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Citation Guide

A guide to citation styles and ethics, with tools to help organize and cite your sources.

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is using other people's ideas or words as your own without properly giving credit to the original author. Sometime plagiarism is unintentional, but is still considered academic dishonesty.

What is plagiarism?

  • Using ideas, quotes, or paraphrasing from the original text without citing the source.
  • Paraphrasing a portion of the original text using the same sentence structure.
  • Paraphrasing a portion of the original text using words that are not your own.

What can you do to avoid plagiarism?

  • Become familiar with appropriate citation practices and styles (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.) used by different academic disciplines.
  • Try a citation management tool such as Zotero or Mendeley to keep track of the sources you're using.
  • Not sure if you've fully processed an idea? Ask your professor, a writing tutor, or a librarian.

For more on academic honesty and ethical research, review the Academic Honor Code.

Is Using Generative AI Ethical?

The use of Generative AI such as ChatGPT, Scribe, Bard, Dall-E, Synthesia, Copilot, etc., introduces a range of new ethical questions. At Loyola, you should only use Generative AI tools with permission from your instructor, and in doing so, clearly note which content has been generated by AI and which content represents your own work, ideas, and creativity.

Using Generative AI in your work without permission or disclosure is considered a breach of academic integrity and possibly plagiarism.

The ethical implications of Generative AI go beyond simple plagiarism. These tools may also be damaging to the environment and harmful to workers. Before you make a decision on if and when to use AI tools, educate yourself on how these tools function and what impacts they have on our communities.

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