|
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism means using and/or taking credit for someone else's work, whether intentionally or not. Some kinds of plagiarism are more extensive (and considered more serious) than others, but all forms of plagiarism are considered grounds for academic discipline (failing an assignment, a class, suspension, or even expulsion).
Someone else's work means more than just words. It also means pictures, art, graphics, music, data, charts and graphs, and any other "original" idea, research, or creation. When deciding whether to cite something or not, it's better to be safe than sorry!
Here are a few different kinds of plagiarism (citation 1):
- Fraud: submitting a paper written by someone else
- Patch-writing: using words and phrases from a source text (that may or may not be acknowledged), and patching them together into new sentences
- Failure to cite: not acknowledging the sources of words or information.
- Failure to quote: not providing quotation marks for direct quotes
Or another way to look at it (citation 2):
How to Avoid It
Avoid plagiarism by knowing what plagiarism is: ignorance is not an excuse! (i.e. Don't expect to say, "I didn't know cutting and pasting from a web page was plagiarism" and get away with it.)
Make sure you cite any original idea that did not come from you. Don't assume that something is common knowledge just because you knew it before you read it.
Give credit whenever you use someone else's ideas, opinions, facts, graphs, drawings, songs, movies, etc., not just their actual written or spoken words.
Be careful when paraphrasing. Learn to recognize the difference between acceptable paraphrasing (captures the main ideas in recognizably different words and phrases) and unacceptable paraphrasing (simply substitutes a few words and/or rearranges words and sentences) (citation 3). Either way, you have to cite paraphrases as well.
What to Cite:
| Quotes |
Yes, needs citation |
Remember - make sure you quote exact words and phrases accurately. Use elipses accurately if necessary. |
| Paraphrases |
Yes, needs citation |
Remember- paraphrasing is more than simply rearranging a sentence or changing a few words. |
| Facts |
Yes, needs citation |
Facts that are not common knowledge and are specifically referenced in someone else's work need to be referenced. |
| Opinions |
Sometimes |
If the opinions are original and based on unique research, observations, and/or thought processes, they need to be cited. |
| Common Knowledge |
No citation needed |
Common knowledge is defined as facts that can be found in numerous places and are likely to be known by a lot of people. |
BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY!!!
When in doubt, cite. Also, ask your teacher or librarian for help.
Words and phrases are not the only thing you have to cite! You need to cite any work created by someone else. This means:
- Music
- Images
- Graphs and Diagrams
- Artwork and Illustrations
- Websites
So...
- If you find an image on the internet and use it in a powerpoint presentation, you have to cite it, (unless it's copyright free clipart).
- If you use a graph or diagram on a website and use it to support your research, you have to cite it.
- If you use a clip of music in a video presentation, you have to cite it.
|
Citations:
- http://www1.hollins.edu/Docs/Academics/writingcenter/defplagiarism.htm
- http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research/r_plagiar.html
- http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml
|
