Plagiarism what it is and how to avoid it

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Plagiarismwhat it is and how to avoid it

• Cathy Perkins
• Horrmann Library
• Spring 2008

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Wagner Academic Honesty Policy

• Student Academic Honesty Handbook
• http//www.wagner.edu/provost/filestore2/download/
  30/honesty20handbook.pdf
• The Wagner Academic Honesty Policy is also
  located in every Student Bulletin
• http//www.wagner.edu/registrar/catalogue_bulleti
  n
• 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.

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Wagner Academic Honesty Policy

• The two main types of dishonesty are plagiarism
  and cheating.
• Plagiarism is presenting as ones 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.

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What do you know about plagiarism?(10 question
pre-test)
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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

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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

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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. Purdues 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.

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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
  non-experts 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.

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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

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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 authors 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 authors text.

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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 authors 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 authors ideas must be
  cited even if it has been substantially
  re-expressed.

From What is Plagiarism? http//library.csusm.ed
u/plagiarism/WhatIs/what_is_para.htm
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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).

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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/studen
ts/
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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)

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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
  speakers name in your notes right away

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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/sear
chpath/mod6/06-tips-plag.html
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Citing Your Sources

• Horrmann Library Website http//www.wagner.edu/lib
  rary
• 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!

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What is Acceptable Use?Test Yourself