Copyright and plagiarism for corporate writers: Tips for sourcing quotes and information

Citing material used –

Specifying who is responsible for the content,

and when & how the material was published or distributed

Direct quote: Identify the material used by using quotation marks, if less than a sentence or two. Use a different font for a block quote of a paragraph or more. Allude to or name the source. Give the details of the source in a footnote, endnote or bibliography.

Indirect quote, or use of information sourced elsewhere: Indicate the author/s and publication year in the text. Give the details of the source in a footnote, endnote or bibliography.

Literary allusion: Name the author, without breaking the flow. Give further details of the source in a footnote or endnote.

Link to a web page: Rather than quoting a webpage, have you considered linking to it? This will maintain its integrity and ensure your reader accesses the latest version. If you link from your own page, it’s good practice to

• Open each link in a new window 
• Give a disclaimer reminding the reader that you do not have responsibility or control over external websites
• Check regularly for broken links    

Who is the author of a web page, or responsible for its contents?

• Scan the headings, by-lines, and text, for a personal author.
• If personal authorship is not indicated, consider nominating a corporate author (the company, educational body or government department responsible).

Who has copyright?

• This is usually at the foot of the home page.

Are there any other indications of responsibility or ownership?

• There may be useful information at the About link.
• A pdf or other file linked from the web page may have information such as author/s, where it was sourced from or copied from, and rights attribution.
• A well-constructed web page may have been given Dublin Core metadata in the source code. Look for DC.creator, DC.contributor or DC.publisher.