How can I avoid it?

Source: Virginia Tech Writing Center

(n)
Using another person’s work without giving him or her credit.
•
Presenting an idea as new and original when it comes from an existing source.
(Source: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

• Direct copying from original sources, but with in-text citations.
Your paper appears to include paraphrased information, but in fact, the information is plagiarized. (In other words, you copy the information word-for-word, but do not use quotation marks.)
•
Consider this:
Jane could not photocopy a $75 text, put a citation after each sentence and then sell it as her own original textbook for $35. Likewise, you can not do the same with your assignments.

• Obtaining the majority of your paper’s words and/or ideas from the work of another.
•
Borrowing words without citing the source.
• Changing the words of a source, but maintaining the same sentence structure .

•
When you plagiarize, you damage your reputation and risk losing the respect of your academic peers and instructors.
• The penalties for plagiarism can be surprisingly severe, ranging from failure of classes and expulsion from most academic institutions to heavy fines and jail time.

•
Giving the original researcher/writer credit shows that you are honest , have done your homework , and have more credibility for your ideas , as they are based on solid research.
• Your proper citations can help other researchers find information they need.

• Stay alert for
ideas originated – Did you think of the idea or did it come from something you read?

•
The shift in your writing style (from your usual style to “textbook speak”) is usually quite obvious.
Also, sudden ease and familiarity with unfamiliar terms or concepts alerts instructors to plagiarism.
Your instructors usually know far more about the subject material than you do and are quite familiar with the common sources of information on each subject.

•
It is possible to be caught plagiarizing when several other students either plagiarize or legitimately use the same source you decided to copy without citing!
• Your professors will immediately recognize wording as familiar after seeing it one time before.

What if I have the same idea as the source’s expert author?
•
Everyone has opinions, published or not.
You are no different.
•
It is reasonable that you have opinions that coincide with others’ opinions.
•
If you share an opinion with a professional author/expert, use that person’s words to support your assertion .
•
An expert who agrees with you will lend much credibility to your argument.

•
If you are attempting to cut corners, take the easy way out, or deceive your instructor, then you are plagiarizing.
• When in doubt, “quote” words/ideas from a source.
* Do your best to document your sources, even if you do so incorrectly.
*
However…In general, extensive quoting is generally frowned upon in academic writing and indicates that you have made little original contribution to the work.

•
When you quote a source.
•
When you paraphrase a source.
• When you use someone’s ideas, even if you use none of the exact words.
•
When you refer to another person’s work.
•
Whenever you have based your ideas on someone else’s ideas/research.

1.
Quote accurately.
2.
Avoid unnecessary quoting. Follow the quotation guidelines from the lecture notes.
3.
Use introductory tags that indicate the speaker’s name and credentials :
• According to Jean Piaget , developmental psychologist ,
“Children are not short adults.”
• Aristotle argued precisely the opposite : “Men are like children.”
• No explanation of Aristotle’s credentials would be necessary, as college freshmen should either have a vague idea about who he was or should know that they need to look him up.

 to show that an expert/authority/famous person supports your point
 to present a position or argument to critique or comment on
(opposing views)
 to include especially moving or historically significant language
 to present a particularly well-stated passage
 to share an important sacred text, literary work, song, ad campaign, popular slogan
 to share a striking or shocking fact/statistic
 to add human interest with a personal experience (“I woke up in darkness with rats nibbling my fingertips…”)
 to maintain technically correct language (highly technical, scientific, or professional jargon can be quoted, but then should be explained in plain language to your audience.)

1.
Standard name and page reference:
• “
Marketers concluded that the sale of billions of dollars worth of products hinged…on fears, anxieties
” (Packard 48).
2.
When the author’s name appears in your text, cite only the page number:
• Packard claims that “The potency of television… became indisputable in the early fifties” (137).

With two or three authors:
•
According to Young, Becker, and Pike,
“The writer can choose to view… as part of a larger network” (122).
With three or more authors:
• “Nothing is what it seems” (
Elbring et al . 54).
• “et al.” means “and others.”

When you cite two or more sources by the same author , use a short version of the title to distinguish between the sources:
• “We are what we buy”
(Packard,
Persuaders 212).

•
When quotes contain unfamiliar terms , be sure to explain what they mean :
•
Daniel Boorstin has called the interview a
“ pseudo-event .”
•
Daniel Boorstin has called the interview a
“ pseudo-event ,” or artificial news in which events happen because they have been planned.
•
Note how the second example explains the term for the audience.

Why was there no page number cited in the previous slide’s quote?
• Great Question!
• Daniel Boorstin has called the interview a “ pseudo-event ,” or artificial news in which events happen because they have been planned.  why no page number here?
• The reason: Boorstin’s information came from an electronic source (website, database, etc…) and therefore does not have page numbers. (if you print out a source, the page numbers you see are printer pages; the
size of the paper you use determines the number of pages you would print).
•
Remember that ONLY PRINT SOURCES
ON PAPER have page numbers. Anything you print out from the internet (including database articles) would not require a page number.

