Sometimes people will substitute one or more words in a sentence or longer section of another person’s work which retains the original author’s sentence structure, organization of thoughts and ideas without proper attribution of the work borrowed. This is called paraphrasing and is widely regarded as a form of plagiarism. It is not an acceptable practice in the science and engineering professions.
Summary of Useful Guidelines for Writing
- Always use your own words when you write;
- If you must use someone else’s words, place them within quotation marks and cite the original work in your bibliography; and
- When you write about facts that are the ideas or work of others, cite, cite, cite!