Academic Integrity and Understanding Plagiarism What it is and how you can avoid it

Patricia Campbell, Ph.D. , Dean of Graduate Studies

This PowerPoint will cover the following: Discuss the consequences of plagiarism in and

outside of the academic setting Identify various types of plagiarism Discuss when you need to cite your sources Identify the differences between quoting and

paraphrasing, and how much quoting is permissible

Review in-text parenthetical citations (Turabian) Discuss tips for avoiding plagiarism Examine some examples and determine whether

or not they constitute plagiarism

Plagiarism: Serious Consequences

A famous writer and historian’s reputation was seriously damaged and she was forced to resign from the Pulitzer Prize board after it was revealed that her book used numerous passages from other books without citing them.

Plagiarism: Serious Consequences

A famous musician was found guilty of plagiarism and forced to pay compensation for similarities between his song "My Sweet Lord" and The Chiffons' hit "He's So Fine.”

Plagiarism: Serious Consequences

In 2003, an up-and-coming New York Times reporter was forced to resign when it was discovered that 36 of the 73 national news stories he had written included ethical infractions, such as making up content and copying passages from other journalists’ articles.

Plagiarism: Serious Consequences “Two Students

Kicked off Semester at Sea for Plagiarism”

http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/paper-trail/2008/08/14/two-students-kicked-off-semester-at-sea-for-plagiarism

CBS news producer fired for plagiarism

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18045526/

“Men At Work Guilty Of Ripping Off ‘Land Down Under’ Melody”

In 2010, the Australian band was found guilty of copying their song “Land Down Under” from a 70 year old children’s song “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.” The penalty could cost the writers of “Land Down Under” millions.

You could lose you Job!

Hungarian president resigns over doctorate plagiarism scandal

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/02/hungarian-president-resigns-doctorate-plagiarism

Photo from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17586128

http://www.famousplagiarists.com/index.html

For more information on famous plagiarists…

Using an assignment, or part of an assignment for more than one class is also cheating. This is self-plagiarism.

At APUS Plagiarism = Cheating

AUPS’s Policy: Plagiarism = Cheating

Cheating is the intentional attempt to misrepresent academic achievement. This includes plagiarism, which the Student Handbook defines as:

“the adoption or incorporation of another’s ideas without proper

attribution of the source. It is more simply defined as taking the writings

of another person or people and representing them to be one’s

own”(Student Handbook).

Consequences

Any student who is discovered to be cheating or is suspected of cheating will be notified of the offense by the instructor. The instructor is required to notify the School Program Director immediately. The School Program Direction and Dean will determine the appropriate penalty.

The penalties for cheating are: Mark of zero on the test or assignment. An automatic grade of F with immediate dismissal from

course. “Students who are found guilty of plagiarism will have an

entry made in their student record. An additional violation of the standards of academic honesty may result in dismissal from the University System.” (Student Handbook)

Plagiarism beyond the obvious offenses

It’s not just buying a term paper or “borrowing” a paper from a friend who took the same course…

Plagiarism beyond the obvious offenses

An incorporation of another’s ideas without properly citing the source.

Failure to use quotation marks when it is a quote.

Failure to acknowledge the original source when you paraphrase.

Failure to provide citation information for the source.

Note that you cannot reuse your own work. In other words, you can not use portions of one assignment for more than one class.

“quote”According to Sam Johnson, professor of bioengineering at Stanford University, there are many reasons why grass does not grow well in space (2010, 115).

Works Cited

Smits, Marieke, Dominique Sluijsmans, and Wim Jochems. "The Effects of a Competency-oriented Learning Environment and Tutor Feedback on Students' Reflection Skills." Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 34.5 (2009): 491-498. Academic Search Elite. EBSCO. Web. 30 Jan. 2010.

To Cite or not to Cite?

You should cite when…

you give statistics the information is

unique and not known by most people the reader might ask

“how do you know that?”

you use a direct quotation from someone else

you use someone else’s ideas

you paraphrase a direct quotation from someone else

You don’t need to cite when…

the information is commonly known (either by the general population, or commonly known within the particular discipline)

most or all of your sources repeat the same general idea.

it is your own original thought or opinion

Quoting and Paraphrasing: What is the Difference?

A direct quote is taking a key phrase, or two or more words in order, from an outside source. Quotation marks are required. Quotes cannot make up more than 10% of the text of your assignment. According to Hawkins, lemurs are

“unlikely candidates to replace dogs as America’s favorite pet” (2001, 7).

Quoting and ParaphrasingWhat is the Difference?

A paraphrase is rewording the idea of the original passage – it is NOT rearranging the author’s words. Quotation marks are not necessary but citations are. Paraphrases MUST be substantially different than the original sentences from your source.

Hawkins discusses at great length the efforts of the American Association for Lemur Acceptance (AALA) to raise American’s consciousness about the value of lemurs. He explains that lemurs are not only cute but also excellent dancers (2001, 15).

Quoting and ParaphrasingWhat is the Difference?

Rearranging, changing, or leaving out a word or two from an original passage does not make it a paraphrase – the entire passage must be rewritten in your own words.

In-Text Parenthetical Citations (Turabian/Chicago)

References to sources are made directly in the body of the text using parentheses. The parenthetical citation includes the author and the page number where the direct quote can be found.

Example: The education strategy is described as “a pattern of behavior designed to

gain the cooperation of followers in accomplishing organizational goals” (Lashway 2001, 5).