• You would either begin with the author’s name , as in the sentence below:
•
Daniel Boorstin has called the interview a “ pseudoevent ,” or artificial news in which events happen because they have been planned.
• OR, you would simply use the author’s last name in your citation :
• The interview has been called a “ pseudo-event
,” or artificial news in which events happen because they have been planned (Boorstin).

• First, be sure to apply all the Source Evaluation criteria to the source.
•
If the source is legitimate, then you would either refer to the title in the setup of the quote or you would include the title in the citation .
• For example, a student finds an article on a TCC Database from Consumer Reports entitled
“Robbery at the Rent-to-
Own.”
The article discusses how many rent-to-own businesses profit from consumers who do not understand just how much interest they end up paying.
• The student could cite the information in 2 ways:
•
(go to the next slide to see the examples)

How to cite internet sources with no author:
•
Example of reference to the title in the setup of the quote: A recent Consumer Reports article, “Robbery at the Rent-to-Own,” shared the findings of a nonprofit consumer group who studied rent-to-own stores. The group determined that the “average effective annual percentage rate on merchandise was approximately 100 percent, with some stores charging as much as 275 percent.”
• Example of placing the title in the citation: Recently, a nonprofit consumer group studied rent-to-own stores. The group determined that the “average effective annual percentage rate on merchandise was approximately 100 percent, with some stores charging as much as 275 percent” (“Robbery at the Rent-to-Own”).

Original Passage:
•
The oldest and most familiar version of environmental concern might be called romantic environmentalism. Still a guiding spirit of the Sierra Club and the soul of the Wilderness Society and many regional groups, this environmentalism arises from love of beautiful landscapes: the highest mountains, deepest canyons, and most ancient forests. As a movement, it began in the late nineteenth century when America's wealthy discovered outdoor recreation and, inspired by writers like Sierra Club founder John Muir, developed a reverence for untamed places.
For these American romantics, encounters with the wild promised to restore bodies and spirits worn down by civilized life.
• Author: Jedediah Purdy

Student Writing:
Plagiarized
• The type of environmentalism that most people are familiar with is also the oldest: romantic environmentalism. This type of environmentalism leads the spirit and soul of the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society and other groups. People who follow romantic environmentalism admire striking landscapes like tall mountains, deep canyons, and old forests (Purdy).
•
Click to see the answer on the next slide:

Answer:
•
PLAGIARIZED!
• See next slide for explanation…

• The type of environmentalism that most people are familiar with is also the oldest : romantic environmentalism. This type of environmentalism leads the spirit and soul of the Sierra Club, the
Wilderness Society and other groups. People who follow romantic environmentalism admire striking landscapes like tall mountains , deep canyons , and old forests (Purdy).
• Click to reveal the problems with the paragraph:
 This is too similar to the original. The sentence structures and order of ideas are too similar to the original passage.
 The citation at the end is nice, but does not absolve the student from the responsibility of paraphrasing carefully.
 The yellow words were copied directly.

Student Writing:
Plagiarized
• The “Romantic Environmentalism” movement is comprised of people who love the beauty of pristine unspoiled terrain. Romantic environmentalists find peace and rejuvenation from their busy lives in the beauty of nature.
•
Plagiarized or acceptable ?
•
Click to see the answer on the next slide:

Answer:
•
PLAGIARIZED!
• See next slide for explanation…

• Although the original passage was paraphrased well enough to capture the meaning without copying the words or structure, the writer forgot to include a citation at the end of the passage.
•
Not citing source information looks as if the writer is presenting the ideas as his/her own.

•
Most insects are cheap, tasty and a good natural protein source requiring less land and feed than raising cows or pigs. Many insects are far cleaner than other creatures. For example, grasshoppers and crickets eat fresh, clean green plants whereas crabs, lobsters and catfish eat any kind of foul, decomposing material as a scavenger (bottom water feeder). By weight, termites, grasshoppers, caterpillars, weevils, house flies and spiders are better sources of protein than beef, chicken, pork or lamb according to the
Entomological Society of America. Also, insects are low in cholesterol and low in fat.
•
Author: William F. Lyon,
“ Insects as Human Food”

Student Writing:
Plagiarized
• What’s the ideal high-protein, low fat food? Surprisingly, the answer is insects. While most Americans could never imagine eating a big, juicy cockroach, insects actually taste good and can provide a good natural protein source. Insects also require less land and feed than raising cows or pigs. Plus, insects are more sanitary than livestock. The most difficult part of accepting insects as a healthy food is their appearance.
However, many insects resemble crustaceans, and people have no problem eating shrimp, crabs, and lobster. Besides, insects are far cleaner than most sea creatures. While many insects eat only fresh, clean green plants, crabs, lobsters and catfish eat any kind of foul, decomposing material because they are scavengers (Lyon 12).
• Click to reveal whether the above is Plagiarized or acceptable…

