What is Plagiarism?

To use another persons ideas or

expressions in your writing without
acknowledging the source is to
plagiarize. Plagiarism, then, constitutes
intellectual theft

Gibaldi, J. and Achert, W. S. (1995). MLA handbook for
writers of research papers, (4
th
ed.). New York: The
Modern Language Association.

What is Plagiarism?




Plagiarism is presenting someone else's
words or ideas as your own. The following
are all examples of plagiarism:
Quoting or paraphrasing material without
citing the source of that material. Sources can
include Web sites, magazines, newspapers,
textbooks, journals, TV and radio programs,
movies and videos, photographs and
drawings, charts and graphs; any information
or ideas that are not your own.
From: Student guide to avoiding plagiarism www.educationworld.com
What is Plagiarism?

Quoting a source without using quotation marks
-- even if you do cite it.
Buying a paper online or downloading a paper
from a free site.
Copying or using work done by another
student.
Citing sources you didn't use.
Turning in the same paper for more than one
class without the permission of both teachers.

From: Student guide to avoiding plagiarism www.educationworld.com



Take The Plagiarism Test*
Read the following passage from Bruce
Cattons The Civil War, page 285, New
York: Fairfax Press, 1980.



*From: The University of Michigan Undergraduate Library
On Good Friday evening, April 14, driven by an
insane compulsion of hatred and perverted
loyalty to a cause which he had never felt
obliged to fight for as a soldier Booth strode
into the Presidents box at Fords Theatre in
Washington, fired a bullet into Lincolns brain,
vaulted from the box to the stage, and rode off
desperately through the night, fancying that if
he could just reach Confederate territory he
would be hailed as a hero and a savior.






1. What portion of that paragraph
is common knowledge?
2. Is this correctly done or has
some plagiarism taken place?

Booth shot Lincoln in the head then
jumped onto the stage, escaped from
the Fords Theatre, and rode off into
the night. He dreamed that if he could
only reach the South he would be called
a demigod by the Confederates.
Suggested Answer #2
This is simply a loose paraphrasing of
Cattons words. Since no credit is given
to Catton for the ideas, this is indeed
plagiarism.
3. Is this correctly done or has
some plagiarism taken place?

John Wilkes Booth chose Good Friday to
strike his first blow as a so-called
soldier for the South. On the night of
April 14, 1865 he murdered President
Lincoln in the Fords Theatre.
Suggested Answer #3
This highlights little known facts of the
assassination such as that it took place
on Good Friday, that Booth never
fought for the Confederacy, and the
specific date. Since those facts are not
common knowledge and are not
credited to Catton, this too is
plagiarism.
4. Is this correctly done or has
some plagiarism taken place?
John Wilkes Booth murdered President
Lincoln in the Fords Theatre, then
jumped onto the stage and left the
building. Although Booth never fought
in the Confederate Army, he was driven
by an insane compulsion of hatred and
a perverted loyalty when he broke the
peace of that Good Friday evening
(Catton, 1980).
Suggested Answer #4
In this case the items of common knowledge
are listed, properly, without reference to
Catton. The direct quote from Catton is in
quotation marks but the citation does not
appear until the end of the sentence. That
indicates that both those specific words and
those specific facts (that Booth was never a
soldier, and Good Friday) are Cattons.
How Can Students Avoid
Plagiarism?
Give credit whenever you use:

Another persons idea, opinion, or theory;
Any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings any
pieces of information that are not common
knowledge;
Quotations of another persons actual spoken
or written words; or
Paraphrase of another persons spoken or
written word.

Used with permission from The Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html



Strategies for Avoiding
Plagiarism
Put in quotations everything that comes
directly from the text, especially when taking
notes.
Paraphrase, but be sure you are not just
rearranging or replacing a few words.
Check your paraphrase against the original
text to be sure you have not accidentally
used the same phrases or words, and that
the information is accurate.

Used with permission from The Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html

Note Taking

The best way to avoid plagiarism is to take
careful notes. When taking notes, always do
the following:
First, read the entire text and summarize it in
your own words. Then paraphrase important
points and copy usable quotes. Enclose
quotes in quotation marks.
Carefully distinguish between material that is
quoted, material that is paraphrased, material
that is summarized, and your own words and
ideas. Consider using different colored ink for
each type of source.
From: Student guide to avoiding plagiarism www.educationworld.com

Note Taking

Include in your notes all the information you
will need to cite your sources.
Copy all source information into your working
bibliography using the format your teacher
has provided.
Print any Web pages you use. Write the URL
and the date on the Web page if it isn't
included on the printout.
Save all your notes and printouts until you
receive your final grade.

