Final answer:
Plagiarism can be avoided by properly summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting the original text and including formatted citations. Summarizing condenses the main points, paraphrasing restates ideas in your own words, and quoting uses the original text verbatim; all require proper attribution.
Step-by-step explanation:
Plagiarism is the act of using someone else’s words or ideas without proper attribution. To avoid plagiarism, summarizing, quoting, and paraphrasing must all be done with careful documentation of the original source. Summarizing involves condensing the main points of someone else's work into a shorter form while keeping the original message intact. When summarizing, it is essential to convey the general idea without copying the exact language and to cite the original source. To paraphrase means to restate someone else’s ideas in your own words, aiming for a similar length and a faithful reflection of the source’s intent, and also requires proper citation. Quoting, on the other hand, involves reproducing an excerpt from the original text word for word within quotation marks and is accompanied by a citation to the original source. Effective summarization, paraphrasing, and quoting enable you to weave research into your work without losing your own voice and without committing plagiarism.
Examples of Summarization, Paraphrasing, and Quoting
- Summarization: Present the overarching points in your own words and provide a citation.
- Paraphrasing: Rewrite the idea in your own language, maintaining the depth of the original content, and cite the source.
- Quoting: Use the original text verbatim, enclose it in quotation marks, and cite the source.