"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."  

This quote, attributed to Isaac Newton, humbly suggests that those who research and publish never truly work alone.  Which is why, if you stand on the shoulders of a giant, you should acknowledge the giant rather than pretend you are twenty feet tall. 

What steps can you take to ensure that you are not plagiarizing someone's work when writing? As a general rule, if you are quoting or paraphrasing then acknowledge this in your writing by citing to that work. 

For more information, the University of Wisconsin Writing Center has resources for you, from tips on how to avoid plagiarism to examples on how to correctly cite to sources in a scholarly article or paper.

If you would like to check your work by using a free plagiarism tool, here are a few listed below:

Free Plagiarism Tools

• Copyscape – Free Comparison Tool
• Grammarly
• PaperRater
• Plagiarisma
• Plagscan

If you are working with a video or image, you may wish to try a reverse image search tool. 

• Tineye – reverse image search

Submitted by Jenny Zook, Reference Librarian on November 16, 2018

This article appears in the categories: Law Library