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

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.