How to Avoid Plagiarism

Christine McLaughlin, Director Academic Success Center

Marge Lippincott, Dean of Information Technology and Learning Resources

What is Plagiarism?

“Plagiarism is using others' ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information.”

Owl, the Purdue On-line Writing Lab. Purdue University. Jan. 31, 2003. Web. 11/2/11.

When Do You Cite a Source? When you use the author’s exact

words

When you borrow the author’s ideas

What Do You Cite? Do Not Cite

Thesis Topic sentences Your examples Personal

experience Your comments

about the research

Cite Anything from a

source other than yourself

How do You Cite Sources in a Paper?

Place a parenthesis at the end of the sentence that contains the sourceinformation.

Insert the author’s last name and page number of the information cited.

Example: (Smith 25).

In-Text Citations of Electronic Resources

Avoid parenthetical references.

Use direct references in the text to the name of the author or sponsoring agency.

Examples: Known Author:

William J. Mitchell's City of Bits discusses architecture and urban life in the context of the digital telecommunications revolution.

A Known Sponsor: More companies today are using data mining

to unlock hidden value in their data. The data mining program "Clementine," described at the SPSS Web site, helps organizations predict market share and detect possible fraud.

How Do You Cite Sources at the End of the Paper?

Attach a Works Cited page at the end of your paper. List sources of information. Use MLA documentation style. List sources alphabetically by authors’

last names.

Ways to Avoid Plagiarism in Your Research Paper Paraphrase

Summarize

Quote

How to Paraphrase State the meaning in your own

words.

Include all relevant material.

Be accurate.

Sound like yourself.

Cite the original source.

Example of Paraphrasing Original

“Today, English is used by at least 750 million people, and barely half of those speak it as a mother tongue” (McCrum et al. 19).

Paraphrase In the beginning of the twenty-first century,

750 million individuals speak English and less than half that number use it as their native language (McCrum et al. 19).

How to Summarize Identify author’s name and title of work

– in your first sentence.

State the author’s main idea – in your first sentence.

Paraphrase all major points of the work.

Present ideas in the same order as in the original.

What to Omit and Add

Omit your own comments or opinions.

Omit any minor details and points.

Add quotation marks if you use a word or phrase from the original.

Add the author’s name within your summary as a reminder that you are summarizing.

Example of Summarizing

In Daina Savage’s article “Weird Al Yankovic: No Amish Expert,” she interviews Weird Al to reveal his inspiration for his CD Bad Hair Day. A song on the CD entitled “Amish Paradise” is a parody of rap artist Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise.” Savage discovers that Yankovic “was content to simply use Amish stereotypes” as the basis for his research (1-2).

When to Quote When you use the author’s exact

words.

When the original sentence is difficult to paraphrase.

How to Quote Smith writes that “---------” (25).

Smith writes, “------------” (25).

Smith writes about his experiences in the desert: “-------------” (25).

Examples of Quoting Savage writes that “Yankovic makes no

pretense at achieving authenticity . . .” (2).

Savage writes, “Yankovic makes no pretense at achieving authenticity . . .” (2).

Savage notes Yankovic’s lack of originality: “Yankovic makes no pretense at achieving authenticity . . .” (2).

Works Cited

Citing Electronic Resources - MLA. Middlebury College Library. Jan. 31, 2003. <http://www.middlebury.edu/~lib/citing.mla.html>.

Guffey, Mary Ellen. “MLA Style Electronic Format.”Communication@Work.. Jan. 31, 2003. <http://www.westwords.com/guffey/mla.html>.

Owl, the Purdue On-line Writing Lab. Purdue University. Jan. 31, 2003. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html#Print>.

Writing Tutorial Services. Indiana University. Jan. 31, 2003.

<http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html>.

Plagiarism Presentation

Sponsored by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners

LSTA Grant Project