Avoiding Plagiarism in College Papers

1
AvoidingPlagiarismin College Papers

• Kathryn Mincey, Associate Professor of English
• Morehead State University

2
Recent ABC News Reports

• A Cheating Crisis in American Schools, April
  29, 2004
• http//abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id132376p
  age1
• Big Cheats on Campus, Nov. 19, 2004
  http//abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id264646page
  1
• Is America a Country of Copy Cats? May 7,
  2004http//abcnews.go.com/US/story?id91391page
  1
• Grandmother Confesses to Cheating in 1957,Feb.
  2, 2005http//abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id4661
  42
• CQ Researcher Is the Internet Causing More
  Students to Copy?
• CQ Researcher Should Educators Use Commercial
  Services to Combat Plagiarism?
• 
  
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center
  Using Sources
• http//www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/QuotingSourc
  es.html

3
Two Types of Plagiarism

• Intentional knowingly presenting others words,
  ideas, or intellectual property as ones own
• Unintentional - resulting from either
• Lack of instruction on responsible handling of
  sources, or
• Past misinstruction on responsible handling of
  sources
• Carelessness, inattention

4
Guess What?

• Students need to know that
• Many professors make no distinction between
  intentional and accidental plagiarism
• and
• The academic and professional penalty may likely
  be the same.
• Failing the assignment
• Failing the course
• Suspension from school

5
About Intentional PlagiarismA Bad Idea

• Its dishonest
• Stealing someones words or ideas is just as
  immoral as stealing his girlfriend or hubcaps!
• Its extremely easy to detect
• It robs the student of a learning experience to
  gain skills that will be essential later in
  college and on the job
• It can haunt one later in life, destroying ones
  professional credibility

6
About Intentional PlagiarismIts an Unnecessary
Risk

• Most instructors respect a struggling student
  whos acting in good faith and seeking help
• Requesting guidance is not only an effective way
  of getting it right, but also of calling
  attention to your effort

7
Resisting the Temptation of Intentional
Plagiarism

• Overcome barriers to self-confidence
• Make sure you understand the assignment by
  asking the instructor for a detailed written
  description
• Purpose and Audience
• Number of sources required
• Documentation style
• Evaluation rubric
• Request to view models of successful
• projects

8
Resisting the Temptation of Intentional
Plagiarism

• Assume personal investment by
• Selecting a topic with individual relevancy
• Not procrastinating or looking for an easy way
  out
• Doing some primary research
• Asking the instructor if you can use your own
  voice
• Requesting instructor review of preliminary work
• Selecting a specific audience

9
What is UnintentionalPlagiarism?

• Careless handling of material from a source
• It comes in two varieties
• Texthugging an unacceptable hybrid of direct
  quotation and paraphrasing
• Acceptable and unacceptable paraphrasing (POWL)
• Successful vs. unsuccessful paraphrases (UW-M WC)
• Lack of attribution signals - failure to supply
  an in-text clue to a source even if the source
  appears in the Works Cited or Bibliography

10
AvoidingUnintentional Plagiarism

• Responsible reading and notetaking by recording
  notes that distinguish between quoting and
  paraphrasing (but are primarily paraphrased)
• Avoiding Texthugging by reconstructing and
  blending ideas from sources with original
  analysis, carefully distinguishing quotations
  from paraphrases and providing attribution
  signals