Imagine these scenarios:

• You've come up with a funny joke and posted it to social media. You don't have thousands of followers, and it doesn't spread very far. Then, an influencer picks up your joke and posts it on their feed and it goes viral. You did all the work to create something, but someone else is claiming it as their own. How would you feel?
• You're going to the doctor and find out that they had plagiarized work for their degree. Instead of doing the work themselves, they copied other people's work. Would you want to see that doctor?

These are both extreme examples, but they illustrate the importance of using information in an ethical manner. Doing your own work, and giving other people credit for the work that they have done, is very important.

When you do research, think of it like joining a conversation. Other people have researched the topic before you, and you are contributing to that with your own work. Bringing separate voices together in your paper, and adding your own voice, is a worthwhile contribution. By including citations, you:

• show your readers that you have read about the topic, and know what you're talking about
• show your readers where you got your information, so they can find your sources and read them themselves
• acknowledge the work of the researchers that came before you

All of this adds to your credibility as a responsible writer and user of information.

Plagiarism is also against Chesapeake College's Student Code of Conduct, and being found guilty of it can have academic consequences.

All images used in this Guide are from Pixabay, and may be used without attribution per the Pixabay license.