Avoiding Avoiding PlagiarismPlagiarism

Pop Quiz: Which of these are cheatingPop Quiz: Which of these are cheating1. Copying from someone during a Biology test.

2. Asking someone in period 1 for the questions on the quiz you’re taking period 3.

3. Recycling and re-using your older sister’s project.

4. Using ideas, but not direct quotations, from SparkNotes.

5. Turning in the same paper as your friend for History.

6. Cutting and pasting a sentence from a website and then changing some of the words using the Thesaurus.

7. Letting my friend copy my Spanish homework.

8. Using a quote from the book in your paper, with a parenthetical citation, but forgetting to put quotation marks around it.

1. Putting “the Earth revolves around the sun” in your paper and not citing that fact.

(Answer: All are cheating except #9, which is common knowledge)

Getting Started…Getting Started…• What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism means using another’s work without giving them credit and

saying that it is your own

From: Mirka, 2004, The Plagiarism Trap. Powerpoint Presentation

Examples of Examples of Plagiarism…Plagiarism…

1. Copying and pasting text from online encyclopedias

2. Copying and pasting text from any web site

3. Using photographs, video or audio without permission or acknowledgement

4. Using another student’s or your parents’ work and claiming it as your own even with permission

From: Mirka, 2004, The Plagiarism Trap. Powerpoint Presentation

More Examples of More Examples of Plagiarism…Plagiarism…

5. Using your own work without properly citing it!

6. Quoting a source without using quotation marks …even if you do cite it

7. Citing sources you didn’t use

8.Getting a research paper, story, poem, or article off the Internet

9.Turning in the same paper for more than one class without the permission of both teachers (this is called self-plagiarism)

From: Mirka, 2004, The Plagiarism Trap. Powerpoint Presentation

How to Avoid How to Avoid Plagiarism…Plagiarism…

1. Use your own words and ideas

2. Always give credit to the source where you have received your information

3. If you use someone’s exact words, put them in quotes and give credit using in-text citations. Include the source in your works cited page

4. 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

From: Mirka, 2004, The Plagiarism Trap. Powerpoint Presentation

5. 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

6. Avoid using someone else’s work with minor

“cosmetic” changes

From: Mirka, 2004, The Plagiarism Trap. Powerpoint Presentation

How to Avoid How to Avoid Plagiarism…Plagiarism…

Things I’ll Need To Things I’ll Need To KnowKnow

• What is a works cited list?

o A works cited list at the end of a paper provides the full information necessary to identify and retrieve each source. It cites works that specifically support a particular article.

o References should be alphabetically listed by author’s last name at the end of the paper or presentation.

• A bibliography?

o A bibliography cites works for background or for further reading.

• What is a Citation?

oReferences and citations in text are the formal methods of acknowledging the use of a creator’s work.

• An In-Text Citation?

oDirect citations and quotations are acknowledged in the body of a research assignment (Right in the sentence or paragraph).

Things I’ll Need To Things I’ll Need To KnowKnow

How does plagiarism affect How does plagiarism affect

you?you?

• In high school?

• In post-secondary school?

• In society?

Bad ParaphrasingBad Paraphrasing• Original: “In research writing, sources are cited for

two reasons: to alert readers to the sources of your information and to give credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas” (Hacker).

• Plagiarized Paraphrase: In research writing, we cite sources for a couple reasons: to notify readers of our information sources and give credit to authors we borrowed from (Hacker).

Writer has not made enough changes. Most of the original words are the same, and the original structure of the quote are the same.

Good ParaphrasingGood Paraphrasing

Writer has changed the order of ideas and the words used. It is completely in his own words.

• Original: “In research writing, sources are cited for two reasons: to alert readers to the sources of your information and to give credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas” (Hacker).

• Good Paraphrase: A researcher cites sources to acknowledge the original author’s work and to make sure the audience can tell where the information came from (Hacker).

Practice ParaphrasingPractice Paraphrasing• Ancient Egyptians believed that Osiris, a

good and wise king, was the first pharaoh. He spread knowledge to other parts of the world, while his wife, Isis, ruled Egypt in his place.

Practice ParaphrasingPractice Paraphrasing One reason for the American educational crisis is

that present mandatory-attendance laws force many to attend school who have no wish to be there. Such children have little desire to learn and are so antagonistic to school that neither they nor more highly motivated students receive the quality education that is the birthright of every American. The solution to this problem is simple: Abolish compulsory-attendance laws and allow only those who are committed to getting an education to attend.

by Roger Sipher