Warning Signs & Prevention

To avoid plagiarism, it helps to understand the warning signs. The scenarios in this section illustrate some of the common situations that can lead to trouble. Stress and poor time management can result in sloppy work and perhaps even trigger a last-minute decision to cheat. A lack of information about the best way to cite sources is another source of confusion. For international students, sometimes plagiarism is the result of confusion about American conventions for documenting sources. Patchworking, or simply rearranging what someone else has written, is a form of plagiarism that might be tempting for students who are having difficulty understanding the material.