Plagiarism is a difficult topic for tutors and clients alike at any writing center. We understand that writers can often come to an assignment with the best of intentions and still have difficulty knowing when and how to properly cite your sources.

Perhaps the best advice we can give is to KEEP TRACK of your sources and KNOW THEM WELL. The Writing Center offers three Research Paper workshops each semester and also offers those workshops as Powerpoint files here:

• Evaluating, Documenting, and Citing Resources
• Quoting, Summarizing, and Paraphrasing Resources
• Creating and Sustaining a Thesis

In addition to the resources at the George Mason University Writing Center, there are several links that may be of help to students trying to do a better job of properly using source material:

• George Mason University's Definition of Plagiarism - The Honor Code
• George Mason Composition Department Policy on Plagiarism
• Turnitin at Mason: Plagiarism Resources and Online Tutorials
• University of Southern Mississippi Plagiarism Tutorial
• The St. Martin's Tutorial on Avoiding Plagiarism (you will be prompted to create an account, but this is free and worth the time)
• Goucher College: Plagiarism-by-Paraphrase Risk Quiz, which includes discipline-specific quizzes
• Washington State University Plagiarism Site, which includes a section on cultural differences regarding what counts as plagiarism
• Simon Fraser University's Paraphrasing Vs. Patchwriting Tutorial, which clears up the difference between paraphrase and a very common form of plagiarism