Avoiding Plagiarism: Plagiarism Checklist
Use this checklist to help try to avoid plagiarising
1. Is the information that you are using common knowledge?
□ Yes □ Don't Know No □
- If Yes, then OK (but are you sure that it is common knowledge?), you don’t need to cite it
- If Don't Know if it's common knowledge, then err on the side of caution and cite your sources
- If No, then you need to cite your sources
2. Is what you have written taken from your own ideas, thoughts and opinions?
□ Yes □ No
- If Yes, then ok. If it what you have written is your own original material, then you don’t need to cite it
- If No, then you need to cite the sources of what you have written
3. Have you used someone else’s material (i.e., material that is NOT your own work) anywhere in your work?
□ Yes □ No
- If Yes, then you need to cite ALL the sources of the material that you use
- If No, then OK (but wouldn’t your work be improved by using other people’s work to support your own?)
4. Have you put quotation marks around all material copied directly from another source?
□ Yes □ No
- If Yes, then ok
- If No, then you need to make sure you use quotation marks to mark everything that you have copied directly
5. Do you have in-text citations for every direct quotation from another source?
□ Yes □ No
- If Yes, then ok
- If No, then you need to make sure you cite the source of each and every quotation
6. Do direct quotations of other people’s work make up more than 10% of your work?
□ Yes □ No
7. Is your paraphrase of someone's work in your own voice and not the author’s voice and has used your own words and sentence structure?
□ Yes □ No
8. Does your summary of someone's work only use your words?
□ Yes □ No
- If Yes, then ok
- If No, then you need to go back and revise the summary to remove the author's words
9. Do you have an in-text citation for every quote, paraphrase and summary of someone else’s work?
□ Yes □ No
- If Yes, then ok
- If No, you need to make sure you have an in-text citation EVERY time that you refer to someone else’s work, even if you're paraphrasing or summarising it in your own words
10. Does your list of references include all the sources you have mentioned (as in-text citations) in your paper?
□ Yes □ No
- If Yes, then ok
- If No, then you need to make sure that ALL the sources that you mention in your work (as in-text citations) are listed in your references section
Plagiarism Checklist
- Downloadable version of this page in Word format
Plagiarism checklist adapted from Checklist for Avoiding Plagiarism by Erin K. Elgin Kirkwood Community College Library
