.<\/p>\n<section class=\"textbox tryIt\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ohm14731\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/ohm.one.lumenlearning.com\/multiembedq.php?id=14731&theme=lumen&iframe_resize_id=ohm14731&source=tnh&show_question_numbers\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\"><\/iframe><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ohm14732\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/ohm.one.lumenlearning.com\/multiembedq.php?id=14732&theme=lumen&iframe_resize_id=ohm14732&source=tnh&show_question_numbers\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\"><\/iframe><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ohm14733\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/ohm.one.lumenlearning.com\/multiembedq.php?id=14733&theme=lumen&iframe_resize_id=ohm14733&source=tnh&show_question_numbers\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\"><\/iframe><\/section>\n<hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-242-1\">\"How Does Plagiarism Happen?\" <em>UNSW Sydney<\/em>. Web. 18 June 2018. https:\/\/student.unsw.edu.au\/how-does-plagiarism-happen <a href=\"#return-footnote-242-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":9,"menu_order":25,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Avoiding Plagiarism; Documenting and Citing Sources\",\"author\":\"Freedom Learning Group\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"copyrighted_video\",\"description\":\"10 Famous Cases of PLAGIARISM\",\"author\":\"MatthewSantoro\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/hDnN9TeN65E\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"arr\",\"license_terms\":\"Standard YouTube License\"}]","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"part":191,"module-header":"learn_it","content_attributions":[{"type":"original","description":"Avoiding Plagiarism; Documenting and Citing Sources","author":"Freedom Learning Group","organization":"Lumen Learning","url":"","project":"","license":"cc-by","license_terms":""},{"type":"copyrighted_video","description":"10 Famous Cases of PLAGIARISM","author":"MatthewSantoro","organization":"","url":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/hDnN9TeN65E","project":"","license":"arr","license_terms":"Standard YouTube License"}],"internal_book_links":[],"video_content":null,"cc_video_embed_content":{"cc_scripts":"","media_targets":[]},"try_it_collection":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/businesscommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/businesscommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/businesscommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/businesscommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/businesscommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5107,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/businesscommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/242\/revisions\/5107"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/businesscommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/191"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/businesscommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/242\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/businesscommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/businesscommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=242"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/businesscommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=242"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/businesscommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}