Intentional plagiarism takes place when college students buy papers online or copy information out of books, according to collegeboard.com. However, many students commit plagiarism unknowingly because they don't know how to properly cite materials from experts.
College students must often come up with new ideas about topics that have been extensively researched and written about, according to owl.english.purdue.edu. Students must write papers that agree or disagree with the opinions of experts, and by necessity, their opinions sometimes match those of earlier writers.
Some college students unintentionally commit plagiarism by failing to give credit when they paraphrase the ideas of experts, according to collegeboard.com. College students should provide proper citations as dictated by academic standards even when they are not sure they need them.
College students should know the different types of citations. Footnotes, endnotes, in-text citations and a Works Cited page all constitute different ways college students can give proper credit to experts, according to collegboard.com.