OR Lashway describes the education strategy as “a pattern of behavior

designed to gain the cooperation of followers in accomplishing organizational goals” (2001, 5).

OR In order to accomplish goals in an educational setting, cooperation from

employees is vital (Lashway 2001, 5).

Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism

Read a passage, and then write your interpretation of it with the book closed. Do not attempt to paraphrase with the passage right in front of you if you feel unsure about how to do it. Double check to make sure you did not accidently copy phrases.

Cite every piece of information that is not common knowledge. This includes opinions, arguments, and speculations as well as facts, details, figures, and statistics.

Use quotation marks every time you use the author's words. Quotes of five lines or more are indented as block quotes and single spaced. In this case, quotation marks are omitted but the sources is cited. Block quotes should be used infrequently.

Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism, Con’t. At the beginning of the first sentence in which

you quote, paraphrase, or summarize, make it clear that what comes next is someone else's idea:

According to Smith...

Jones says...

In his 1987 study, Robinson proved... At the end of the last sentence containing

quoted, paraphrased, or summarized material, insert a parenthetical citation (or footnote, depending on the specific class requirement) to show where the material came from.

The following examples are from the School of Education at Indiana University Bloomington’s “How to Recognize Plagiarism” website: https://www.indiana.edu/~istd/examples.html

Examples

Is this an example of plagiarism?Original Source Material: Constructivism is a movement that extends beyond the beliefs of the cognitivist. It considers the engagement of students in meaningful experiences as the essence of learning. The shift is from passive transfer of information to active problem solving. Constructivists emphasize that learners create their own interpretations of the world of information.

Student’s TextConstructivists do not hold views entirely opposed to those of the cognitivists. The position of constructivists extends beyond the beliefs of the cognitivist.

Works CitedHeinich, Robert, et al.

Instructional Media and Technologies for Learning. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1999.

Original Source Material: Constructivism is a movement that extends beyond the beliefs of the cognitivist. It considers the engagement of students in meaningful experiences as the essence of learning. The shift is from passive transfer of information to active problem solving. Constructivists emphasize that learners create their own interpretations of the world of information.

Student’s TextConstructivists do not hold views entirely opposed to those of the cognitivists. The position of constructivists extends beyond the beliefs of the cognitivist.

Works CitedHeinich, Robert, et al.

Instructional Media and Technologies for Learning. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1999.

Because the student has not used quotes for the direct words that were taken from the author.

Yes

Original Source Material: The concept of systems is really quite simple. The basic idea is that a system has parts that fit together to make a whole; but where it gets complicated -- and interesting -- is how those parts are connected or related to each other.

Student’s TextFrick states that “a system has parts that fit together to make a whole" but the important aspect of systems is “how those parts are connected or related to each other" (1991,17).

Works Cited

Frick, Theodore W. Restructuring Education Through Technology. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, 1991.

Is this an example of plagiarism?

• The passage begins with the author’s name.• Quotation marks are used to indicate that the

passages are word-for-word citations from the original document.

• The author is also listed in the references.

No

Original Source Material:  During the last decade, there has been a shift from "instructivist" approaches towards "constructivist" approaches in the field of instructional design. Instructivist approaches reflect the belief that the role of knowledge is basically to represent the real world. Meaning is eventually determined by this real world and is thus external to the understander.

Student Paper: Over the last ten years, there has been a marked change from "instructivist" points of view to "constructivist" points of view among instructional designers. Instructivist points of view hold the belief that the role of knowledge is fundamentally to represent the real world. In this view, meaning is determined by the real world and is therefore external to the learner.

Works Cited

Merriënboer, Jeroen J. G. van. Training Complex Cognitive Skills. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications, 1997.

Is this an example of plagiarism?

This example has been plagiarized. The student has substituted synonyms for many words in the passage, but has not changed the structure of the text and has used another person's ideas without crediting that person for them.

Yes

Original Source Material: Technology has significantly transformed education at several major turning points in our history. In the broadest sense, the first technology was the primitive modes of communication used by prehistoric people before the development of spoken language. Mime, gestures, grunts, and drawing of figures in the sand with a stick were methods used to communicate - yes, even to educate. Even without speech, these prehistoric people were able to teach their young how to catch animals for food, what animals to avoid, which vegetation was good to eat and which was poisonous.

Student Paper: History has demonstrated that technology affects education profoundly. Considering the definition of technology broadly, one may say that prehistoric people used primitive technologies to teach skills to their young (Frick 1991,91).

Works Cited

Frick, Theodore W. Restructuring Education Through Technology. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, 1991.

Is this an example of plagiarism?

This example has been paraphrased and is not considered plagiarized. The student has cited the original author and included an appropriate entry in the reference list.

No

Original Source Material:  A naïve mental model in the context of computer programming is that a computer is an intelligent system, and that giving directions to a computer is like giving directions to a human being.

Student Paper: One kind of mental model for the computer is the naïve model. A naïve mental model in the context of computer programming is that a computer is an intelligent system. This model is naïve because giving directions to a computer is like giving directions to a human being.

Works Cited

Merriënboer, Jeroen J. G. van. Training Complex Cognitive Skills. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications, 1997.

Is this an example of plagiarism?

This example has been plagiarized because it includes copied texts from the original work without giving quotation marks and citing authors within the body texts.

Yes

Questions? Always ask your Professor!