Copyright and Plagiarism

Copyright: A law protecting the intellectual property of individuals, giving them exclusive rights over the distribution and reproduction of that material.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the “wrongful appropriation” and “stealing and publication” of another author’s “language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions” and the representation of them as one’s own original work.
A bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item. Citations should supply detail to identify the item uniquely. A “citation” is the way you tell your readers that certain material in your work came from another source. It also gives your readers the information necessary to find that source again, including:

  • information about the author
  • the title of the work
  • the name and location of the company that published your copy of the source
  • the date your copy was published
  • the page numbers of the material you are borrowing

Citation content can vary depending on the type of source and may include: Book: author(s), book title, publisher, date of publication, and page number(s) if appropriate. Journal: author(s), article title, journal title, date of publication, and page number(s).

APA:  http://www.apastyle.org/index.aspx?_ga=1.57487082.178039789.1457950149
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States, with more than 122,500 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and student as its members.
APA Style rules and guidelines are found in the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
APA Style consists of rules or guidelines that a publisher observes to ensure clear and consistent presentation of written material. It concerns uniform use of such elements as:
selection of headings, tone, and length;
punctuation and abbreviations;
presentation of numbers and statistics;
construction of tables and figures,
citation of references; and
Many other elements that are a part of a manuscript.

MLA:  https://www.mla.org/MLA-Style
The Modern Language Association of America provides opportunities for its members to share their scholarly findings and teaching experiences with colleagues and to discuss trends in the academy.
MLA style for documentation is widely used in the humanities, especially in writing on language and literature. Generally simpler and more concise than other styles, MLA style features brief parenthetical citations in the text keyed to an alphabetical list of works cited that appears at the end of the work.
The MLA publishes two authoritative explanations of MLA style:
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
Aimed at college and high school students, the Handbook offers a comprehensive guide to research, writing, and documentation.
MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing
Aimed at graduate students, scholars, and professional writers, the Style Manual offers guidance on writing and documentation, the publishing process, and legal issues related to publishing.

Chicago Manual of Style: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
The Chicago Manual of Style is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. Its sixteen editions have prescribed writing and citation styles widely used in publishing.
The Chicago Manual of Style presents two basic documentation systems:
Notes and bibliography
Author-date.
Choosing between the two often depends on subject matter and the nature of sources cited, as each system is favored by different groups of scholars.
Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) 
The Purdue University Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) assist clients in their development as writers—no matter what their skill level—with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue OWL offers global support through online reference materials and services.
For written assignments and other works one can refer the The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University –
Style Guides:
APA Style
MLA Style
Chicago Manual 16th Edition

Free Reference Management Software

Zotero: https://www.zotero.org/
Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organizes, cite, and share your research sources.
Zotero collects all your research in a single, searchable interface. You can add PDFs, images, audio and video files, snapshots of web pages, and really anything else. Zotero automatically indexes the full-text content of your library, enabling you to find exactly what you’re looking for with just a few keystrokes.

Mendeley: https://www.mendeley.com/
Mendeley is a free reference manager, academic social network, web program for managing and sharing research papers, discovering research data and collaborating online. One can generate citations and bibliography in the style of their choice. Also one can search and sort the references, documents and notes in one place.