Plagiarism
it is and how to avoid it
Cathy Perkins Horrmann Library Spring 2008
…what
Wagner Academic Honesty Policy
Student Academic Honesty Handbook The Wagner Academic Honesty Policy is also located in every Student Bulletin
http://www.wagner.edu/provost/filestore2/download/30/honesty%20handbook.pdf
http://www.wagner.edu/registrar/catalogue_bulletin
“Students are solely responsible for informing themselves about acceptable forms of academic conduct. Lack of knowledge of citation procedures, for example, is not an excuse for plagiarism.”
Wagner Academic Honesty Policy
“The two main types of dishonesty are plagiarism and cheating.” “Plagiarism is presenting as one‟s own work, words or ideas of another without proper citations or credits.” “All work that comes from other sources must be properly acknowledged, and even if the work of others is paraphrased it should be clearly noted.”
What do you know about plagiarism? (10 question pre-test)
Common Knowledge
There is no clear boundary on what is considered common knowledge. Even experts on plagiarism disagree on what counts as common knowledge.
many people only consider facts — current and historical events, famous people, geographic areas, etc. — to be potentially common knowledge others also include nonfactual material such as folklore and common sayings some people limit common knowledge to only information known by others in your class
Common Knowledge: Criteria
There are two (2) criteria for determining common knowledge:
QUANTITY: the fact can be found in numerous places UBIQUITY: the fact is likely to be known by a lot of people
Quantity
How do you tell if you have met the quantity criteria? Some experts say that a fact is common knowledge if it can be found in three independent sources. Purdue‟s Online Writing Lab recommends finding five independent sources before considering a fact common knowledge. As you do more research on a topic, you are likely to discover which facts count as common knowledge because you will encounter these facts in many places.
Ubiquity
How do you tell if a fact is ubiquitous? Some facts may be well known within one discipline and papers written within that group may assume the information is commonly known. That same piece of information used in other situations or by „nonexperts‟ may require attribution. A good rule of thumb is to acknowledge ideas which are not common knowledge among your peers such as the other students in the course for which you are writing the paper.
Common Knowledge: Best Practices
If you are not sure, assume that an idea is
not common knowledge and cite the source. It is much easier to remove a
citation than it is to hunt down a citation and try to add it later. Finally, when in doubt, check with your professor.
Common Knowledge content from Plagiarism Prevention for Students, Cal State San Marcos
Library http://library.csusm.edu/plagiarism/index.html
Paraphrasing
Many people believe that putting a piece of text or an idea into „their own words‟ avoids the issue of plagiarism. This is called paraphrasing. The purpose of paraphrase is often to summarize or simplify the author‟s ideas, making them easier to understand, more approachable. You might also use paraphrase to emphasize a particular idea or train of thought from the original author‟s text.
Paraphrasing Pitfalls
Close paraphrase, where trivial changes are made such as substituting similar words or changing the sentence order, is essentially the same as copying the author’s words directly. This is not enough to count as an original expression of the idea and is still considered a form of exact copy plagiarism. Original Idea: any type of paraphrase that includes the original author‟s ideas must be cited even if it has been substantially re-expressed.
From “What is Plagiarism?” http://library.csusm.edu/plagiarism/WhatIs/what_is_para.htm
How to Paraphrase
Original source: “If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists” Source: Language of the Apes, by Flora Davis, London: Routledge, 2008, p.26. Incorrectly paraphrased in paper: If an ape that could sign was disturbing for linguists, it was also a surprise for animal behaviorists. Correctly paraphrased in paper: According to Flora Davis, linguists and animal behaviorists were unprepared for the news that a chimp could communicate with its trainers through sign language (Davis, 26).
Direct Quoting
Accurately quote the original author's words. Enclose the quotation within quotation marks. Follow quotation using an in-text citation [e.g., (Miller, 2006, p. 276)], the format of an in-text citation varies by citation style. Introduce the quotation with a 'signal phrase' [e.g., Miller states that “….”]. A list of references with full citation information is also required at the end of the paper.
From “Avoiding Plagiarism: A Guide for Students,” http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/plagiarism/students/
How to use a Direct Quote
Original source: "Buddhadasa's conception of human beings as active controllers of their own material and spiritual progress is most clearly presented in his view of work as integrating both social and spiritual activity." Source: Buddhadasa: A Buddhist thinker for the modern world by Peter Jackson. Bangkok, Thailand: Siam Society, 1988. p. 200. Correctly cited direct quotation in the text of a paper: Jackson (1988) notes, "Buddhadasa's conception of human beings as active controllers of their own material and spiritual progress is most clearly presented in his view of work as integrating both social and spiritual activity." (p. 200)
Reading and Taking Notes
Plagiarism prevention begins as soon as you begin reading Save yourself time and trouble by taking notes from what you read, and include the citation information, page numbers, and author or speaker’s name in your notes right away
Five Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism
Use your own ideas. It should be your paper and your ideas that should be the focus. Use the ideas of others sparingly--only to support or reinforce your own argument. When taking notes, include complete citation information for each item you use. Use quotation marks when directly stating another person's words. Take 30 minutes and write a short draft of your paper without using any notes. It will help you think through what you want to say and help prevent your being too dependent upon your sources.
From Owens Library SearchPath Tutorial, http://www.nwmissouri.edu/library/courses/communication/searchpath/mod6/06-tips-plag.html
Citing Your Sources
Horrmann Library Website http://www.wagner.edu/library Use the Citation Management Tools link: this will bring you to the library blog entry on citation tools. At the bottom are links for Online Style Manuals (in APA, MLA, and Chicago formats)
Questions? Ask your professor, a librarian, or a writing tutor!
What is Acceptable Use? Test Yourself