READ: Plagiarism Policy

All work submitted for this course is to be the result of your own thoughts and research.

1. What is plagiarism?  Using another’s ideas, organization, and/or wording without giving credit to the source.

2. Plagiarism is cheating!

3. Examples of plagiarism:

   •       Allowing another student to copy your work.
   •       Copying another student’s work.
   •       Copying from any source (e.g., Message Board, paper, article, or book).
   •       Copying and pasting from the Internet.

4. Penalties for plagiarism:

First Offence: Fail the assignment.

Second Offence: Meet with a school administrator.

Third Offence: Removed from the course.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Writers sometimes plagiarize ideas from outside sources without realizing that they are doing so. Put simply, you plagiarize if you present other writer's words and ideas as your own. You do not plagiarize if you "provide citations for all direct quotations and paraphrases, for borrowed ideas, and for facts that do not belong to general knowledge" (Crews and Van Sant, 407).

General Advice for Using Sources

The best way to avoid plagiarism is to keep control of your argument. You should include ideas from other sources only when those ideas add weight to your argument. Keep the following suggestions in mind when you are using material from other sources:

• Select carefully. Quotations should give weight to your argument. In general, do not select quotations that only repeat points you have already made.

• Be sure to integrate all ideas from other sources into your own discussion. Introduce direct quotations with your own words. After quoting, explain the significance of quotations.

• Avoid quoting more than is needed. Most of the time, brief quotations suffice.

• Use direct quotations only when the author's wording is necessary or particularly effective. Some disciplines discourage direct quotations. Check with your professor.

• If you are using material cited by an author and you do not have the original source, introduce the quotation with a phrase such as "as is quoted in...."

• End citation alone is not sufficient for direct quotations; place all direct quotations within quotation marks. Be sure to copy quotations exactly as they appear.

• To avoid any unintentional failure to cite sources, include all citation information on note cards and in your first draft.

At all times, stay in control of your argument and let your own voice speak for you.

A Common Pitfall: The Note Taking Stage

Plagiarism often starts with the note taking stage of the research process. If possible, have a clear question in mind before heading off to the library so you will not waste time taking extraneous notes. When taking notes, be sure to distinguish between paraphrases and direct quotations. When you are copying a direct quotation, be extremely precise. Note all the information you will need for the citation and copy the quotation exactly as it appears. Some writers use only direct quotations when note taking so there can be no confusion as to whether a note is a paraphrase or a direct quotation. Other writers color-code notes: one color for paraphrases, another for quotations. To ensure that you are not copying wording or sentence structure when paraphrasing, you might find it helpful to put the source material aside. In summary, be consistent and conscious of whatever note taking method you decide to use.

Examples:

Sometimes writers do not recognize when their use of other writers' ideas constitutes plagiarism. Versions of the following source can help you see the difference between acceptable paraphrasing and plagiarism (The Bedford Handbook for Writers, 508).

Original source #1

If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists (Davis, 26).

Version A: The existence of a signing ape unsettled linguists and startled animal behaviorists (Davis, 26).

Comment: Plagiarism. Even though the writer has cited the source, the writer has not used quotation marks around the direct quotation "the existence of a signing ape." In addition, the phrase "unsettled linguists and startled animal behaviorists" closely resembles the wording of the source.

Version B: If the presence of a sign-language-using chimp was disturbing for scientists studying language; it was also surprising to scientists studying animal behavior (Davis, 26).

Comment: Still plagiarism. Even though the writer has substituted synonyms and cited the source, the writer is plagiarizing because the source's sentence structure is unchanged.

Version C: According to Flora Davis, linguists and animal behaviorists were unprepared for the news that a chimp could communicate with its trainers through sign language (Davis, 26).

Comment: No plagiarism. This is an appropriate paraphrase of the original sentence.

Plagiarism Defined

Definition of plagiarism:

Presenting someone else’s words or work as your own

• Direct quotes; facts, statistics, illustrations, charts

• Ideas, opinions, theories

• Paraphrased ideas, opinions, theories

Exception: Common Knowledge

       The same information undocumented in at least five credible sources

       Something your readers will already know

       Examples

       Folklore

       Common sense observations,

       Myths & urban legends

       Historical events (but not historical documents)

       Generally accepted facts

Common Objections

• I didn’t plagiarize:

We use multiple tools to check for plagiarism (Turnitin.com, Google, readability formulas, and initial writing samples).

• I didn’t know I was plagiarizing

It’s still plagiarism.

• It was unintentional

Generally, there is no distinction between intentional and unintentional plagiarism.

• Only a fraction of the material was copied

There is no acceptable minimum level of plagiarism.

• It couldn’t have been worded better than the original – or – There are only so many ways you can reword the information

Indicates an incomplete understanding of plagiarism, and how to avoid it.

Solution = Give credit to your sources

• Cite your sources - See MLA Formatting and Style Guide (The OWL at Purdue): Scroll down to All Sections in MLA Formatting and Style Guide.

• Use quotations - See Formatting Quotations (The OWL at Purdue)

A student who writes less than perfect original comments, opinions, or observations will earn a higher grade than a student who plagiarizes.

Sources

Sources

"A Plagiarism FAQ." Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (2006) 09 SEP   2006 .

"Avoiding Plagiarism." The OWL at Purdue. 12 MAY 2006. Purdue Online Writing Lab. 9 Sep 2006 .

"How to Recognize Plagiarism." Indiana University Bloomington School of Education . 07 SEP 2005. Indiana University Bloomington. 9 Sep 2006 .

"Overview: How to Recognize Plagiarism." Indiana University Bloomington School of Education . 21 JUNE 2005.  Indiana University Bloomington. 9 Sep 2006 .

"Frequently Asked Questions." Plagiarism.org. Plagiarism.org.  9 Sep 2006 .

"The Citation Machine." Landmarks Son of Citation Machine. APR 2006. The Landmark Project. 9 Sep 2006 http://citationmachine.net/index.php.