Obligations

The beauty of writing is, when done right, that something new is brought to the table: a new idea, a new insight, a new way of think of a situation. Writing is not regurgitating facts, but rather take the things we know and the things we’ve learned from research and see what we can add to the subject. With today’s technology, access to information is literally at the tip of our fingers. Because it is so easy to find other people’s work, we can learn more, think deeper, and then share our insights through writing.

When constructing a research paper, students are encouraged to read what others have written on their subject to get a better understanding and to form an educated opinion to argue. As readers, we expect the writers to give us accurate information and have enough background information to understand their argument. As we find sources for our own research, we also expect authors to cite their sources so we can evaluate the credibility. What we as readers expect from the writers, we need to incorporate into our writing. It is our duty as we utilize previous research to give credit where credit is due for the authors’ sake and for our readers as well.

What we read will influence what we write, whether we want to include it or information we want to avoid. If we find a good source to quote, or good ideas from other authors, it is important that we give them credit for the work that they did. By incorporating ideas, phrases, or entire sentences from someone’s work without the proper credit given is stealing and morally wrong. When we were applying to this university, we agreed to live by the honor code which demands high standards of living in all aspects of its students lives. While paraphrasing someone else’s work may not seem like a serious sin, it is taking credit for another person’s hard work. As BYU students, as writers in the making, it is our obligation as we add to the writing world to give credit where credit is due.