Trout Library Blog

With the last month of the semester approaching, many of you are likely working on major papers and projects. I thought that this would be a good time to review what plagiarism entails and the importance of citing your sources properly.

Plagiarism is using the words, thoughts, or ideas of someone else without giving credit. It can take many forms and can be intentional or accidental. Below are some guidelines to follow:

• Quoting an author's exact words often strengthens your argument. When you do so, you must provide a citation for the source of those words immediately after the quotation.

• Sometimes you will paraphrase an author's words using your own words and phrasing. You must still provide a citation when you paraphrase in order to avoid plagiarism. So as not to plagiarize accidentally, you should compare your paraphrased writing with the author's exact words to make sure you have not copied phrases or sentences from the author​ without stating that you have done so.

• The original source must be cited even if the borrowed information is used for different purposes from those intended in the original source. If you organize your ideas in the same way in which an author organized his or her ideas, cite the source of the organizational scheme.

• Information drawn from personal communications, speeches, conversations, interviews and other spoken words must be documented with a citation.

• If multiple students write a paper as a collaborative group project, one of the authors cannot submit or reuse the paper for another assignment. Any information borrowed from a paper that you write collaboratively should include citations for the information taken from the original paper.

• Information that is commonly known by the public or the intended readers of a paper does not need to be cited. The general rule is that if you can find the information in at least five separate sources, a citation is not necessary. However, if you are not sure whether an idea is common knowledge, use caution and cite the source.

Five different citation styles are used at Harcum: APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), ASA (American Sociological Association), AMA (American Medical Association), and NLM (National Library of Medicine). APA is generally used in the social sciences with ASA being specific to sociology. MLA would be used in English courses and some of the humanities. MLA and NLM are used in the health sciences.

Typically a brief in-text citation is included at the end of a directly quoted or paraphrased comment in a paper, and a full citation is then listed in the References or Works Cited page at the end of the paper. Each citation format is different in terms of the placement of information as well as the rules regarding the use of italics, punctuation, capitalization, and whether to use a hanging indent. Ask your instructor or consult your syllabus to determine which style to use for your paper.

The Library has print manuals for each style on reserve behind the front desk. You may also consult our Cite Sources library guide for tips and examples. Purdue OWL is another good resource to use for citation help. In addition, we created modules as a non-credit course in Canvas called Information Literacy & Library Resources. These are quick PowerPoint presentations and ungraded quizzes that are available for you in order to review and test your understanding and knowledge of each citation format that Harcum uses. The PowerPoints are also available in the Information Literacy library guide, which you may access under Learning & Teaching on the Library's homepage.

If you have any questions about citations or any other research matter, reach out to us. You may visit us in person during the posted Library hours, send an email to library@harcum.edu, or call us at 610-526-6085. 

There is much to follow in the news these days! Not only is the Russian invasion of Ukraine the biggest land invasion in Europe since World War II, we have midterm elections coming up in the United States this year. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic continues along with its economic repercussions like inflation and supply chain issues. To help you follow the news using quality sources, we encourage everyone to make use of our NewsBank database. News articles, which can be primary sources, also can enhance your research papers.

NewsBank includes full-text articles from more than 8,000 news publications originating in nearly 200 countries worldwide. Publications include major national and international newspapers as well as local and regional titles. NewsBank contains few peer-reviewed sources. Find a link to NewsBank and its subdivisions in our A-Z Databases list. Because NewsBank is a subscription database available only to Harcum students and staff, to access the database from off campus you will need to retrieve the username and password found in the Library Database Password List under Quicklinks in Harcum Hatch.

When you enter NewsBank, you can do a general search by typing your search terms into the box that appears. On the results page, you can apply limiters such as date, geography, and type of publication. Most of the articles in NewsBank come from general newspapers, but you will also find some from newswires, newsletters, college/university newspapers, blogs, and other sources. NewsBank gives you the option to print, save, download or email full-text news articles as well as to create a link. It also has a citation feature that will provide you with the article citation in various formats, including APA, MLA and ASA. (Remember that citations provided in databases can be flawed. If you use the citation feature in NewsBank or any other database, always check the accuracy of the citation using the print manuals, which are on reserve in the Library, the Cite Sources guide on our website, or Purdue OWL.)

NewsBank has a number of special features that can help make your search easier. Beneath the search box on the database's initial page, you will find a series of boxes containing Suggested Topics -- including Business and Economics, Criminal Justice, Education, Environment Studies, Health, Political Science, Science, Social Issues, Sports, and more. Within each category, you will find a large number of selections. Clicking on a selection will produce a search for you on that topic.

On the right-hand side of the page, you will find a link to Hot Topics, which NewsBank updates monthly to provide you with pre-prepared searches on a variety of current issues. The main categories are: Current Events, Business & Economics; Civics, Government & Politics; Social Issues; Science, Technology & Health; Sports, Arts & Literature, and People in the News. In March 2022, the top two searches under Current Events are the Economic Impact of the Russian Invasion and To Loosen or Not Coronavirus Restrictions. Both the Suggested Topics and Hot Topics can provide you with ideas for your paper topics.

NewsBank also provides access to the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Inquirer access goes back to 2018 for a full image of the paper and back to 1981 for text only.  A link to the Inquirer database from NewsBank is provided on our A-Z Databases page as well as in the list of blue buttons to the right of the Suggested Topics. Also among the blue buttons, find a list of Pennsylvania news sources to search, a list of prominent American news magazines, and a link to the Black Life in America database.

For a visual demonstration of how to search NewsBank, consult our video tutorial. Remember that if you have questions about this resource or any others, please don’t hesitate to ask us. You may visit the Library during the hours posted on the Library's homepage, email us at library@harcum.edu, use our chat service, or call us at 610-526-6085.