Intentional and Unintentional Plagiarism

1. Intentional and Unintentional Plagiarism Dr. Lachlan Galbraith

2. What is plagiarism? (And why you should care!)

3. Definition: Plagiarism is the act of presenting the words, ideas, images, sounds, or the creative expression of others as your own.

4. Excuses Everyone does it! It’s okay if I don’t get caught! I was too busy to write that paper! (Job, big game, too much homework!) This assignment was BORING! I’ve got to get into ??? U.! My teachers expect too much! My parents expect “A”s!

5. Intentional Copying a friend’s work Buying or borrowing papers Cutting and pasting blocks of text from electronic sources without documenting Media “borrowing”without documentation Web publishing without permissions of creators Unintentional Careless paraphrasing Poor documentation Quoting excessively Failure to use your own “voice” Two types of plagiarism:

6. Real life consequences: • Damaged the reputation of two prominent historians, Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin, • Kearns claimed unintentional plagiarism due to poor note-taking practices • Kearns left television position and stepped down as Pulitzer Prize judge for “lifting” 50 passages for her 1987 book The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys (Lewis) • Senator Joseph Biden dropped his 1987 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. (Sabato) • Copied in law school and borrowed from campaign speeches of Robert Kennedy • Boston Globe journalist Mike Barnicle forced to resign for plagiarism in his columns (“Boston Columnist . . .”) • Zachery Kouwe “A Wall Street and finance reporter for The New York Times accused of plagiarism has resigned, the newspaper reported” on Feb. 17, 2010 • Probe of plagiarism at UVA--45 students dismissed, 3 graduate degrees revoked • CNN Article AP. 26 Nov. 2001 • Channel One Article AP. 27 Nov. 2002

7. Plagiarism in the Arts Today Mark Vallen: Shepard Fairey is “a plagiarist” in his poster art. Compare his poster to the AP photo.

8. More Shepard Fairey Still from 1984 Fairey’s work

9. Fairey: Chinese Poster Ripoff? 1968 Chinese Poster-anonymous

10. Possible consequences at PVCC: • Immediate course withdrawal or “F” grade and financial penalty on tuition • Referral to appropriate administrators • Suspension or dismissal from college Is it worth the risk?

11. Do I have to cite everything?

12. Nope! • Facts that are widely known, or • Information or judgments considered “common knowledge” Do NOT have to be documented. Hooray for common knowledge!

13. Examples of common knowledge • John Adams was our second president • The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 If you see a fact in three or more general information sources, such as an almanac, and your are fairly certain your readers already know this information, it is possibly “common knowledge.” But when in doubt, cite!

14. No need to document when: • You are discussing your own experiences, observations, or reactions (e.g., in a narrative essay) • Your own field research (original study), original findings or original surveys • Local or regional knowledge shared by your readers You are using common knowledge

15. “But I Know So Much About This” Occasionally PVCC students who are knowledgeable about a topic area believe the common knowledge rule does not apply or gets waived for them. One student writing a causal analysis essay said to me in an email “this essay may seem like it has a lot of complex information that is not cited. The fact is that I wrote almost this entire paper from my own mind because I have a great amount of knowledge in this field and had a hard time finding information to cite that was beyond my knowledge.” I responded to the student: “You miss the point on the common knowledge rule. It is not amended or altered by your personal expertise. The rule requires that statements made that go beyond common knowledge, whether quoted, paraphrased, or summarized, must be documented. Though you may have long held these ideas in your mind as true, if there is supportive research available you should cite an expert TO ESTABLISH CREDIBILITY WITH YOUR AUDIENCE. IT IS THE AUDIENCE YOU MUST CONSIDER AS YOU SEEK TO PERSUADE.” The student also did not understand that we are looking for proof by the effective use of expert resources that can be cited in support of your discussion, especially in causal analysis or argument essay. Persuasion through the use of relevant evidence is a key goal.

16. What’s the big deal? Wrong! Paraphrasing original ideas without documenting your source, is plagiarism too! If I change a few words, I’m okay, right?

17. Use these three strategies, • Quoting • Paraphrasing • Summarizing To blend source materials in with your own, making sure your own voice is heard and your own language is used 100% of the time.

18. What Did You Say About Your Own Language? • Explain the sources ideas, whether paraphrasing or summarizing, in 100% your own words • Yes,100% your own words.

19. Prevention: Good Note-Taking Process • Include any direct quotes or unique phrases or terminology in quotation marks, or mark with a big Q and make sure the writer’s name is identified. • Make sure you note a paraphrase with the writer’s name and mark it with a big P • Include page numbers and source references, such as URLs, so you can go back and check for accuracy as you write.

20. Do’s and Don’t to Avoid Plagiarism • Ask your instructor via email or a PVCC librarian for help if you are stymied in finding good sources • Be certain that you don’t inadvertently “borrow” eloquent phrases or words you liked • Always be certain of the original location of a specific fact or quote that you have put in your notes • Check to see if all citations in your rough draft are listed in the Works Cited draft • Never fail to have a comprehensive Works Cited page as part of the rough draft process • Never attempt a paper that does not match the assignment and your interests

21. Do’s and Don’ts # 2 • Keep all your drafts, outlines, etc. in case an instructor ever accuses you of plagiarism • Read aloud your essay. Are there sentences containing unusual vocabulary or scholarly terms that you have never used before? Is the sentence structure, the syntax, different from your typical sentences. Ask yourself, am I plagiarizing the syntactical structure of my source documents? Is this “paraphrase” just too much like the original passage? Recall: 100% your own language! • Examine your writing style as you revise and edit the essay. Does it suddenly improve? Have you unintentionally committed plagiarism?

22. Acknowledgements • This slide show is adapted from a presentation developed by the English Department of San Diego State University. The original presentation “Plagiarism” was graciously provided at no cost to Lachlan Galbraith, Ph.D., adjunct instructor in the Paradise Valley Community College English Department.