Resources

Citation 101

Plagiarism occurs when a writer fails to acknowledge that she has borrowed ideas, words, or structures from someone else. 

Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. Students who commit plagiarism are in violation of the Honor Code, and they may be disciplined by the Honor Code Council.

Whenever you rely on someone else's ideas, argument, research, or language, you must explicitly credit your source. For most of the papers you write at Wellesley, you will need to follow one of the common systems for documenting these sources, such as MLA, APA, Chicago, or CSE.  You'll find guidelines for those systems on the library research guide for citing sources. Students are responsible for knowing what plagiarism is and how to avoid committing it. If you are ever in doubt about whether or how to cite a source, be sure to talk to your professor.

For more information, see the Writing Program's Resources page.

Looking for Help?

Everyone needs help sometimes, so ask for help when you’re in need. Wellesley has an amazing support system that includes:

• Honor Code Council Administrative Coordinator
• The Chief Justice
• Your professors
• Class Deans
• The Pforzheimer Learning and Teaching Center
• The Stone Center
• The Reference Librarians (for citation questions)
• Resident Directors and the ResLife Team
• Peer Tutors
• Honor Code Council Members

The Honor Code challenges you to put trust in the system, people, and especially yourself!