How to Avoid Plagiarism
And Document Sources
Joan Johnson
3/15/2016
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What is Plagiarism?
• Copying from a source without quotation
marks or proper citations.
• Copying from a source without quotation
marks, but citing the source.
• Paraphrasing or summarizing without
citation.
• Poor paraphrasing.
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Penalties for Plagiarism
• A grade of zero or an F on the assignment
• Failing the course
• Expulsion from college
•
See HCC’s honor code on page 49 of the catalog and in page 29 of the Student Handbook
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Why is Plagiarism such a big
deal?
• Because you don’t learn anything
• Because it hurts other students
• Because professors must take valuable
time to track down plagiarism
• Because it undermines academic integrity
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Common ways of Plagiarizing
•
•
•
•
Downloading from an Internet paper mill
Hiring someone else to write the paper
Poor notetaking and paraphrasing skills
Ignorance of how to cite, quote, and use
source information.
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How Not to Plagiarize When
Quoting Information
• When you quote, quote exactly.
• Put quotation marks around any
information that you quote.
• Cite your source
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How Not to Plagiarize when
Summarizing
• Make sure none of the source language has
crept into your summary.
• Cite the source.
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How Not to Plagiarize When
Paraphrasing Information
• Make sure you understand the original
material
• Turn the original over, and then write your
paraphrase
• Check the original to make sure language
didn’t creep in
• Cite the source of your paraphrase
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Examples
• The following paragraph is from my (Joan
Johnson’s) master’s thesis:
“Lorine Niedecker admired Dickinson, but she
may have been wary of literary history
consigning her as an imitator of Dickinson.
Although both tend toward ontological obscurity
in their poetry, Niedecker’s images, form, and
language are strikingly different than
Dickinson’s.”
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Quotations
• Proper: “Although both tend toward ontological
obscurity in their poetry, Niedecker’s images …
are strikingly different than Dickinson’s”
(Johnson 11).
• Improper: “Although both show obscurity in their
poetry, Niedecker’s style is much different than
Dickinson’s” (Johnson 11). This does not quote
the source word for word, so it should not be
in quotation marks.
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Summary
• Proper: Lorine Niedecker worried about
being considered an imitator of Emily
Dickinson’s (Johnson 11).
• Improper: Niedecker loved and admired
Emily Dickinson and wanted to be much
like her (Johnson 11). This summary is
inaccurate.
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Paraphrases
• Proper:Lorine Niedecker worried about
being considered too much like Emily
Dickinson, and that literary scholars might
consider her an “imitator.” Despite their
similarities in existential vagueness, their
poetic styles are dissimilar (Johnson 11).
This paraphrase is accurate and puts any
source language in quotation marks.
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Improper Paraphrase
• With Dickinson there is a resistance along
with an attraction; Niedecker admired
Dickinson, but she may have worried about
literary history saying she was an imitator
of Dickinson. Niedecker’s form, images,
and language are very different from
Dickinson’s (Johnson 11). This
paraphrase uses phrases from the
original without quotation marks.
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Proper Documentation
• Any of these examples are plagiarism if the
author is not given credit.
• Work the author into your writing: Joan
Johnson points out that… (11).
• Use parenthetical documentation: (Johnson
11).
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Common Knowledge
• You do not have to cite anything that would be
considered common knowledge.
– Emily Dickinson was an American poet.
– George Washington was our first president.
If you already know it, it is probably common
knowledge.
If it is in three or more of your sources, it is common
knowledge.
If in doubt, cite it!
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Handy little things to know
• Ellipses ….
– You may use these to delete information from
a quotation.
– Do not delete important information that could
distort the meaning.
– Put brackets around your ellipses: […]
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• Brackets
– Use brackets to add information to a
quotation: “[Emily] Dickinson…”
– Sic – used to indicate that a mistake is in
your source, not you:
• “Dickinsons (sic) poetry was obscure.”
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Qtd. in
• If your source quotes a source that you
would like to use, put “qtd. in” in your
citation.
– As Harold Bloom notes, “We know, as Blake
did, that Poetic Influence is gain and loss…”
(qtd. in Johnson 4).
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Remember:
• Learning to paraphrase well is a skill. As
with any skill, if you do not practice it, you
do not improve.
• Professors would rather have your writing,
even if it is somewhat awkward, rather
than someone else’s polished prose.
• We’re here to help you. Just ask!
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Documenting Sources
• Anything that you take
from a source must be
cited, unless it is common
knowledge.
– If in doubt, cite it
• It is a common
misconception that only
quotations must be
acknowledged. All
material you take from
a source must be
acknowledged.
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• Each citation of a
source must match up
with a full
bibliographical
reference in the works
cited.
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In-text Citations
• Either introduce the
source in your writing:
Susan Farrell points out
in “fight vs. flight: A reevaluation of Dee in
Alice Walker’s ‘Everyday
Use’” that… and put a
page number in
parentheses at the end (2).
– I prefer that you use
browser page numbers for
electronic sources rather
than paragraph numbers.
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• OR put the author and
page number in
parentheses at the end of
your paraphrase,
quotation, or summary:
(Farrell 2).
• Never put a URL in an
in-text citation.
• If you must use a title
because there is no author
use only the first major
word (“Fight” 2).
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Works Cited
• Complete bibliographical
information for your
sources
• Arranged in alphabetical
order by the last name of
the author or the first
main word of the title
• First line is on left
margin, and the
subsequent lines for each
entry are indented 5
spaces
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• Follow the correct models
in your textbook or
handbook for proper
ways to cite books,
journals, electronic, and
other sources
• Caution: a sloppy works
cited is usually an
indication of a sloppy
paper.
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Works Cited
Szymborska, Wislawa. “The Terrorist, He Watches.” An
Introduction to Literature. 13th ed. Ed. Sylvan Barnet et
al. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2004. pp. 687-688.
Tapcott, Stephen and Mariusz Przybytek. “The Sky, A Sky,
Heaven, the Heavens, a Heaven, Heavens: Reading
Szymborska Whole.” The American Poetry Review.
World Poetry Inc. July 2000. Brish Lib., Hagerstown
Community College. 6 April 2004 <galenet. Galegroup.
Com.exproxy.hagerstowncc.edu>.
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Other miscellaneous points
• Never put numbers next to works cited entries
• In MLA format, everything is double spaced.
• Periods go after citations in in-text citations
“quoted material” (Johnson 11).
• Quotations that are more than 4 typed lines are
indented ten spaces, do not have quotation marks,
and the period goes before the citation.
• Most importantly, ALL information from a
source, unless it is common knowledge, MUST
be cited.
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Sources for MLA Documentation
• Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA
Handbook for Writers of
Research papers. 5th ed. New
York: The Modern Language
Association of America, 1999.
– This is the bible for MLA
documentation. It can be
found in most bookstores.
• Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s
Reference. 5th ed. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003.
– Most HCC 101 students
should have this book.
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• http://owl.english.pur
due.edu/ Purdue
University’s Online
Writing Lab, a
wonderful site.
• http://webster.commn
et.edu/mla/index.shtm
lsource
– Another very good site
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