Avoiding Plagiarism
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism can be defined as the intentional or unintentional use of someone else’s ideas, words, or other original material without proper acknowledgement. Therefore, if a writer uses the ideas presented in a book, for example, and does not cite this information, this is considered plagiarism, even if the original wording is changed.
The key to avoiding plagiarism is understanding when to give credit to another party for words or ideas through citation and doing so properly. The general rule is to document any and all ideas, words, or other original material that you are using. If you are in doubt about whether or not something needs to be cited, be sure to talk to your instructor or visit a writing tutor at the Writing Center.
Do Cite...
Words or ideas presented in a book, magazine, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, webpage, letter, pamphlet, advertisement, or any other medium
Information gained through interviewing another, whether it occurs in person, over the phone, through email or other electronic exchange, or in writing
Exact words or creative language that are quoted
The reuse or reposting of diagrams, charts, pictures, artwork, illustrations, or other visual materials
The reuse or reposting of any electronically-available media, including images, audio, video, etc.
No Need to Cite...
The use of your own ideas, thoughts, experiences, observations, insights, and/or conclusions about a subject
The use of your own experiments or research results
The use of your own artwork, digital photographs, video, audio, etc.
The use of generally accepted facts (for example: Violence causes many problems for society; air pollution harms the atmosphere; succeeding in college can be challenging; etc.)
The use of information that is considered “common knowledge” (For example, it is common knowledge that the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776.)
Check your paper for accidental plagiarism
Accidental plagiarism happens, so check before you turn in a final assignment! Most professors create an Assignments folder to check your papers through Turnitin, and your originality percentage should usually be less than 20%. You can also use plagiarism checkers like Grammarly, Easybib, or BibMe.
Patchwriting
This type of plagiarism happens when a student plagiarizes "patches" of words from an author, often using word-for-word synonyms, changes in grammar, and tense changes. See the examples below, borrowed from Simon Fraser University Library.
Example 1
Original passage:
“Where mainstream sports typically refrain from displaying unapologetically violent acts, professional wrestling dives in head first. A large portion of wrestling’s cultural appeal is generated by the psychological arousal/excitement provided by witnessing highly aggressive and violent forms of physical interaction in this sphere. Wrestling takes that which is pushed behind the scenes of social life and places it in the center ring” (Atkinson p. 62-63).
Patchwriting (word-for-word synonym swaps in green):
Mainstream sports refrain from showing unremorseful violent acts while professional wrestling unapologetically revels in the same type of violence. A large part of wrestling’s appeal is generated by the very aggressive and violent interaction in this sport. While such violence is usually behind the scenes of social life, it is the center of wrestling’s existence (Atkinson p. 62-63).
Acceptable paraphrase:
Most sports do not encourage blatant acts of violence, while professional wrestling embraces the same behavior. Wrestling appeals to audiences because people enjoy watching aggressive and violent acts in the ring. What is normally not condoned in ordinary society is made acceptable in wrestling (Atkinson 62-63).
Note: a few words will match the original, and that's okay! One cannot paraphrase a text about wrestling without saying the word "wrestling".
Can You Spot Patchwriting?
Background: Martin Luther King wrote the below in "Letter From A Birmingham Jail", in which he answers criticisms of the Civil Rights Movement.
"You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative."
Which paraphrases have patchwriting in them?
Martin Luther King threw shade in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, suggesting that clergy who were against the civil rights protests hadn’t thought about what caused them.
Dr. King was certain that nobody would want to be contented with a feigning type of social analysis that concerns itself only with effects and doesn't deal with root causes.
Dr. King reminded his critics that, instead of criticizing the Civil Rights Movement, they could ask themselves why the movement had to happen in the first place.
Martin Luther King wrote that the city of Birmingham's white power structure left African-Americans there no alternative but to demonstrate.
In "Letter from the Birmingham Jail," King writes to fellow clergy saying that although they "deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham ... your statement fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations” (par 2).
Answers (word-for-word synonym swaps in green):
"You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative."
2. Dr. King was certain that nobody would want to be contented with a feigning type of social analysis that concerns itself only with effects and doesn't deal with root causes.
"You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative."
5. Martin Luther King wrote that the city of Birmingham's white power structure left African-Americans there no alternative but to demonstrate.
How to Avoid Patchwriting
Patchwriting is not always intentional! To avoid it:
Learn how to paraphrase correctly.
Organize your notes so that you know whose wording is whose.
Set the original work aside as you write about a source to avoid accidentally using their wording.
If you do use their wording or direct ideas, add quotation marks and citations. When in doubt, add citations.
Run your paper through a plagiarism checker linked above.
"Is It Plagiarism?" Flowchart
This flowchart can help you decide if you have plagiarism issues.