PGDP Anti-Plagiarism Handout #1:
Is this plagiarism?
Text and some examples taken from http://www.csub.edu/ssricrem/howto/plagiarism.htm
This original text is the first sentence from a book review written by Lisa R. Staffen, published in Contemporary Sociology (March, 1996, Vol. 25, No., 2, pp. 154-156).
"It has become fashionable to reject the notion of absolute objectivity on the grounds that objectivity is simply unattainable or, even if attainable, is undesirable."
Here is a correct way of paraphrasing and citing, with no plagiarism:
Student version:
Quotation marks
In her review of Porter's book, Lisa Staffen says the idea of absolute objectivity is now commonly rejected as "simply unattainable or, even if attainable, [as] undesirable" (Staffen, 1996, p. 154).
Are these plagiarism? Why or why not?
Citation
“Student” writes: Why is this plagiarism?
(see powerpoint slides from lecture) I feel it has become fashionable to reject the notion of absolute objectivity on the grounds that objectivity is simply unattainable.
According to Lisa Staffen (1996), it has become fashionable to reject the notion of absolute objectivity on the grounds that objectivity is simply unattainable.
I feel it has become stylish to reject the idea of absolute objectivity on the grounds that objectivity cannot be achieved.
It has become stylish to reject the idea of absolute objectivity on the grounds that objectivity cannot be achieved
(Staffen, 1996).
Types of plagiarism:
1.
“word-for-word” plagiarism (copy-and-paste)
2.
Paraphrasing plagiarism (attempt at paraphrasing, but doesn’t get far enough away from original; or it’s a good paraphrase, but the person whose idea it was is not cited)

Handout #2:
Plagiarism: common mistakes
Why shouldn’t you plagiarize? Because it prevents you from reaching educational goals:
1.
Developing and expressing your own ideas.
2.
Developing skills for understanding others’ ideas, critically analyzing others’ research, and writing well.
Do not let these common mistakes lead you to plagiarism:
1.
“I don’t have enough time! It’s hard to think of my own words and ideas… let me just copy this person’s words… or say something very similar…”
This is the most common reason that students plagiarize. Writing a paper properly and thoughtfully takes some time.
Start your paper early, and when reading outside literature, take notes that indicate clearly a) the difference between your own words and someone else’s and b) where your information is from (including page # for direct quotations).
2.
“My English isn’t as good as this person’s! Wouldn’t it be better to use their words?”
The answer is: No. Practice your English by writing! And don’t use other’s phrases, however nice they sound, unless you put them in quotation marks.
Don’t be beaten by these common misunderstandings:
1.
A word-for-word copy of someone else’s phrase(s) ALWAYS needs to be put in quotation marks, as well as cited (with a page number). Even if you cite the person, you must also put quotation marks around the part that is their words. If you don’t, it is plagiarism.
2.
A paraphrase needs to be very different from the original. You can’t just change some words for synonyms; you can’t just change the order of different parts of the sentence.
These will be plagiarism, even if you cite the source.
Remember that the purpose of writing is to develop and show your own original ideas.
3.
Everything that you cite within the text should be listed in your References section at the end of the paper. Also, everything in your References section should be cited within the text. (Don’t list things in your references that you read, but did not cite in your paper.)
One final small point: If you use them in your paper, your teacher’s lecture notes also need to be cited and listed in your References, e.g.:
Buchtel, E.E. (2011). PGDP Anti-Plagiarism Workshop.
Unpublished lecture notes, The Hong
Kong Institute of Education.

Handout #3:
Can you correct their APA style?
To find the correct format, look at the IEd’s student handbook section on APA style, which is online at: http://www.ied.edu.hk/reg/student_handbook/chap_en15.html
Their version:
In-text citations:
…is very important (Buchtel, 2010) (Guan, 2007).
…in the classroom (Emma E. Buchtel, 2010).
…online (E. E. Buchtel, 2010).
…in the world (Emma, 2010).
…in psychology (Buchtel, 2010, Guan, 2007).
… “this is a direct quote” (Buchtel, 2010).
Reference list:
Nesdale, Drew (2002). Acculturation attitudes…
Drew Nesdale (2002). Acculturation attitudes…
 Nesdale, D., Maass, A., Kiesner, J., Durkin, K.,
Griffiths, J., & James, B. (2009). Effects of peer group rejection and a new group’s norms on children’s intergroup attitudes. British Journal of
Developmental Psychology, 27, 799-814.
 Nesdale, D., Milliner, E., Duffy, A., Griffiths, J.A.
(2009).Group membership, group norms, empathy and young children’s intentions to aggress. Aggressive Behaviour, 35, 244-258.
Correct version (or just write down what’s wrong):
Put a semi-colon between multiple citations:
…is very important (Buchtel, 2010;Guan, 2007).
Last name only:
…in the classroom (Buchtel, 2010).
Last name only, no initials:
…online (E. E. Buchtel, 2010).
Last name, not first name!:
…in the world (Buchtel, 2010).
Semi-colon between multiple citations, not a comma:
…in psychology (Buchtel, 2010; Guan, 2007).
For direct quotations, include a page number where the quote is from:
… “this is a direct quote” (Buchtel, 2010, p. 45).
Reference list:
Last (family) name and initials only :
Nesdale, D. (2002). Acculturation attitudes…
Last name first, then initials only:
Nesdale, D. (2002). Acculturation attitudes…
No numbers or bullet points. Format the reference list to have “hanging indents” (first line of each reference is closer to the left side than the rest of the reference).
Nesdale, D., Maass, A., Kiesner, J., Durkin, K., Griffiths, J.,
& James, B. (2009). Effects of peer group rejection and a new group’s norms on children’s intergroup attitudes.
British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 27, 799-
814.
 Nesdale, D., Griffiths, J., Durkin, K., & Maass, A..,
Kiesner, J. (2008). Effects of group norms on
Nesdale, D., Milliner, E., Duffy, A., Griffiths, J.A.
(2009).Group membership, group norms, empathy and young children’s intentions to aggress. Aggressive

children’s intentions to bully.Social
Development,17,(4), 889-907
Behaviour, 35, 244-258.
Nesdale, D., Griffiths, J., Durkin, K., & Maass, A.., Kiesner,
J. (2008). Effects of group norms on children’s intentions to bully.Social Development,17,(4), 889-907