Communications Research Guide

Plagiarism is defined in the Texas A&M University-San Antonio's Student Handbook (November 2017) as:

"Plagiarism - The act of passing off some other person’s ideas, words, or work as one’s own. Examples include, but are not limited to, (1) The use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without acknowledgement, documentation or citation; (2) The unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials."

These websites below offer ways to better understand plagiarism and how to avoid it:

Communications courses may use a variety of citation styles. Consult your instructor about the style they feel is appropriate for assignments.

American Political Science Association (APSA) Style:

• Style Manual for Political Science

How to Use the APSA Style:

• Introduction to the APSA Style (University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center)
• Using the APSA Format  (Texas A&M University Libraries)

American Psychological Association (APA) Style:

• APA Style

How to Use the APA Style:

• The Purdue Online Writing Lab [OWL] 
• U. of Illinois Center for Writing Studies - APA 
• APA Style Aid (Western Oregon University)

American Sociological Association (ASA) Style:

• ASA Quick Style Guide

How to Use the ASA Style:

• ASA Format (Cal State-Los Angeles)
• ASA Style (State University-Buffalo)
• Purdue OWL: Formatting in Sociology (Purdue University)

Chicago Style:

• The Chicago Manual of Style Online
• Citing the Internet and Electronic Information Sources (St. Norbert's College)

Turabian Style:

• Turabian Quick Guide
• Citing the Internet and Electronic Information Sources (St. Norbert's College)

How to Use Chicago/Turabian Styles:

• Chicago Style Guide: Notes System (University of Maryland)
• Turabian Footnote/Endnote Style (Georgetown University)
• Using Chicago Style (University of Texas-El Paso)
• The Writer's Handbook: Chicago Documentation Style (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Turnitin is an online service that checks for similarities between your writing and that of others. It is used as a way to detect possible plagiarism. If your professor is using turnitin, you will submit your papers to turnitin in Blackboard. For more information, please refer to the TurnItIn Tools and Resources page on the Academic Technologies website.