HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism means using another’s work without giving them credit and saying that it is your own

In the real world, this means: Using another person's words without

giving them credit Using another person’s ideas without giving

them credit Using another person’s research, results,

diagrams, or images without giving them credit

How big of a problem is it?

“A study of almost 4,500 students at 25 schools, suggests cheating is . . . a significant problem in high school - 74% of the respondents admitted to one or more instances of serious test cheating and 72% admitted to serious cheating on written assignments. Over half of the students admitted they have engaged in some level of plagiarism on written assignments using the Internet.”

Based on the research of Donald L. McCabe, Rutgers University

Source: “CIA Research.” Center for Academic Integrity, Duke University, 2003 <http://academicintegrity.org/cai_research.asp>.

Types of Plagiarism

Intentional Copying a friend’s

work Buying or borrowing

papers Cutting and pasting

blocks of text from electronic sources without documenting

Media “borrowing” without documentation

Web publishing without permissions

of creators

Unintentional Careless

paraphrasing Poor documentation Quoting excessively Failure to use your

own “voice”

Ways to Plagiarize

Copying and pasting text from online encyclopedias Copying and pasting text from any web site Using photographs, video or audio without

permission or acknowledgement Using another student’s or your parents’ work and

claiming it as your own even with permission Quoting a source without using quotation marks-even

if you do cite it Citing sources you didn’t use Getting a research paper, story, poem, or article off

the Internet Turning in the same paper for more than one class

without the permission of both teachers (this is called self-plagiarism)

Excuses

It’s okay if I don’t get caught!

This assignment was BORING!

My teachers expect

too much!

I was too busy to write that paper!

(Job, big game, too much homework!)I’ve got to get it in

otherwise it won’t be accepted!

Everyone does it!

My parents expect “A”s!

Real Life Consequences

Damaged the reputation of two prominent historians, Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin Kearns left television position and stepped down as

Pulitzer Prize judge for “lifting” 50 passages for her 1987 book The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys

Senator Joseph Biden dropped his 1987 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination Copied in law school and borrowed from campaign

speeches of Robert Kennedy Probe of plagiarism at UVA--45 students dismissed, 3

graduate degrees revoked Controversial New Jersey valedictorian denied her

seat as a Harvard freshman when it discovered she plagiarized in a local newspaper

Possible School Consequences

• Zero on the assignment

• Parent notification

• Referral to administration

• Suspension or dismissal from school activities…or school!!!

• Note on student record

Is this Plagiarism?

Original Source For all of us, nature controls about 50

percent of our intellectual horsepower, and environment determines the rest (Medina 92).

Student’s Paper For all of us, nature controls about 50

percent of our intellectual horsepower, while the environment determines the rest.

Answer: Yes

The student should have used quotation marks around the words that he copied directly from the original source. Also, there is no parenthetical reference with the page number of the source statement.

Is this Plagiarism?

Original Source For all of us, nature controls about 50

percent of our intellectual horsepower, and environment determines the rest (Medina 92).

Student’s Paper Our intellectual horsepower is controlled

50 percent by nature and the rest is determined by environment (Medina 92).

Answer: Yes

Even though the writer has cited the source, the writer’s words are not his own. Look at how closely the phrase  resembles the wording of the source.

Is this Plagiarism?

Original Source For all of us, nature controls about 50

percent of our intellectual horsepower, and environment determines the rest (Medina 92).

Student’s Paper For all of us, nature administers about 50

percent of our cerebral horsepower, and atmosphere regulates everything else(Medina 92).

Answer: Yes

Even though the writer has substituted synonyms and cited the  source, the writer is plagiarizing because the source's sentence structure is  unchanged. It is obvious that the writer could not have written his sentence without a copy of the source directly in front of him.

Is this Plagiarism?

Original Source For all of us, nature controls about 50

percent of our intellectual horsepower, and environment determines the rest (Medina 92).

Student’s Paper According to John Medina, a combination

of intelligence and the surroundings of a person are the 2 key factors in how their brain functions.

Answer: No

The student has cited the source, and appropriately paraphrased the original source into his own words.

How can you avoid plagiarism? Use your own words and ideas Always give credit to the source where you have

received your information If you use someone’s exact words - put them in

quotes and give credit using in-text citations. Include the source in your references

If you have paraphrased someone’s work, (summarizing a passage or rearranging the order of a sentence and changing some of the words)-always give credit

Take very good notes--write down the source as you are taking notes. Do not wait until later to try and retrieve the original source

Avoid using someone else’s work with minor “cosmetic” changes

Practice good research methods

Be careful about paraphrasing while taking notes

Be sure to keep track of each source you use Indicate in your notes which ideas are taken

from sources (S) and which are your own insights (ME)

Record all of the relevant documentation information in your notes

Know how to quote

Mention the name of the quoted person in your text

Put quotation marks around the text you are quoting

Use brackets ([ ]) and ellipses ( … ) Use block quotes when necessary Quote sparingly

Know when to cite

Always give a citation for quoted words or phrases

Always give a citation after paraphrased sentences

Always give a citation for specific statistics, percentages, and numbers given in your text

You don’t need to cite facts or ideas that are common knowledge

What is common knowledge? Facts that can be found in numerous places

and are likely to be known by a lot of people do not need to be cited

Consider your audience when deciding whether a fact is common knowledge

What are some examples of common knowledge?

Know how to paraphrase

Paraphrasing means putting an idea into your own words

Don’t just rearrange the sentences or replace a few words

Be able to summarize the original source without having it in front of you

Overall Ideas

Inadvertent plagiarism is as bad as the intentional kind

If you plan ahead and use good research skills, you won’t have to run to the library at the last minute, make up citations, surf the web for all your research, falsify your data

Learn from your past mistakes Realize that an act of plagiarism might cost

you your reputation, your degree, or your professional career

Sources

What Is Plagiarism? (And Why You Should Care!). Christian Brothers University. Web. 15 July 2011. <www.cbu.edu/idc/groups/library/.../web.../library_datafile_plag_ppt.ppt >.

McGowen, Hansen, and Mirka. Avoiding Plagiarism. Calgary Board of Education, 2011. Web. 15 July 2011. <schools.cbe.ab.ca/b806/library/Plagiarism.ppt>.

Medina, John. Brain Rules for Baby. First ed. Seattle: Pear, 2010. Print.