The simplest way to avoid plagiarism is to do the work. Start early on a research assignment, take good notes, and become a master of the material. Before you start to write, review all your notes. When you write, you should be able to type paragraphs at a time without needing to look back through your notes and without consulting your books and articles. If you cannot write more than a sentence or two at a time without going back through your research materials, the result will be that your paper will be one long string of quotations or paraphrases from other authors, rather than your own creation.
Plagiarism is wrong for several reasons.
First, it is the theft of ideas and words from another person. Second, it robs you of training in research, analysis, and writing. If you can t do your own thinking and writing now, you probably won t be able to perform well in a professional career. Third, it will make you feel guilty and deprive you of the justifiable pride you can derive from doing a good job. Fourth, you will always be afraid that someone, somewhere eventually will discover your fraud and make it public.