"250 - 300 word essay on plagiarism in apa format/style" - starting the essay

direction: You are to write a 250 - 300 word essay on plagiarism. You will use: library.csun.edu/Research_Assistance/plagiarism.html to access the information on plagiarism as one source, and as a second source, you will use owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html. Each of these sites has information on what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. The essay you will write should demonstrate that you understand the major concepts that the essays discuss. The essay will also demonstrate your ability to present information clearly and coherently and to put together information from different sources (without plagiarizing, of course). If you quote directly from any of these articles, you should put the name of the university and page number of the quoted passage in parentheses immediately after the quotation. You should not quote directly more than two or three times in the essay. This should be in your own words. You do not need to do any other referencing or footnoting (NO works cited or reference page) for this essay. You may only use these two sources as references for your essay. This essay will be graded with the following criteria in mind:

Accuracy. The information should be accurate. You will need to read
sure you understand them completely before writing this essay.
Completeness. Readers of your essay should understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it after reading your essay. In an essay this short, you will not be able to say everything there is to say about the subject. But you should be able to present the major concepts.

Efficiency. You should edit and/or rewrite your essay so that every word counts. Every word and phrase should help in the development of your ideas or contribute new information to the essay. If it does not, you should edit it out.

Precision. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation rules should be applied correctly.

i have never written a 250 - 300 word essay in apa format/style. does it have to have an introduction, body, and conclusion or is it just 1 long paragraph?

for the essay, i was going to start it off with what plagiarism is and what to do when citing sources. would that be good? what are your opinions?

You should google apa style guide, that will clear this up for you. But all you have to do is have an intro paragraph, a body, and conclusion paragraph. Breaking it up like that will make it easier to deal with than one long paragraph.

As long as you make sure to follow the directions, it'll be fine!

i'm not done with this essay. i was wondering if this is a good start (it's been awhile since i have written anything.) this essay has to be in apa format.

Plagiarism is using work that don't belong to you and passing it as your own without citing the source. Depending on where you live, using someone's work without citing could get you in trouble. For example, in USA schools, if a student plagiarize his/her paper, than the student will be reported and would receive a fail for the course and will be in his/her academic records. In order to avoid been accuse of plagiarizing, we learn to properly cite sources in documents and making a reference page.

Plagiarism is using work that don 't does not belong to you and passing it as your own without citing the source.------- this is clear, but is it what you want as your first sentence? the first sentence should capture the reader's attention?

Start with something thoughtful...
When someone steals physical property, you might be able to get it back, but when someone steals intellectual property -- ideas -- it is a more complicated issue. This essay is intended to give an overview of plagiarism and all that it entails....

english has always been very hard for me. this apa format is a little confusing for me. i have already read up on what it is and still don't get it. i read on some sites that there has to be an abstruct page and on some other sites to use it only when it is applicable. do i have to write an abstruct page or just go directly into the main body or write both the abstruct page and main body?

Well the abstract is easy. Write it after you finish writing the essay.

As for whether or not to include one, I think you might as well include it. The way to know for sure is to ask the professor, but of course it can't help to include one.

As for what apa style is, think of it as a practice of simply adding a name and publication year at the end of sentences that express facts you got from other people's writing (Cresswell, 2008).

And one APA authority says, "Always include the page number if you quote someone directly" (Cresswell, 2008, p. 17)

The above is just an example; Cresswell did not actually say that exact sentence.

But anyway, I hope that helps! Sometimes APA is used with an abstract and sometimes without. I think you should use one. It's easy! Just describe your paper in >120 words.

i am finish with my essay. not even sure if i did it correctly though. i am really worry if i did the apa format/style correctly and follow the assignment. please let me know if i did the apa format/style correctly. (i hope my professor don't read this. this assignment is due on this friday, jan. 29, 2010) this has to be in apa format/style. the title of the essay is in bold.

Plagiarism is Never a Good Thing
Plagiarism is using work that don't belong to you and passing it as your own without citing the source. Depending on where you live, using someone's work without citing could get you in trouble. For example, in USA schools, if a student plagiarize his/her paper, than the student will be reported and would receive a fail for the course and will be in his/her academic records. In order to avoid been accuse of plagiarizing, we learn to properly cite sources in documents and making a reference page.

The only time we don't need to cite sources is when we use something that is common knowledge, for example you can find the same information or phrase from the internet, television, movies, or excetra. Also, we don't need to cited sources if we use our own created images or notes. To properly cite our sources depends on what sources you use. When quoting from a source for written work, you start a beginning sentence that would lead into a quote that you plan to use in quotation marks. Always make sure that when you summarize or paraphrase a publish work to give a proper sentence that would include the source to avoid been accuse of plagiarizing.

Properly citing sources not only help avoid been accuse of stealing someone else's work but make our written work more reliable. A safe practice went typing up your work on a public computer is to never leave a copy of it on the computer and have prove that the paper written is yours incase anything happens. Never submit the same paper to another professor. Always check your work to make sure that everything is correct by having proper citations and reference page.

References: essayscam.org/truth-plagiarism-detection-tools/

sorry for the double post since i don't see an edit button.
i email my professor and she told me that there is no need for an abstract page.
also, she says that there's no need to write a title page.
my question is on the top of the page, do i have to include title of my essay on the left side ( if so, does it need to have the words running head: title of essay or just the title of essay) and on the right side the page number? how should i should i set up the top with my name and stuff?

something like this for the (top of) first page
running head: PLAGIARISM IS NEVER A GOOD THING page number

Name
Date
Professor
University

Plagiarism is Never a Good Thing

blah blah blah (essay goes here)