Plagiarism
What exactly is plagiarism?
According to Common Sense Media, plagiarism "means using someone else’s ideas or words without crediting the source and pretending they’re your own" (2012). In simple terms, it is stealing someone else's work.
It is still considered plagiarism even if you paraphrase ideas or change a few words and sentences of someone's essay or article.
10 Types of Plagiarism
according to The Plagiarism Spectrum by Turnitin (2016)
Clone
submitting another's work, word-for-word, as one's own
CTRL + C
contains significant portions of text from a signal source without alterations
Find - Replace
changing key words and phrases but retaining the essential content of the source
Remix
paraphrases from multiple sources made to fit together
Recycle
borrows generously from the writer's previous work without citation
Hybrid
combines perfectly cited sources with copied passages without citation
Mashup
mixes copied material from multiple sources
404 Error
includes citations to non-existent or inaccurate information about sources
Aggregator
includes citation to sources but the paper contains almost no original work
Re-Tweet
includes proper citation, but relies too closely on the text's original wording and/or structure
How do you avoid plagiarism?
YOU MUST CITE WHERE YOU GOT YOUR INFORMATION!
You can paraphrase and use quotations, but you must still cite the source you retrieved the information from.
Citation: "a formal note of credit to an author that includes their name, date published, and where you found the information" (Common Sense Media, 2010).
Use the interactive tutorial link below to learn more about plagiarism and citing!
What is Fair Use?
Some information and materials fall under "fair use." Watch the video below or read the infographics to learn about copyright, public domain, and fair use.
Click the pop-out button to make the infographic larger.
For more practice, play the plagiarism game below!
Videos further explaining plagiarism.
References
Common Sense Media. (2012). Family Tip Sheet: Common Sense on Plagiarism and Piracy.
Common Sense Media. (2010). Respecting Creative Work: Whose Is It, Anyway?
Copyright & Creativity: For Ethical Digital Citizens. (n.d.). Free Speech, Copyright, and Fair Use [Infographic]. Retrieved June 21, 2021, from
https://www.copyrightandcreativity.org/conference-handouts/
FutureAtlas.com. (2010). Citation Needed. Flickr. https://flickr.com/photos/87913776@N00/5129607997/.
Important Word and Symbol. (n.d.). Lingholic. https://www.lingholic.com/another-word-for-important/.
Mondspeer. (2014). Long Arrow Right. Open Clipart. https://openclipart.org/detail/202801/long-arrow-right.
The Plagiarism Spectrum. Turnitin. (2016). https://www.turnitin.com/static/plagiarism-spectrum/.