THE FIRST STEP TO GOOD WRITING IS MAKING SURE IT'S YOUR OWN!
plagiarism
Using someone else’s words or ideas without giving proper credit—even if you do so unintentionally—is called plagiarism. Plagiarism is dishonest. It is considered intellectual stealing—a serious academic offense. Therefore, the best policy is to be scrupulous about crediting not only direct quotations but also restatements of the original ideas of others. Do not use another person’s phrases or exact sentence structure unless you enclose the material in quotations marks.
Try any of these websites to test your writing for plagiarism. Even if you just want to make sure you are citing sources and using quotes correctly.