Plagiarism

Plagiarism is presenting another writer's words, ideas, arguments, evidence, or style as your own.

• It can be intentional or unintentional if the rules are not understood and properly applied.

• Moving a few words around, replacing a few words in a sentence with synonyms, and/or too closely paraphrasing the original work - are all forms of plagiarism.

The biggest mistake that student make that leads to unintentional plagiarism is having their sources too close to them at the time of writing.

If you read a sentence and then try to re-write it, you will likely plagiarize it. Changing the order slightly or replacing a few words with synonyms is still plagiarism because you are directly using somebody's else's work to create your own.

• Instead, write notes in outline form, not direct sentences or quotes. Use the notes to write your summary. Be sure to STILL cite the source.

• Read a passage and then put it away. Do not look at it when writing your summary of it. Describe the ideas, events, or work in your own words. Cite it at the end.

Paraphrasing is a normal part of informational writing. It is summarizing an idea or sentence in your own words, with credit given to the original source.

If paraphrasing is done incorrectly, it can be plagiarism.

Paraphrasing is not merely changing the words around in sentences, it is putting ideas entirely into your own words and writing style.

• It requires distance from the source you wish to summarize in order to avoid too closely adhering to the original.

• In all cases, the sources - published or not - must be cited and preferably mentioned in your own text.

• View the previous page to learn more about summarizing in your own words

Subject area issues regarding plagiarism:

The Literature Review

• • Many disciplines or projects have a separate 'Literature Review' section. Summarizing without plagiarizing is important in this section which reviews the works already written about your topic.

  • In the paragraphs themselves use the authors' names and say, "According to Mary Smith (2015) ...."

  • Do not take credit for a criticism of an author or idea that is NOT your own. Write, "Political scientist John Doe criticizes this methodology in his 2005 essay ..."

Business writing

• • If you already work in the business field you know that copying and pasting from old reports is common. It might also be common to copy material directly from Wikipedia or other sources. This is considered PLAGIARISM in the academic world and can CANNOT be done. It will NOT pass a plagiarism software program and you will be accused of plagiarism.

History

• • Generally speaking, descriptions of common events such as the American Revolution or the Civil War, do not need a citation. The same is true for things that are considered common knowledge such as George Washington was the first President of the United States, or the date of a piece of legislation or a Supreme Court ruling, ie. Marbury v. Madison (1803).

  • See also the suggestions above regarding the 'Literature Review.' It is less common to appear as a separate section of a History paper and more likely for the 'Historiography' to appear integrated into the rest of the text. But the same rules apply about giving credit to the authors and their ideas.

Literature

• • The most common problem is falsely claiming that a a critique or insight about a piece of literature is your own/original. Be sure to give credit to the author/person who came up with the idea.

  • If the assignment does not require you to read outside critiques and the teacher wants only your own opinions, then do not read any critiques. You will have difficulty sorting your ideas from outside sources. You will have to reject the ideas you read from other sources or be forced to plagiarize.

Science

• • There are often multiple Lead Authors for scientific research papers and junior authors who are not always named.

  • Scientific writing requires meticulous/detailed citation. Every idea, experiment, finding, result, and most facts that you read about should be cited right after it appears in your writing.

    • • • For instance. One would write and cite in this way, "In the past five years, significant progress has been made in basic research using human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), with specific implications for pediatric diseases such as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy,¹ bone marrow failure syndromes,² leukemia,³ and congenital heart disease.⁴ " In this example, each number is a footnote or endnote with the full bibliographic information appearing at the bottom or end of the paper. Parenthesis can be used instead of the numbers with the author/date ie. (Smith, 2001a) appearing after each reference/fact, depending on the required format.

Non-native speakers of English often have unique writing issues related to the authenticity of their work and the issue of plagiarism.

• There is likely a BIG difference between your written work in the classroom and the paper you write at home, especially if you use spell check, a grammar check, a thesaurus, google translator, a phrase generator, and/or someone to proofread your work. Professors sometimes wrongly suspect plagiarism. Consider discussing this ahead of time with your teacher so that there will not be a misunderstanding.

• If you never learned what plagiarism is or the concept is not important or relevant in your culture or country, you need to catch up, learn about what it is, and follow the rules correctly. Ignorance is not an excuse and can still result in being penalized, disciplined, or expelled from a school.

The following website is dedicated to understanding and preventing plagiarism:

Plagiarism.org

This page offers strategies for avoiding plagiarism:

Preventing Plagiarism from P.org

• Most professors and schools have professional plagiarism software that automatically and easily detects copied work, even small parts or with changes made. They work on all formats.

• Getting caught plagiarizing has serious consequences which can include expulsion and/or a permanent mark on one's record. It always includes great disappointment from your teachers, administrators, and ultimately yourself.

• A Thesis is run through a plagiarism program and it does not just look for copying, it searches for the over-use of common phraseology. Over-using phrases is probably NOT plagiarism, but it will raise the percentage of the work that is considered suspect.

• This is a strict code that requires most of what you write to be original; otherwise, the Thesis is rejected and must be revised before being accepted for review. This can be costly to the student.

Follow the rules, follow the advice, follow good practices and you will learn the lifelong skill of good writing.