PLAGIARISM:
STOP IT AT
THE SOURCE
Up dated 2012 with MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th edition).
WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?
 Using another person’s words or ideas
without giving that person credit.
 Plagiarism is a form of stealing—taking
another person’s words, ideas, and the
credit they deserve!
HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM
 You need to give credit when you use
another person’s exact words.
 CORRECT: “In the town, the people
moved sullenly through the streets”
(Steinbeck 44).
 INCORRECT: In the town, the people
moved sullenly through the streets.
HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM
 You need to give credit when you use a
paraphrase or summary of another
person’s ideas or words.
 CORRECT: If a writer uses emotion for
its own sake, the writer may be using
sentimentality (Anderson 280).
 INCORRECT: If a writer uses emotion
for its own sake, the writer may be using
sentimentality.
HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM
 You need to give
credit when you
borrow another
person’s ideas,
charts, graphs, or
other material.
 CORRECT: (Time
41).
 INCORRECT:
60
50
40
imports as a
percentage of
consumption
30
20
10
0
'62
'72
'82
'92
'02
HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM
 You need to give credit when you use
specific facts that are not common
knowledge.
 CORRECT: In 1665, the sound of bells
meant a cart with plague victims was
drawing near (Applebee 518).
 INCORRECT: In 1665, the sound of
bells meant a cart with plague victims
was drawing near.
WHAT IS COMMON KNOWLEDGE?
 Facts or common sense observations
that can be found in many sources
(usually at least five) and that are known
by many people.
 There is no need to give credit to any
one person for common knowledge.
WHAT IS COMMON KNOWLEDGE?
 CORRECT: The earth is a planet.
 INCORRECT: The earth is a planet
(Copernicus 82).
 CORRECT: James Joyce penned his
influential work Ulysses in multiple
languages.
 INCORRECT: James Joyce penned his
influential work Ulysses in multiple
languages (Hershey 42).
MAY I PARAPHRASE?
 Paraphrase (or summary) is stating another
person’s ideas in your own words.
 It is perfectly acceptable to paraphrase or
summarize passages from another person’s
work, as long as you give the person credit.
 Of course, you shouldn’t paraphrase for a
whole paper. Instead, include other
people’s ideas to support your own
arguments, or include other people’s ideas
so you can dispute these ideas.
WHAT IS A DIRECT QUOTATION?
 Using another person’s exact spoken or
written words.
 These words should be placed inside
quotation marks, and you should always
give credit to the other person.
 CORRECT: “…they talked of things that
they longed for” (Steinbeck 78).
 INCORRECT: They talked of things that
they longed for.
WHAT IS AN INDIRECT QUOTATION?
 Paraphrasing or summarizing another
person’s words.
 You need to be careful that your new
words accurately communicate the other
person’s words, and you need to give
the other person credit.
 CORRECT: We know that they talked
about things they wanted (Steinbeck 78).
 INCORRECT: We know that they talked
about things they didn’t like.
WHAT IS A CITATION?
 A formal way of giving credit to another
person when you use that person’s
words, ideas, or other material.
 At Maranatha, students will use a format
called MLA. You will need to consult the
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research
Papers (7th edition). (By the way, these
letters stand for Modern Language
Association).
HOW DO I DO MLA CITATIONS?
 Just as you have seen throughout this
presentation, you should put
parentheses at the end of a sentence in
which you have used another person’s
words or ideas. In the parentheses,
place the person’s last name and the
page number. End with a period.
 Note that there is no comma between
the name and the page number.
HOW DO I DO MLA CITATIONS?
 FOR DIRECT QUOTATIONS: “Her
golden hair was done up on the top of
her head” (Steinbeck 80).
 FOR INDIRECT QUOTATIONS: As
stated, the girl had her blonde hair put
up (Steinbeck 80).
HOW DO I DO MLA CITATIONS?
 At the end of your paper, include a Works Cited
or Works Consulted page. On this page,
include the publishing information for each
source you have used. Alphabetize by author’s
last name.
 EXAMPLE:
Works Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York:
Simon & Schuster, 1925. Print.
Steinbeck, John. The Moon Is Down. New
York: Penguin Books, 1942. Print.