Download Plagiarism: What it is and how to avoid it

Plagiarism: What it is and how to avoid it
For this and other courses, you will be required to complete written assignments. Many of these
assignments require that you conduct library and/or Web research. You will need to use information
from sources that you find in the library and on the Web. When you use this information, you must give
credit to the author (s) who first published the information, by citing the author(s) in the text of your
paper. Failure to do this constitutes plagiarism, the consequences of which may be found in the Code of
Student Conduct, and which include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, and/or expulsion
from the University.
What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own” or to “use (a
created production) without crediting the source” or “to commit literary theft: present as new and original
an idea or product derived from an existing source” (Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1989, p.
898).
--If you copy, NEARLY word for word, material from any source, including web sites, without citing the
source and the page number of the source, you have plagiarized the material. Changing one or two
words still requires a page number.
--If you copy, word for word, material from any source, including web sites, without using quotation
marks “like this,” and without citing the source and the page number of the source, you have plagiarized
the material.
–If you paraphrase the material but do not cite the source from which the information came, you have
plagiarized.
–If you download a preexisting paper from the Web and turn it in as your own work, you have
plagiarized.
--If you turn in a modified paper downloaded from the Web and turn it in as your own work, you have
plagiarized.
–If you turn in a paper written by another student from a previous semester, you have plagiarized.
–If you turn in a modified paper written by another student from a previous semester, you have
plagiarized.
–If you turn in as your own a paper written for you by another student, you have plagiarized.
–If you turn in your own paper written for another class (using the exact same paper twice for two
different classes), you have been academically dishonest. This also pertains to extra credit: turning in a
paper written for one professor/class for extra credit in another different class is academically dishonest.
–Cutting and pasting from web sites is most definitely plagiarism.
How can I avoid plagiarism?
Paraphrasing
When you use web and print materials for a research paper, you must paraphrase the information.
The word paraphrase means “ a restatement of a text, passage, or work giving the meaning in another
form” (Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1989, p. 854). You must restate the information in
your own words. This often involves combining information from two or more reference sources to
produce one thought or phrase. A good way to ensure that you have paraphrased information is to make
notes from your sources on note cards or paper in your own words, carefully noting from which source
you took the information. Then, when you write the paper, rephrase it again in your own words. This
way, you ensure that the likelihood of plagiarism is very remote.
Paraphrased information, just like direct quotes, must be cited in the text of your paper, unless it
is common knowledge. Little of what you write for this class falls into that category. There are many
ways in which citations may be done. Check the MLA or APA style or ask your professor which style he
or she requires.
Example: La Niña climate events usually follow El Niño events (Thurman and Trujillo, 2004).
This sentence is paraphrased from the textbook Introductory Oceanography by Thurman and Trujillo.
Thus, they must receive credit for the information.
Using direct quotes correctly
If you take a direct quote from a source, you must cite the source, including the page number
from which you took the quote. You must also place the direct quote in “quotation marks.” Check the
MLA or APA style or ask your professor which style he or she requires.
Example: “La Niña conditions commonly occur following an El Niño” (Thurman and Trujillo, 2004, p.
250).
Citing specific numbers or other data
If you take specific data from a source, such as a number, percentage, or other specific
information, you must cite the source, including the page number from which you took the information.
Check the MLA or APA style or ask your professor which style he or she requires.
Example 1: According to Babcock (1996, p. 92), more than 150 species of trilobites are known from
Ohio.
Example 2: More than 150 species of trilobites are known from Ohio (Babcock, 1996, p. 92).
Notice that there are two ways that this, or any other citation, can be worded.
Important Point: Do not use textbooks as a model for citation of works. Textbook authors typically cite
illustrations taken directly from other works but typically do not fully incorporate citations within the text
because the text would become too cumbersome to read. Usually textbooks have a list of references at
the end of each chapter or at the end of the book. This is accepted practice for textbooks, but not for any
other type of paper or manuscript.
Bibliography, Works Cited, or References page
All of the sources cited in your text must appear in a bibliography at the end of your paper.
Works not cited should not appear in the bibliography. Use MLA, APA or other style as directed by
your professor.
A special note on Web Site Plagiarism
One of the most common types of plagiarism is cutting and pasting from Web sites. DO NOT
DO THIS! YOUR PROFESSORS WILL FIND IT! Many students either cut and paste or copy directly
from web sites, often without citation of the web site. Other students have taken direct quotes from web
sites, and then have cited another source (!!!) in its place. It is just as easy for an instructor to find
plagiarized web material as it is for you to find the material in the first place. Google works wonders in
finding material plagiarized from the Web. All a professor need do is type in part of a suspected
plagiarized sentence, and the source for it will pop up in Google.
1. If you take information from web sites, you must cite the web site just as you would any other source.
2. You must either paraphrase information from web sites or put quotation marks around direct quotes,
just as for print sources, and cite the source.
Other types of Academic Dishonesty
-- Attempting to order instructor copies of text books from publishers is academically dishonest.
Publishers contact the KSU bookstores to verify whether a person is an instructor for the course; thus,
these attempts fail.
-- Many professors require that you use at least some scholarly journal articles in your work. It is not
academically honest to cite these scholarly journal articles when you did not use them.
-- It is not academically honest to use the title of an article from a non-scholarly article along with the
name of a scholarly journal in a citation. This is inventing a citation.
-- It is not academically honest to use information from a non-scholarly journal, book, website, or other
non-scholarly source and cite a scholarly journal article for that information.
-- Do not cite a book, article, or other print reference when the material was taken from a website.