What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism, strictly speaking, is the stealing of words, ideas, images, or creative works.
Plagiarism, whether or not it is intentional, is looked upon as an academic crime.
Definite don'ts
· copying and pasting complete papers from electronic sources
· copying and pasting passages from electronic sources without placing the passages in quotes and properly citing the source
· having others write complete papers or portions of papers for you
· summarizing ideas without citing their source
· pulling out quotes from sources without putting quotation marks around the passages
· closely paraphrasing - not putting the information in your own words (even if it's cited)
· quoting statistics without naming the source unless you gathered the data yourself
· using words and passages you don't understand and can't explain
· self-plagiarizing - using one paper for more than one class without the permission of your professors
· making up sources
· making up bibliographic or citation information (page numbers, etc.)
· using photographs, video, or audio without permission or acknowledgment
· translating from one language to another without properly citing the original source
· copying computer programs or other technical information without acknowledgment
· failing to acknowledge sources of oral presentation, slides, or Web projects
· failing to acknowledge sources of elements of nonverbal work: painting, dance, musical composition, mathematical proof
Quoting, Paraphrasing & Summarizing
What are the differences among them?
These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.
Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.
Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.
Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.
Why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries?
Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. You might use them to . . .
· provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing
· refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing
· give examples of several points of view on a subject
· call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with
· highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original
· distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are not your own
· expand the breadth or depth of your writing
Quoting
ø If you decide to use a quote, you must use “quotation marks”.
ø Use quotes only when the author presents the information in a unique way, when there's no better way to say it.
ø Always add the quotation marks during the note-taking process.
"Hate-based Web sites have grown dramatically in recent years. In 1995 at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, there was only one hate site1 but today, the Simon Wiesenthal Center2 and the Anti-Defamation League3 have documented about 2,800 hate sites. The Internet has put the problem of incendiary hate into sharp relief, raising many difficult political, legal and social questions" (Leets, 2001, p. 287-288).
If you quote more than four lines in your paper, you should remove the quotation marks; indent two tabs on the left, and double space. Notice that you punctuate a quote differently when it appears in an indented block.
Hate-based Web sites have grown dramatically in recent years. In 1995 at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, there was only one hate site1 but today, the Simon Wiesenthal Center2 and the Anti-Defamation League3 have documented about 2,800 hate sites. The Internet has put the problem of incendiary hate into sharp relief, raising many difficult political, legal and social questions. (Leets, 2001, p. 287-288)
You may shorten it, leaving the quotation marks intact, like this:
"Hate-based Web sites have grown dramatically in recent years. In 1995 at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, there was only one hate site1 but today, the Simon Wiesenthal Center2 and the Anti-Defamation League3 have documented about 2,800 hate sites" (Leets, 2001, p. 287-288).
Or you may use a partial quote along with other adjacent information:
From only one cyber hate site at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 to more than 2,800 by 2001, "The Internet has put the problem of incendiary hate into sharp relief, raising many difficult political, legal, and social questions" (Leets, 2001, p.287-288).
In any of the above cases, you may use a signal phrase that includes the author’s name and omit the author’s name from the parenthetical citation, like this:
In an article in the Spring 2001 edition of Communication Law & Policy, Laura Leets writes “Hate-based Web sites have grown dramatically in recent years. In 1995 at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, there was only one hate site1 but today, the Simon Wiesenthal Center2 and the Anti-Defamation League3 have documented about 2,800 hate sites” (p. 287-288).
Paraphrasing
A paraphrase is...
· your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.
· one legitimate way to borrow from a source.
· a more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.
Paraphrasing is the most challenging way to use a source if you want to avoid plagiarism.
When you paraphrase, you put the thought entirely into your own words.
A common mistake writers make when paraphrasing is to simply substitute synonyms into the original work. Remember that you must alter sentence structure as well.
Original:
"Hate-based Web sites have grown dramatically in recent years. In 1995 at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, there was only on hate site1 but today, the Simon Wiesenthal Center2 and the Anti-Defamation League3 have documented about 2,800 hate sites. The Internet has put the problem of incendiary hate into sharp relief, raising many difficult political, legal and social questions" (Leets, 2001, p. 287-288).
Here's an example of a plagiarized paraphrase:
Hate-based Internet sites have grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. In 1995 at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, there was only one website devoted to hate, but today, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Anti-Defamation League have listed about 2,800 hate sites. The Electronic Highway has put the problem of fiery hate into sharp focus, raising many difficult political, legal and social questions (Leets, 2001, p. 287-288).
Summarizing
A summary should be shorter than the original passage - much shorter, about one third (1/3) of the original passage.
The summary should keep the author's original message in mind. Make sure your summary does not change the intent of the piece.
The original passage:
Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.
A legitimate paraphrase:
In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester, 1976, p. 46-47).
An acceptable summary:
Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester, 1976, p. 46-47).
A plagiarized version:
Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.
