PLAGIARISM and COPYRIGHT LAWS
What every student needs to know…
Copyright Laws
protect any created material (print,
audio, visual) as soon as it is created.
What is protected by copyright
• Books, articles, poems, stories and any
other print material.
• TV and radio programs.
• Videos, DVD’s, tapes, CD’s ,slides, etc.
• Pictures, images, artwork, etc.
• Any created material including something
you as a student have written even if you
have not applied for copyright.
Plagiarism
The act of stealing (borrowing, using,
copying) and passing off as one’s
own the ideas and words of another
Plagiarism is also
• using a created production without
crediting the source. This means anything
from TV, the radio, movies, and also from a
computer.
To avoid plagiarism…..
Cite your sources (list where you got
your info!)
Use quotation marks on exact words.
DO NOT:
• buy papers from the Internet or anyone else
• turn in another’s work as your own or copy
from another person’s work
• have another person produce your work
• omit citations for any information in your
work
• omit quotation marks when using exact
words of someone
Make sure you do…..
• cite any source you use if paraphrasing or
summarizing or if using an image,video or
audio material
• use quotation marks when using the exact
words found in a source
• cite your source for borrowed ideas even if
put in your own words
So what writing won’t need citing? NOT MUCH!
• if your teacher does not require a list of
sources for a short report or presentation
• when you analyze anything (literature) and
are expected to give your own ideas and
views or analysis of a situation
• common knowledge …..
Common knowledge is information that the majority of
people already know
• dictionary definitions
• historical information that most people
know- i.e. George Washington was our first
president
• current information or news such as the
World Trade Center was bombed in Sept.
11.
Take a short self test - which are OK????
• John copies a picture from an Internet site
and includes the site in his list of sources.
• The band decides to play a song at the
basketball game but it is not in the package
Mr. Ferland purchased to use this year.
• Sally changes two words from an
encyclopedia article and uses it for her
report listing the article in her list of sources
More self-test….
• The junior class advertises that they are
showing SHREK after school - admission
just $1.
• Jeff starts his report with a dictionary
definition of a common word but does not
include the dictionary in his source list.
How to take notes to avoid plagiarism
• Use note cards with one topic from one
source on each individual card
• If you don’t have cards, use a separate sheet
of paper for each topic
• Read a paragraph or two and then close the
page or turn away and write your notes only
looking back to clarify facts
More ideas on note taking
• Write facts as briefly as possible and in your
own words
• Write in short phrases rather than in
sentences
• Try to avoid unnecessary adjectives and
adverbs and abbreviate when possible
When using the Internet
• If note taking directly from the Internet to
the computer program, minimize the site
and then jot notes. Then minimize notes and
return to the page. Again, use words and
phrases, not sentences.
Skim and Scan
• Once you have progressed to your second,
third, fourth, etc. source, skim and scan the
information first.
• Do not take notes on the same material you
derived from the first book or site - save
time both reading and writing!
Use note cards or separate page for each topic indicate source at top
The First American
•
The First
American
•
Early life
•
•
•
•
born 1-6-1705 BF born 1-6-1705 - 1 of 10BF
kids
1 of 10 kids
parents - Josiah & Abiah
parents - Josiah & Abiah
in Boston, MA
in Boston, MA
youngest
youngest
Early life
Leave room around edges for your comments
–
The First
American
•
Early life
•
•
•
•
BF born 1-6-1705 - 1 of 10 kids
Early
life
parents - Josiah
& Abiah
in Boston, MA
BF born 1-6-1705
youngest - 1 of 10 kids
•
•
The First American
parents - Josiah & Abiah
in Boston, MA
youngest
Use in intro
Use in intro
• This will help you
organize cards later.
Keep quotes exactly as they will appear in your paper and
indicate page number where quote was found.
The First American
The First American
“Ben’s facility with the written word manifested itself early.”
“Ben’s facility for the written
p.word
16 manifested itself early.”
p.16
Methods of paraphrasing
• Skim and scan your material looking for
overall meaning and main ideas
• Read carefully and check meaning of words
with which you are not familiar
• Review again if necessary
• Close or cover the source and write brief
notes that stick to main ideas and pertinent
details
The next step is checking for
• Accuracy - have I kept to the main ideas
that the author is stating?
• Have I used my own words?
• Have I used quotes where needed and noted
the source and page number on my note
card?
An example from Big Dog’s MLA Quick Guide
•
Original: Wuthering Heights is the
most remarkable novel in English. It is
perfect, and perfect in the rarest way: it
is the complete bodying forth of an
intensely individual apprehension of the
nature of man and life. That is to say,
the content is strange enough, indeed
baffling enough, while the artisitc
expression of it is flawless. (Allen 223)
• In the next column, look at
three versions of students’
writing taken from the original.
Which is paraphrased best?
•
Version 1: The most remarkable novel
in English is Wuthering Heights. It
brings forth an individual apprehension
of the nature of man and life; therefore,
it is perfect in the rarest way.
•
Version 2: Wuthering Heights is a great
English novel. It is perfect in the rarest
way: It provides an individual
apprehension of man’s nature.
•
Version 3: Walter Allen insists that the
“artistic expression” of Wuthering
Heights is flawless (223). Allen admits
that the content is strange and even
baffling, but he argues that the novel is
perfect……….
If, if if…… but, but, but
You just run out of time………….
You just don’t understand how to do
it…………………
Your life is in a shambles and it’s just not
happening…………………….
Ask for help!!!!!
• Better to be a day late and get a lower grade than
a zero (try averaging zero into a number!) ……
• Better to be honest ………………..
• Better to try, do your best and
maintain a good reputation……
• Than to cheat!
THE END