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What is plagiarism?

(And why you should care!)

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Definition:

Plagiarism is the act of presenting the words, ideas, images, sounds, or the creative expression of others as your own.

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How serious is the problem?

“A study of almost 4,500 students at 25 schools, suggests cheating is . . . a significant problem in high school - 74% of the respondents admitted to one or more instances of serious test cheating and 72% admitted to serious cheating on written assignments. Over half of the students admitted they have engaged in some level of plagiarism on written assignments using the Internet.”

Based on the research of Donald L. McCabe, Rutgers University

Source: “CIA Research.” Center for Academic Integrity, Duke University, 2003 <http://academicintegrity.org/cai_research.asp>.

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Two types of plagiarism:

Intentional Copying a friend’s

work Buying or borrowing

papers Cutting and pasting

blocks of text from electronic sources without documenting

Media “borrowing”without documentation

Web publishing without permissions of creators

Unintentional Careless paraphrasing Poor documentation Quoting excessively Failure to use your own

“voice”

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Rationale for academic integrity(as if it were necessary!)

When you copy you cheat yourself. You limit your own learning.

The consequences are not worth the risks!

It is only right to give credit to authors whose ideas you use

Citing gives authority to the information you present

Citing makes it possible for your readers to locate your source

Education is not an “us vs. them” game! It’s about learning to learn!

Cheating is unethical behavior

Is your academic

reputation valuable to you?

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Is this important?

What if: Your architect cheated his way through math

class. Will your new home be safe? Your lawyer paid for a copy of the bar exam to

study. Will the contract she wrote for you stand up in court?

The accountant who does your taxes hired someone to write his papers and paid a stand-in to take his major tests? Does he know enough to complete your tax forms properly?

• (Lathrop and Foss 87)

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Do I have to cite

everything?

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Examples of common knowledge

John Adams was our second president The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on

December 7, 1941

If you see a fact in three or more sources, and you are fairly certain your readers already know this information, it is likely to be “common knowledge.” But when in doubt, cite!

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No need to document when:

You are discussing your own experiences, observations, or reactions

Compiling the results of original research, from science experiments, etc.

You are using common knowledge

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What You Need to Know About Plagiarism

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What exactly is plagiarism?

From Webster's Third New International Dictionary:Plagiarize - \'pla-je-,riz also j - -\ vb -rized; -riz·ing vt [plagiary] : to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (a created production) without crediting the source vi: to commit literary theft: present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.

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In the real world, this means…..

Using another person's words without giving them credit.

Using another person’s ideas without giving them credit.

Using another person’s research, results, diagrams, or images without giving them credit.

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Actions that might be seen as plagiarism

Buying, stealing, or borrowing a paper

Copying from another source without citing

Building on someone else’s ideas without citation

Using the source too closely when paraphrasing

Deliberate Plagiarism

Maybe Accidental Plagiarism

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Strategies to avoid plagiarism

•Practice good research methods

•Know how to quote

•Know how to cite

•Know when something is common knowledge

•Know how to paraphrase

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Practice good research methods

Be careful about paraphrasing while taking notes

Be sure to keep track of each source you use

Indicate in your notes which ideas are taken from sources (S) and which are your own insights (ME)

Record all of the relevant documentation information in your notes

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Know how to quote

Mention the name of the quoted person in your text

Put quotation marks around the text you are quoting

Use brackets ([ ]) and ellipses ( … ) Use block quotes when necessary Quote sparingly

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Cite your sources

Why should you cite your sources? Citations show you have done research As a courtesy to your reader Your arguments become stronger when

you can back them up Ensures others receive fair credit for

their work

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Know how to cite

In-text: “A substance can usually be converted to a different state by adding or removing energy from a system” (Voet 1990).

Works Cited: Voet D. 1990. Biochemistry. New York: J Wiley. 1223p.

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Citing Internet Sources

Material on the Internet is not “free.” It still needs to be cited.

Don’t avoid citing Internet sources and articles from electronic databases just because you don’t know how.

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Know when to cite

• Always give a citation for quoted words or phrases.

• Always give a citation after paraphrased sentences.

• Always give a citation for specific statistics, percentages, and numbers given in your text.

• You don’t need to cite facts or ideas that are common knowledge.

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Is it common knowledge?

Facts that can be found in numerous places and are likely to be known by a lot of people do not need to be cited.

Consider your audience when deciding whether a fact is common knowledge.

Example of common knowledge:

John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States in 1960.

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Know how to paraphrase

Paraphrasing means putting an idea into your own words.

Don’t just rearrange the sentences or replace a few words.

Be able to summarize the original source without having it in front of you.

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Effective paraphrasing

Introduce your source at the point you begin paraphrasing the ideas of the other writer.

Cite your source in parentheses where you finish paraphrasing the source and resume presenting your own ideas.

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Effective paraphrasing1. Read the original passage until you understand its

meaning 2. Set the book aside. 3. Write your paraphrase on note cards or a sheet of

paper. 4. Compare your paraphrase with the original to make

sure that the essential information is preserved. 5. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or

phrase you have borrowed exactly from the source 6. Document your sources (include page numbers) on

your note cards so you can easily cite later.  

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Why should you care about plagiarism?

CBU’s Plagiarism Policy: “A faculty member will take

disciplinary action when plagiarism is discerned. Disciplinary action may take the form of a warning or the assigning of a failing grade for the assignment, examination, or entire course. The faculty member may recommend to the Vice President for Academic Affairs that the student be expelled from class.”

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Methods of detecting plagiarism

More accurate search engines Full-text journal articles in library

databases Commercial plagiarism-detection services

aimed at teachers As always, the professor may well

recognize the source.

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Some telltale signs

It doesn’t sound like the student’s writing. It was printed from a web browser and still has a header/footer

on it. The free essay has a tagline at the end that the student forgot to

remove. Page numbers don’t make sense; fonts switch around; material is

off-topic or seems patched together References to charts, graphs, accompanying material that isn’t

there References to material not owned by the library Dead links All citations are to old material – or historical events referred to

in the present tense Students can’t identify citations, provide copies of the cited

material, or answer questions about it

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Self-plagiarization

Students Professionals

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CONCLUSION

Inadvertent plagiarism is as bad as the intentional kind.

If you plan ahead and use good research skills, you won’t have to run to the library at the last minute, make up citations, surf the web for all your research, falsify your data..

Learn from your past mistakes. Realize that an act of plagiarism might cost you

your reputation, your degree, or your professional career.

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Some slides are courtesy of Springfield School District, Oreland, Pa.

• http://www.sdst.org/shs/library/powerpoint/plagiarism.ppt