Plagiarism

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Plagiarism What it is and how to avoid it

• Waubonsee Community College

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What is plagiarism?

• Plagiarism
• presenting another persons words or ideas as
  your own,
• whether
• intentionally through outright cheating or
• unintentionally through inaccurate or incomplete
  documentation.

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Plagiarism is lying

• Plagiarism is more than the borrowing of mere
  words plagiarism involves using ideas, theories,
  insights, work products, projects and images
  created by others, but claiming that they come
  from you.
• If an idea comes from another author or
  organization, the audience of your writing
  deserves to know the truth.

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Plagiarism is theft

• Plagiarism involves claiming someone elses
  intellectual property as your own. The original
  creators lose their chance to be recognized as
  contributors to an idea and the plagiarist
  attempts to appear credible and intelligent
  through an act of theft.

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Plagiarism in non-college writing

• Other kinds of writing borrow ideas and phrases
  liberally from outside sources without credit.
• Blogs
• Organizational websites
• Commercial information
• Newspaper editorials
• But thats why those sources are often less
  credible
• An article that doesnt cite its sources doesnt
  allow its readers to check where its information
  comes from
• An organizational or commercial piece of writing,
  by the Susan G. Komen organization or by the
  British Petroleum company may make unsupported
  assertions that they cant provide credible
  evidence for.

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Plagiarism in college writing

• Academic writers base their credibility on their
  knowledge about their discipline
• Knowledge about the discipline comes from reading
  current, credible, well-argued sources
• Therefore, your credibility in college writing
  depends on what sources you have read and how you
  present those sources in your writing.
• Your readers can tell that you have thought about
  your sources and really figured out which ideas
  are right and know why they are right, when you
  tell your readers what information in your own
  paper comes from those sources.
• If you dont tell readers where your information
  comes from, your college readers are less likely
  to believe your assertions and your basis for
  making those assertions.

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Critical thinking

• In many college classes, students dont just read
  something and repeat it to other readers in a
  sort of report.
• Instead, students are asked to process
  information from their readings, compare one idea
  to other things theyve read and seen, connect
  ideas to one another in new ways, or interpret
  information with appropriate lenses.
• These kinds of writing activities are called
  analysis or argument or evaluations or
  proposals or something like that.
• Writers must cite and interact with sources in
  these kinds of papers so that readers can see the
  ideas that the writers are processing, comparing,
  connecting and interpreting.
• Without such citations, writers compromise their
  credibility and appear to be non-critical
  thinkers.

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Examples of plagiarism include

• Handing in a paper or assignment (in part or in
  whole) written by someone else
• Incorporating information from a book, article,
  web site, or any other source without documenting
  the source
• Inaccurate or incomplete documentation of the
  source of any information
• Combining some cited and some non-cited
  information in a paper.

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What is not plagiarism?

• The learning process often calls upon students to
  work collaboratively or seek outside assistance
  such work does not fall within the bounds of
  plagiarism.
• Be sure to check with your teacher about what is
  expected of you in collaborative assignments.

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Examples of work that is not plagiarism include

• Working on a group project
• Seeking assistance from the Writing Assistance
  Center
• Asking another student to read over your work and
  offer his or her opinion
• Consulting with an instructor on a paper or
  assignment

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Why is plagiarism such a concern?

• When a student takes a shortcut to completing an
  assignment or hands in someone elses work, he or
  she has missed the opportunity to learn.
• Failing to cite sources indicates a lack of
  respect for the educational project being
  undertaken in the class.
• Students who cheat may find later that they may
  have to use the very skills and abilities the
  assignment was designed for them to learn, namely
  critical thinking and source analysis.

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Why is plagiarism such a concern?

• Plagiarism also harms everyone else.
• Your education is meaningful if the world
  believes that students do their own work. If the
  world believes that students dont do their own
  work, a college degree becomes less valuable.
• If employers or other colleges start to think
  that Waubonsee allows cheating to take place,
  then everyones degrees and classes here are
  suspect.

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How can you avoid plagiarism?

• There are several ways you can avoid plagiarism.
  Many are common sense, but others require that
  you learn the conventions and procedures of
  standard citation and documentation.

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How can you avoid plagiarism?

• As you prepare a paper or assignment
• Keep careful records of the sources you consult.
  If you record this information as you work, you
  will avoid needless searching later on.

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How can you avoid plagiarism?

• As you prepare a paper or assignment
• Familiarize yourself with the instructors and
  the disciplines preferred method of citation and
  documentation. In English 101 and 102, you will
  learn about MLA and APA documentation formats.
  Ask your other instructors what methods they
  think are appropriate for their assignments. If
  you need additional assistance, Waubonsee offers
  workshops on research writing and the services of
  tutors in the Writing Assistance Center.

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How can you avoid plagiarism?

• As you prepare a paper or assignment
• Learn what falls within the limits of common
  knowledge. Common knowledge generally consists
  of facts and information widely known and
  uncontroversial.

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How can you avoid plagiarism?

• As you prepare a paper or assignment
• When in doubt, cite it! If you are not sure
  whether or not the information would be
  considered common knowledge, either ask your
  instructor or cite it to be safe.

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How can you avoid plagiarism?

• As you prepare a paper or assignment
• Place quotation marks around words that are not
  your own, even if youve documented the source at
  the end of the paper or assignment. Quotation
  marks indicate that you are using someone elses
  language, and you need to include exactly where
  the information appeared (i.e. page number, web
  address, etc.)

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How can you avoid plagiarism?

