Written by: Purdue Owl
Revised by: Karl Stolley
Presented by: Sarah Schoenthal
11-4-2008
Overview
 What is plagiarism?
 Examples
 Practices to avoid plagiarism
 Useful Tips
 Consequences of Plagiarism
 Conclusion
What is Plagiarism
The uncredited use of somebody’s words or
ideas whether it is intentional or unintentional.
- Unquestionable Plagiarism
- Gray Area
What is Plagiarism cont’d
 Unquestionable Plagiarism:
Buying, stealing, borrowing a paper, hiring someone to
write your paper, copying sections of text without
using “_” or citing the source.
 Gray Area:
Paraphrasing- when using words of source too closely.
Building off someone’s ideas.
Examples
Citation Needed vs. No Citation
Citation Needed
 Words/ideas in magazine, book, newspaper, song,
TV program, movie, webpage, computer program,
letter, advertisement
 Information gained by interviewing or conversing
with another person.
 Copying exact words
 Reprint diagrams, illustrations, charts, pictures
 Using electronic media like images, audio, video
Figure: The Expanded Behavioral Model
(Source: Aday, LA., Andersen, R., & Fleming, GV. Health Care in the US: Equitable for Whom? © 1980 Sage
Publications, Inc.)
Fig.
Characteristics of
Health Delivery System
Availability
Volume
Distribution
Organization
Entry
Structure
Health Policy
Financing
Organization
Characteristics of
Population-at-risk
Predisposing
Mutable
Immutable
Enabling
Mutable
Immutable
Need
Perceived
Evaluated
Utilization of Health Services
Consumer Satisfaction
Type
Site
Purpose
Time Interval
Convenience
Availability
Financing
Provider
Characteristics
Examples
Citation Needed vs. No Citation
No citation needed:
 When something is common knowledge
 Generally accepted facts
 If same information is found in at least 5 creditable
sources
 If it’s something the reader will already know
 Own pictures, ideas, experiences, research
Practices to Avoid Plagiarism
 Record relevant information (books, titles URLs)
 Mark own thoughts clearly when taking notes
 Use statements that credit source

According to Kenley…
 If paraphrasing, try doing it without looking at
original. Use “_” if reluctant to change a phrase
Practices to Avoid Plagiarism
 Quote no more material than necessary
 To shorten quotes, remove information by using
elipses.


(…) if information omitted is in same sentence
(….) if information omitted is between two sentences
 If adding own words, use [ ] but don’t editorialize or
skew the original meaning
Kozol claims there are “savage inequalities” in our educational
system, which is obvious.
 Kozol claims there are “[obvious] savage inequalities” in our
educational system.

Useful Tips
 Use quotes that have the greatest impact
 Too many quotes diminish credibility
 Maintain drafts of papers
 Proofread and cross-check notes
 Double check citaiton and add bibliography,
references or works cited page.
Consequences of Plagiarism
 Expulsion form university
 Lose a job
 Loss of credibility
More Information on UMBC’s plagiarism policy
http://www.umbc.edu/provost/integrity/acc_policy/
Conclusion
 Key to avoid plagiarism is to give credit where credit is
due.
 Most people don’t mean to plagiarize but mistakes still
happen
 When in doubt, cite!
Questions??
Reference
“Avoiding Plagiarism.” The Owl at Purdue
Sept. 30th 2008 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/>