You will plagiarize if you pass of the work of others as your own. If you don’t show clearly where you have found the information you are using, you can be accused of plagiarism. This applies to published and unpublisheds works and even ideas. You must show where in your text you use the materials of others, it’s not enough to only add a source in the list of references. To avoid unintentional plagiarism, it is important that you make clear references to your sources, whether you make a direct quote from a source, or if you write a paraphrase in your own words.
When you paraphrase a text, it is important that you use your own words. If your paraphrase is too close to the original text, it is plagiarism. Also remember that you plagiarize if you include a quote that is several pages long, even if you name the source.
Your own texts from previous courses are also considered to be sources. If you don’t quote or paraphrase them correctly, with a reference, it is self-plagiarism.
Already from the beginning of your work you should make sure that you note which sources you use and where in the text you need to add a reference to a source.
Watch a film about plagiarism from the SLU University Library.
Refero is a web based guide which was developed to help you, as a student, to understand what plagiarism means. You also get tips on how you can quote and paraphrase correctly, in order to avoid plagiarizing.
You can read more about copyright here in the Writing guide.