• As you prepare a paper or assignment
• Be careful when you paraphrase information.
  Paraphrasing refers to including someone elses
  information in your own words. Learn what makes
  for an appropriate paraphrase and remember to
  cite even though you may have changed the
  language, the author still owns the ideas behind
  the language.

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How can you avoid plagiarism?

• Before you hand in a paper or assignment
• Keep copies of drafts, outlines, and any other
  planning documents you used in preparing course
  assignments. If any questions arise, you will
  then have evidence youve done your own work.
• Double-check your documentation and citation form
  for accuracy. Read through the paper or
  assignment asking yourself Did I know this
  before I began my research? Would I have
  expressed this the same way had I not been
  exposed to my sources? Does every quotation or
  paraphrase clearly indicate the source? Are
  paraphrases representative of my own language
  use?

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How can you avoid plagiarism?

• After you hand in a paper or assignment
• Keep a dated copy for yourself. In case
  questions arise, you will have a record of the
  completed version.
• Do not allow others to hand in your work as their
  own. Allowing others to misrepresent their work
  is also plagiarism and truly undermines the hard
  work you have put into the learning process.

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What are the consequences for plagiarizing?

• The penalty for plagiarizing will be determined
  by the instructor. Penalties vary depending on
  the severity of the incident, whether it was
  outright theft or faulty documentation. However,
  lack of knowledge regarding documentation is no
  excuse for plagiarism. Penalties may include
  receiving a grade of F for the course, receiving
  an F on the assignment, or referral to the
  Student Conduct Board. The Student Conduct Board
  may require plagiarizers to take a class, or the
  board may suspend or expel repeat offenders

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Forms of plagiarismAn example

• Original source
• The following text is an excerpt from a book by
  Michael Lewis called The Big Short.
• The line between gambling and investing is
  artificial and thin. The soundest investment has
  the defining trait of a bet (you losing all of
  your money in hopes of making a bit more), and
  the wildest speculation has the salient
  characteristic of an investment (you might get
  your money back with interest). Maybe the best
  definition of investing is gambling with the
  odds in your favor. The people on the short
  side of the subprime mortgage market had gambled
  with the odds in their favor. The people on the
  other side the entire financial system,
  essentially had gambled with the odds against
  them. Up to this point, the story of the big
  short could not be simpler. Whats strange and
  complicated about it, however, is that pretty
  much all the important people on both sides of
  the gamble left the table rich.

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Forms of plagiarismAn example

• Version 1 (Plagiarism) This version is direct
  plagiarism. It copies the text verbatim and
  fails to acknowledge the source in any way.
• Investing can be a risky business. The line
  between gambling and investing is artificial and
  thin. The soundest investment has the defining
  trait of a bet (you losing all of your money in
  hopes of making a bit more), and the wildest
  speculation has the salient characteristic of an
  investment (you might get your money back with
  interest). Maybe the best definition of
  investing is gambling with the odds in your
  favor.

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Forms of plagiarismAn example

• Version 2 (Plagiarism) This version is another
  form of plagiarism, although less direct. It is
  a paraphrase of the original version, but the
  ideas still need to be acknowledged as coming
  from an outside source.
• Investing can be a risky business. It is
  actually a lot like gambling. Even a good
  investment is a lot like a bet, and the craziest
  bet looks a lot like an investment. Good
  investors have figured out how to gamble with the
  odds in their favor.

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Forms of plagiarismAn example

• Version 3 (Plagiarism) This version quotes
  verbatim, but doesnt use quotation marks to
  indicate that the material is a direct quotation.
  A reader may believe that much of the
  information is the students therefore, it is
  plagiarism. The parenthetical citation at the
  end is not sufficient to show the reader which
  information is from Lewis.
• Investing can be a risky business. It is
  actually a lot like gambling. The soundest
  investment has the defining trait of a bet (you
  losing all of your money in hopes of making a bit
  more), and the wildest speculation has the
  salient characteristic of an investment (you
  might get your money back with interest). Maybe
  the best definition of investing is gambling
  with the odds in your favor. Even a good
  investment is a lot like a bet, and the craziest
  bet looks a lot like an investment. Good
  investors have figured out how to gamble with the
  odds in their favor. (Lewis, 256)

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Forms of plagiarismAn example

• Version 4 (Could be better) This version is
  paraphrased, and the source is acknowledged, so
  it is not exactly plagiarism. However, a
  reader will be unclear until the end of this
  paragraph that the information comes from an
  outside source. And a reader will be unclear
  which information comes from that source
• Investing can be a risky business. It is
  actually a lot like gambling. Even a good
  investment is a lot like a bet, and the craziest
  bet looks a lot like an investment. Good
  investors have figured out how to gamble with the
  odds in their favor. (Lewis, 256)

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Forms of plagiarismAn example

• Version 5 (BEST) This version makes it clear
  from the start where the information comes from
  and does so in a fluent and engaging way using a
  signal phrase to introduce the original author,
  and to remind the reader that all of these ideas
  are Lewiss, not the paper writers .
• Investing can be risky business, as Michael Lewis
  explains in his book, The Big Short, The line
  between gambling and investing is artificial and
  thin (256). Lewis explains that even good
  investments have a chance to lose all of their
  money, and even risky bets offer gamblers a
  chance to increase their money. But in the end,
  Lewis claims, Good investors have figured out
  how to gamble with the odds in their favor (256).

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And of course, the book must be entered on a
works cited page in MLA style as well

• Works Cited
• Lewis, Michael. The Big Short Inside the
  Doomsday Machine. New York W.W. Norton, 2010.
  Print.