Am I plagiarising?

[Z]

I followed the instruction of how to write a scientific report, so basically I read the textbook slides and videos and took notes,then close the notes and write the report. The problem is that now I can’t distinguish which parts are my own words and which are what I memorised from the books/videos. Would this be counted as plagiarism? Or should I put in-text citation for all of those parts that I’m not sure?

[Simon]

Let’s separate out two different things:

1. the exact wording used by another author

If you really want to repeat this wording, then it must be placed in quotation marks followed by a citation that includes the page number. In general, you should avoid using quotations, because they do not show your own understanding as well as using your own words. The reasons to use a quote is where the precise wording is important in itself – for example, you wish to make a comment about the wording.

2. ideas, facts, concepts, etc that are from another author

This will apply quite widely, of course. The correct thing to do here is to describe the idea in your own words, but use a citation to acknowledge the source of the idea. Try to cite the original source, or at the very least a textbook.

You use the term “memorise”. If you mean “learn and understand the basic ideas, facts, concepts, etc” then this is absolutely fine – this is what you are supposed to do.

But if you mean literally “memorising the wording used by another author” then this is a Very Bad Idea, and not a good way to learn. Aim for understanding and not mere memorisation.

It is better to properly understand a small number of key concepts, than to memorise large amounts of material without understanding.

[Author]

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