What is plagiarism?

1. What is plagiarism? (And why you should care!) PowerPoint Presentation created by the Library at Christian Brothers University

2. Two types of plagiarism: • 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”

3. 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!

4. Rationale for academic integrity(as if it were necessary!) • When you copy you cheat yourself. You limit your own learning. • The consequences are not worth the risks! • It is only right to give credit • Citing gives authority to the information you present • Citing makes it possible for your readers to locate your source • Cheating is unethical behavior

5. Consequences: • Damage to reputation: • Doris Kearns Goodwin 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 • Probe of plagiarism at UVA--45 students dismissed, 3 graduate degrees revoked

6. Consequences (cont’d) • New York Times senior reporter Jayson Blair forced to resign after being accused of plagiarism and fraud. • “The newspaper said at least 36 of the 73 articles he had written had problems with accuracy, calling the deception a "low point" in the newspaper's history.” “New York Times Exposes Fraud of Own Reporter.” ABC News Online. 12 May, 2003. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/newshour_index.html

7. Possible school consequences: • “0” on the assignment • Parent notification • Referral to administrators • Suspension or dismissal from school activities--sports and extracurricular • Note on student record Is it worth the risk?

8. Is this important? • What if: • Your doctor cheated his way through surgical techniques class. Would he remove your appendix or spleen? How much would it matter? • Your lawyer paid for a copy of the bar exam to study. Will the contract she wrote for you stand up in court? • The accountant who does your taxes hired someone to write his papers and paid a stand-in to take his major tests? Does he know enough to complete your tax forms properly? (Lathrop and Foss 87)

9. Do I have to cite everything?

10. No need to document when: • You are discussing your own experiences, observations, or reactions • Compiling the results of original research, from science experiments, etc. • You are using common knowledge

11. 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 3+ sources, and you are fairly certain your readers already know this information, it is likely to be “common knowledge.”

12. What You Need to Know About Plagiarism

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

14. In the real world, this means….. • Using another person's words without giving them credit. • Using another person’s ideas without giving them credit. • Using another person’s research, results, diagrams, or images without giving them credit.

15. Actions that might be seen as plagiarism Deliberate Plagiarism • Buying, stealing, or borrowing a paper • Copying from another source without citing • Building on someone else’s ideas without citation • Using the source too closely when paraphrasing Maybe Accidental Plagiarism

16. Identifying Plagiarism Is this plagiarism? • Original Source: If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists (Davis 26). • Student’s Paper: The existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, and was also startling news for animal behaviorists.

17. Verdict: Plagiarism The student should have used quotation marks around the words that he copied directly from the original source. Also, there is no parenthetical reference with the page number of the source statement.

18. Identifying plagiarism Is this plagiarism? • Original Source: If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists (Davis 26). • Student’s Paper: The existence of a signing ape unsettled linguists and startled animal behaviorists  (Davis, 26).

19. Verdict: Plagiarism Even though the writer has cited the source, the writer’s words are not his own. Look at how closely the phrase "unsettled linguists and startled animal behaviorists"  resembles the wording of the source.

20. Identifying Plagiarism Is this plagiarism? • Original Source: If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists (Davis 26). • Student’s Paper: If the presence of a sign-language-using chimp was disturbing for scientists  studying language, it was also surprising to scientists studying animal behavior  (Davis, 26).

21. Verdict: Still Plagiarism Even though the writer has substituted synonyms and cited the  source, the writer is plagiarizing because the source's sentence structure is  unchanged. It is obvious that the writer could not have written his sentence without a copy of the source directly in front of him.

22. Identifying plagiarism Is this plagiarism? • Original Source: If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists (Davis 26). • Student’s Paper: According to Flora Davis, linguists and animal behaviorists were unprepared for  the news that a chimp could communicate with its trainers through sign language  (Davis, 26).

23. Verdict: Not Plagiarism The student has cited the source, and appropriately paraphrased the original source into his own words.

24. Strategies to avoid plagiarism • Practice good research methods (write it down!) • Know how to quote • Know how to cite • Know when something is common knowledge • Know how to paraphrase

25. Know how to quote • Mention the name of the quoted person in your text • Put quotation marks around the text you are quoting • Use brackets ([ ]) and ellipses ( … ) • Use block quotes when necessary • Quote sparingly

26. Cite your sources • Why should you cite your sources? • Citations show you have done research • As a courtesy to your reader • Your arguments become stronger when you can back them up • Ensures others receive fair credit for their work

27. Citing Internet Sources • Material on the Internet is not “free.” It still needs to be cited. • Don’t avoid citing Internet sources and articles from electronic databases just because you don’t know how.

28. Know when to cite • Always give a citation for quoted words or phrases. • Always give a citation after paraphrased sentences. • Always give a citation for specific statistics, percentages, and numbers given in your text. • You don’t need to cite facts or ideas that are common knowledge.

29. Know how to paraphrase • Paraphrasing means putting an idea into your own words. • Don’t just rearrange the sentences or replace a few words. • Be able to summarize the original source without having it in front of you.

30. Effective paraphrasing • Introduce your source at the point you begin paraphrasing the ideas of the other writer. • Cite your source in parentheses where you finish paraphrasing the source and resume presenting your own ideas.

31. “Cyber-cheating” in the digital age • Plagiarism before the Internet era: books, journals, fraternity test files, etc. • In the present day: far easier to cheat, but it’s also growing easier to detect

32. “Cyber-cheating” in the digital age • Technology has made it easier to track down and identify cases of plagiarism – you won’t get away with it. TurnItIn.com

33. Some telltale signs • It doesn’t sound like the student’s writing. • It was printed from a web browser and still has a header/footer on it. • The free essay has a tagline at the end that the student forgot to remove. • Page numbers don’t make sense; fonts switch around; material is off-topic or seems patched together • References to charts, graphs, accompanying material that isn’t there • Dead links • All citations are to old material – or historical events referred to in the present tense • Students can’t identify citations, provide copies of the cited material, or answer questions about it

34. Some slides are courtesy of Springfield School District, Oreland, Pa. http://www.sdst.org/shs/library/powerpoint/plagiarism.ppt