From: Student guide to avoiding plagiarism www.educationworld.com

Writing the Paper

The following tips on the writing process also
will help you avoid plagiarism.
Read your notes carefully and make sure you
understand the material before you begin to
write.
Write a preliminary draft without looking at
your notes. Leave spaces where you think
you'll want to include quotes or supporting
material.

From: Student guide to avoiding plagiarism www.educationworld.com

Writing the Paper

Use your own words as much as possible. No
one expects you to write like an expert or a
professional writer. You should, however,
write like a serious, intelligent student.
Cite all sources as you write your rough draft.
Read through your final draft and make sure
all uncited ideas are your own.

From: Student guide to avoiding plagiarism www.educationworld.com


QUESTIONS?
Definition of Copyright

The legal right to control
every way of producing a
version of an original piece of
work, such as a book, play,
film, photograph or piece of
music.

Examples of Using Copyright
as a Noun
Under American law, a song remains in copyright
for 75 years after publication.
His work is no longer protected by copyright.
The school was sued for breach of/infringing
copyright (disobeying copyright laws) after a
teacher photocopied some textbooks.
Who owns/holds the copyright in the play?
The symbol shows that something is protected by
copyright.

From the Cambridge International Dictionary of English)
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=copyright
Detection Software: A
Few Choices


1) Turnitin (www.turnitin.com)

A plagiarism prevention system used by
hundreds of institutions worldwide
Checks submitted papers against a
database, which exceeds 100 million Web pages
Software scans the paper and reports on
originality (on a scale from 1 to 5).
Cost? It varies depending on the institution
and number of users. Anywhere from a single
subscription at $100/yr, to $13,000 for a large
University.

2. WordCheck
(www.wordchecksystems.com)
A protected database of digital documents, available
only to the individual user of the software
The database is referred to as a "Library," and
organizes documents into "Categories" selected by an
individual user.
New documents are automatically compared to all
other documents in the Library
Cost? Between $295 ($149 academic price*) for
individuals and $1,295 ($897 academic price*) for
departments
Plagiarism Search Services: A
Few Choices

1. Plagiarism.org
(www.plagiarism.org)
Compares student text to a database of
papers, Internet databases, and web pages
Provides a report which highlights
suspicious phrases
Cost? Annual fee of $150.00 plus $1 per
document submitted
2. ItegriGuard (www.integriguard.com) -
Provides two different services:
HowOriginal.com and PaperBin.com
HowOriginal.com is similar to plagiarism.orgs
service
Cost of HowOriginal.com? Free
PaperBin.com is a service subscribed to by an
instructor, who has his/her students submit
papers to the site for detection
Cost of PaperBin.com? $4.95 per month

Education
1. Talk openly with students about
plagiarism. Define it and give examples.

2. Discuss copyright and the Internet.

3. Teach bibliographic citation.
Education
4. Structure a research assignment so that
various deadlines are due at different
times.
5. Discourage projects that ask students
to simply gather facts about a topic.


Lincoln, Margaret (2002, Jan-Feb). Internet plagiarism:
an agenda for staff inservice and student awareness.
Multimedia Schools, 9, 46-49.
Plagiarism Web Sites

This is site from Naples High School Media Center on plagiarism
and citing sources:
http://collierschools.com/nhs/lmc/citations.htm
Easybib.com provides a free, online service that creates
citations in MLA or APA style. http://www.easybib.com
Michael Spears has developed this page with definitions of
plagiarism and how to avoid plagiarizing works.
http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~mspears/plagiarism.html
The Writing Tutorial Services at Indiana University in
Bloomington, IN created this site with definitions and examples
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html
server.remc12.k12.mi.us/lhslib/copyright.htm
lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/wp/copyright
www.mla.org
www.fno.org/may98/cov98may.html
www.noodletools.com
www.ncusd203.org/central/html/where/plagiarism_stoppers.ht
ml