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Research Tips
Plagiarism
Plagiarism, at the most basic level, is simply an act of academic an intellectual theft, whether intentional or unintentional. When information appears in your writing, any information, which does not originate in your own personal experience, it MUST be cited. Contrary to popular myth, there is no rule stating the number of words a writer may ethically use without citation; the theft of one word still qualifies as stealing, and the instances of plagiarism can effectively be considered the end of the world for graduate student writers. In general, there are three main approaches to deal with information that is not your own:
- Quoting - Easily the simplest form, quoting simply calls for you to place quotation marks around word for word selections taken from another text.
- Summarizing - Rather than taking direct wording from another source, you are summing up the general gist and measure of the material taken from that source.
- Paraphrasing - Potentially the most difficult of these tactics, paraphrasing asks that you recast information from another source using your own wording and interpretation of that material. In order to avoid plagiarism, you absolutely must correctly cite the source in each instance in which ANY of these methods are employed in your work. For further information on avoiding plagiarism, Purdue University's Online Writing Lab is host to one of the best anti-plagiarism sites on the web.
Internal Review Board
An Internal Review Board is a major checkpoint for any research involving human subjects. In order to take your project from the planning phase to execution, the project MUST be reviewed and approved by the IRB. In order to ensure that your project will pass the board, visit the link provided, carefully consider the information provided by Plymouth State University's Internal Review Board, and respond to the questions posted. Your project stands a much better chance of gaining approval if you are careful to pursue unbiased selection and informed consent of your subjects and that you maintain a low and /or reasonable risk to those subjects.
For more information regarding Internal Review Boards and/or federal regulations regarding the human subjects, review part 46 - Protection of Human Subjects of Title 45 (Public Welfare) of the Code of Federal Regulations.
