Chapter 7 Avoiding Plagiarism

People own words and sentences, who would have thought? Chapter 7 is all about avoiding plagiarism. Plagiarism is one of the worst things you can do in school or as a writer in general. In my opinion I believe there are two reasons for plagiarism. The person doesn't care for numerous reasons, or is to lazy to do their own work or cite correctly. Both of these reasons have probably happened to us all. Back to Chapter 7 summary. Plagiarism is when people copy someone's work and use it as their own. Sometimes it is just an accident. Other times it is because people don't want to work hard and think they will get away with it. Citing sources correctly can be the differences in plagiarism or having a good grade. The two main categories of plagiarism are unintentional and intentional. I believe these both are self explanatory and if not go ahead and re-read above. Chapter 7 then goes on to explain different ways to avoid plagiarism such as checking reference or works cited lists and making sure you include your source on the works cited or reference list, The chapter explains research ethics, which like table manners are something most people should follow. Acknowledgement of the source, fairly and accurately represent the information,, and provide citation information for your sources. The next topic discussed is "what is fair use and when should I ask permission to use a source?" (Palmquist 12). Fair use is the explanation of how much you can use from a given source and what type of material writers can use for different purposes. If you want to use a particular source that is copyrighted you should contact the owner for permission. This all depends on the situation of course. The last two topics in the chapter are how to avoid plagiarism and what you should do if accused. ( I swear I already talked about this, but emphasizing something usually means it's more important) . These steps to avoid plagiarism would be to  include the sources in the text, taking notes more carefully, citing sources in your works cited or reference list, and recognize misconceptions about intentional plagiarism. If you're accused of plagiarism prepare for the situation and ask for a meeting with the accuser. Review the document at the meeting and go over the materials and notes you have created during the time of your document.