However, when building on the work of others, you need to be careful not to plagiarize: “to steal and pass off (the ideas and words of another) as one’s own” or to “present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.”1 The University of Wisconsin–Madison takes this act of “intellectual burglary” very seriously and considers it to be a breach of academic integrity. Penalties are severe.
These materials will help you avoid plagiarism by teaching you how to properly integrate information from published sources into your own writing.
Specific words and phrases
If you use an author’s specific word or words, you must place those words within quotation marks and you must credit the source.
Information and Ideas
Even if you use your own words, if you obtained the information or ideas you are presenting from a source, you must document the source.
Information: If a piece of information isn’t common knowledge (see below), you need to provide a source.
