Examples of Plagiarism

Buying a paper

You paid for it, it’s yours. So, you didn’t steal it. However, if you submit it as if it were your own, you’re still misrepresenting someone else's work for your own. That means you are still plagiarizing.

Using someone else’s work

It could be using a published paper or website on the internet. It could be an essay an older classmate wrote a year ago, on the same topic. If you did not write it or think of the ideas yourself, then it’s not your writing. It’s plagiarism.

Using a few passages from someone else's work

It can be a paragraph, a few sentences, just one sentence, or even part of a sentence. The ideas are not yours. The words and ideas are not yours. This is still plagiarism.

Paraphrasing without a citation

What if you don’t use someone’s exact words? What if you use their ideas, change the words or move them around? Are they your words now? Yes, they are your own words, however the text is now based on someone else’s ideas. This is called paraphrasing. This is fine to do, but if you don’t clearly cite the idea, this is still plagiarism.

Quoting without a citation

If you do use a writer’s exact words, you need to use quotation marks. It is important to acknowledge someone’s exact words. If you have changed them to give your own perspective, this is paraphrasing. You still need to cite the original work.

Accidental plagiarism

You’ve learned about plagiarism. You’re working hard to make sure you give credit to the original writers. If you accidentally forget to cite somewhere, this is also plagiarism.

How do you protect yourself against this kind of plagiarism? Take careful notes during your research and make sure you have a record of every piece of information that came from somewhere. Never copy and paste text into the document you are using to create your essay.

How to Recognize Unacceptable and Acceptable Paraphrases

Here's the ORIGINAL text, from page 1 of Lizzie Borden: A Case Book of Family and Crime in the 1890s by Joyce Williams et al.:

The rise of industry, the growth of cities, and the expansion of the population were the three great developments of late nineteenth century American history. As new, larger, steam-powered factories became a feature of the American landscape in the East, they transformed farm hands into industrial laborers, and provided jobs for a rising tide of immigrants. With industry came urbanization the growth of large cities (like Fall River, Massachusetts, where the Bordens lived) which became the centers of production as well as of commerce and trade.

Here's an UNACCEPTABLE paraphrase that is plagiarism:

The increase of industry, the growth of cities, and the explosion of the population were three large factors of nineteenth century America. As steam-driven companies became more visible in the eastern part of the country, they changed farm hands into factory workers and provided jobs for the large wave of immigrants. With industry came the growth of large cities like Fall River where the Bordens lived which turned into centers of commerce and trade as well as production.

What makes this passage plagiarism?

The above passage is considered plagiarism for 2 reasons:

1. The writer has only changed around a few words and phrases, or changed the order of the original's sentences.

2. The writer has failed to cite the source.

If you do either or both of these things, you are plagiarizing.

Here's an ACCEPTABLE paraphrase:

Fall River, where the Borden family lived, was typical of northeastern industrial cities of the nineteenth century. Steam-powered production had shifted labor from agriculture to manufacturing, and as immigrants arrived in the US, they found work in these new factories. As a result, populations grew, and large urban areas arose. Fall River was one of these manufacturing and commercial centers (Williams 1).

Why is this passage acceptable?

This is acceptable paraphrasing because the writer:

• accurately conveys the information in the original

• uses his/her own words.

• provides the reader with the cited source.

Here's an example of quotation and paraphrase used together, which is also ACCEPTABLE:

Fall River, where the Borden family lived, was typical of northeastern industrial cities of the nineteenth century. As steam-powered production shifted labor from agriculture to manufacturing, the demand for workers "transformed farm hands into industrial laborers," and created jobs for immigrants. In turn, growing populations increased the size of urban areas. Fall River was one of these hubs "which became the centers of production as well as of commerce and trade" (Williams 1).

Why is this passage acceptable?

This is acceptable paraphrasing because the writer:

• records the information in the original passage accurately.

• gives credit for the ideas in this passage.

• indicated which part is taken directly from her source by putting the passage in quotation marks and citing the page number.

Note that if the writer had used these phrases or sentences in her own paper without putting quotation marks around them, she would be PLAGIARIZING. Using another person's phrases or sentences without putting quotation marks around them is considered plagiarism even if the writer cites the source of phrases or sentences quoted.