Intentional and Unintentional Plagiarism

     Plagiarism can be both intentional and unintentional.  The most obvious intentional plagiarism is when a student deliberately uses someone else work by either copying or paying for the content.  In addition, in intentional plagiarism a student may submit their own previously written work as new content for another class or the student may make up references.  With intentional plagiarism, the student is deliberate in using someone else's information without giving them credit or having permission to do so.

      In unintentional plagiarism, a student may not realize they are plagiarizing.  This may include either not citing or referencing in a written piece or not using the correct APA style format to include all the elements required when citing or referencing.   To avoid unintentional plagiarism, it is important to know and understand how to use APA style formatting (American Psychological Association, 2010).  To become familiar with APA style formatting, there are so many resources to help you.  I recommend viewing a video called APA Style: Basics of APA (APA.org, 2010) listed below in the references.   What is important is to be be aware of APA formatting to help you avoid plagiarizing unintentionally. 

References

American Psychological Association. (2010).  Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.).   Washington, DC.

APA.org (2012).  APA Style: Basics of APA. Style Retrieved from http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/index.htm