Answer:
•
PLAGIARIZED!
• See next slide for explanation…

•
The sections in blue (below) are plagiarized
— the underlined parts are copied directly.
• The citation at the end acknowledges the information as Lyon’s, but not the words and sentence structure.
The writer needs to use
“quotes.”
• What’s the ideal high-protein, low fat food? Surprisingly, the answer is insects. While most Americans could never imagine eating a big, juicy cockroach, insects actually taste good and can provide a good natural protein source.
Insects also require less land and feed than raising cows or pigs .
Plus, insects are more sanitary than livestock. The most difficult part of accepting insects as a healthy food is their appearance.
However, many insects resemble crustaceans, and people have no problem eating shrimp, crabs, and lobster. Besides, insects are far cleaner than most sea creatures .
While many insects eat only fresh, clean green plants, crabs, lobsters and catfish eat any kind of foul, decomposing material because they are scavengers (Lyon 12).

• Janice Simpkins, who was an exchange student in Germany a few years ago, shared an experience in which she learned the importance of subtlety in language:
• "While riding the bus home one day, I became uncomfortably hot in the afternoon sun that was streaming through the bus windows. In a subtle effort to get the rider sitting between me and the window to close the curtain, I casually asked, 'Bist du heiss?'
(Are you hot?).
Slowly, he turned and looked at me with a startled expression on his face.
Meanwhile, a student behind us began to giggle. Nonetheless, the guy next to me closed the curtain but said to me, 'Next time say, "Ist dir heiss?"' I later found out that, rather than asking the guy if he was warm, I had asked him if he was [aroused]!"
This excerpt is from an article written by
Andre
Johanssen entitled “Be
Careful What
You Ask For.”

Student Writing:
Plagiarized or
• Travelers in a non-English speaking countries should also keep in mind that words often do not translate literally. As an American visitor to
Germany, Janice Simpkins learned what not to say when she spoke to a local passenger during an overly warm and stuffy bus ride. She asked a man sitting near her if he was “hot.” What she did not realize was that her
German word choice referred not to temperature, but to sexual arousal
(Johanssen 3).
•
Is the above paragraph
Plagiarized or acceptable ?
• Click to find out on the next slide…

•
Yes!
The student integrated the important ideas into his/her writing without depending upon the source to provide all the content.
• The student used the information, but not the exact words or sentence structure.

• Consider the following scenario:
• On the first day of English class you are happy to discover the assigned
English essay is on a topic you wrote a History paper on last term. You use your
History paper for the
English assignment.
Plagiarism or acceptable writing?
• Click again for answer…

(click to find out why…)

•
The answer: Yes.
• It’s called self-plagiarism or multiple submission, and it’s not allowed unless you have the permission of the new instructor.
How do you fix the plagiarism problem?
In most cases, you are expected to produce new work for every college class you take. However, you may ask your professors about their individual policies regarding multiple submissions.

• copying and pasting complete papers from electronic sources
• copying and pasting passages from electronic sources without placing the passages in quotes and properly citing the source
• having others write complete papers or portions of papers for you
• summarizing ideas without citing their source
• pulling out quotes from sources without putting quotation marks around the passages
• Too closely “paraphrasing” - not putting the information in your own words (even if it's cited)
• quoting statistics without naming the source unless you gathered the data yourself
• using words and passages you don't understand and can't explain
• self-plagiarizing - using one paper for more than one class without the permission of your professors
• making up sources
• making up bibliographic or citation information (page numbers, etc.)
• using photographs, video, or audio without permission or acknowledgment
• translating from one language to another without properly citing the original source

Avoid the following common mistakes:

Avoid:
• using the following anywhere in your essay or works cited:
•
(Online) or (online) or (Internet) or
(Internet source)
•
(author unknown) or (anonymous)

Avoid:
•
Presenting a quote, and then,
“using a web address in the text of your paper or, even worse, in a citation” ( www.do-notdo-this.com
).
• Presenting database articles as online articles without the database information.

Avoid:
or quotes that appear out of nowhere with no lead-in and no follow-up commentary.
• Referring to a non-famous person without his/her credentials.
For example, John Smith says
, “why would anyone listen to me if they do not know I’m an expert?”
(who is John Smith and why should anyone listen to him?) Obviously, if you say “Abraham Lincoln says…” you will not need to identify who he is, as people already know…

Avoid:
• Referring to authors by their first names.
If you’re discussing one of the Patterns authors, use the author’s full name the first time you mention him/her only; after that, use the person’s last name only.
For example:
• In his essay “The Catbird Seat,” David Birnbaum reveals a hierarchy of disability into which everyone places. Birnbaum shares his thoughts about his own place in that hierarchy…

•
Avoid plagiarism
•
Quote sparingly and correctly
•
Paraphrase correctly
•
Lead in and lead out of each quote you use