Plagiarism
for Research Papers
Michael D. Martin
St. Louis Community College
STLCC-FV (2009)
Plagiarism
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plagiarize [from the Latin plagiarius,
kidnapper]
“To use or pass off (the ideas or writing of
another) as one’s own” (American
Heritage College Dictionary, 4th ed.
2002).
What Is Plagiarism?
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Plagiarism is a form of academic
dishonesty. Consequences can be severe,
ranging from failure on an assignment to
expulsion from the institution.
Consequences of Plagiarism
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Submitting another’s paper as one’s own,
such as one bought over the Internet
Submitting one’s own paper from another
course without the instructor’s knowledge
Copying and pasting text from the Web
without using quotation marks or
documenting the source
Quoting another’s words without using
quotation marks and documenting the source
Paraphrasing or summarizing another’s
opinions or statistics without documenting
the source
Types of Plagiarism
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Quotation: Writing another’s words
verbatim (another’s words must be
enclosed in quotation marks)
 Paraphrase: Rewriting another’s words in
one’s own words, usually about the same
length and often imitating the other’s line
of reasoning
 Summary: Rewriting another’s words in
one’s own words, but in a much shorter
version
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Some Definitions
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Facts
 Common knowledge
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Example: Information in an unsigned
encyclopedia article is usually common
knowledge.
When Documentation Is Not
Needed
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Opinions
Statistics
Words or phrases coined by an another
Words of another used to express facts
and common knowledge
When one is not sure whether
documentation is needed
When Documentation Is Needed
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MLA (Modern Language Association): An
author/page system used in liberal arts,
especially in subjects related to language
APA (American Psychological Association):
An author/year system used in the social
sciences, such as psychology
Chicago (U of Chicago): A footnote or
endnote system used in the humanities,
especially in history and art
CSE (Council of Science Editors): An
author/year system, similar to APA, used in
the sciences
Common Documentation Styles
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