Academic Writing Style and Avoiding Plagiarism

1. Academic Writing Style and Avoiding Plagiarism (Or, How to Write a Research Paper the Right Way and Avoid Chastisement and Possible Failure)

2. Section 1: Writing Style In this section, we will discuss: • Using third person • Using formal language and present tense • Transitioning between ideas • Staying focused on your thesis

3. Using Third Person All academic writing uses third person; therefore, your research paper will be written in third person. (Did you notice that that sentence was in second person? Wait—so was that one! How do I fix this? No! That was first person! AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!) Relax. All will be explained.

4. Third Person, con. • One who wishes to write in third person will find it in his or her best interest, in most cases, to stick with plurals, as they are somewhat less awkward than the unwieldy “one” and “he or she.” • People who use third person plural will find that their sentences flow more easily once they get the hang of it. • Why? Because there is no gender-neutral third person singular pronoun other than “one,” which is pretty darn awkward.

5. Examples • First person: “I feel that human trafficking is a horrible practice that should be stopped.” • Second Person: “You will agree that human trafficking is a horrible practice that should be stopped.” • Third Person: “Most would agree that human trafficking is a horrible practice that should be stopped” or “Human trafficking is a horrible practice that should be stopped.”

6. That wasn’t too hard, right?

7. Formal Language • Formal language is basically a matter of shifting from the way people talk to the way people write. For instance: • “Sammy got really mad” is informal language. • “Sammy became angry” is better.

8. Present tense • Research papers should be written in present tense, because, theoretically, you are trying to inform/persuade your reader NOW. • (The previous sentence is in present tense. This one is, too.)

9. Transitions • When a teacher describes your paper as “choppy” or “jumping around,” this means that you aren’t transitioning between ideas properly. Showing how one idea relates to the next and how one paragraph relates to the next allows the reader to follow your train of thought.

10. Types of transitions • Counting transitions: Firstly, secondly, thirdly, also, in addition to, etc. These, frankly, are pretty weak. We’d rather you avoid them • Concept-based transitions: These show how your IDEAS relate to each other. They’re preferred.

11. Example! • If you’re transitioning from describing the concept of GM crops to describing the potential effects of GM crops on the environment, this might be a good transition: • “While scientist may feel that they’ve carefully controlled the manipulation of the plants’ genes, the effects of GM crops on the environment have been anything but predictable.”

12. Wasn’t that nicer than “Next, I will discuss the effects of GM crops on the environment?” Didn’t it just sound…smarter?

13. Sticking to your thesis • EVERY point in your research paper should relate in a specific way to your thesis. • Each TOPIC SENTENCE should be directly related to proving your thesis. • If you can’t determine what a piece of information has to do with making your point, then that piece of information DOES NOT BELONG!

14. Section 2: Citation

15. What is citation? • CITATION is giving credit to the source from which your information came. In MLA style, citations look like this: • (Brown 183) This indicates that this piece of information came from Brown and can be found on pg 183 of Brown’s book.

16. What do I cite? Every piece of information (fact) that you did not know before you began the paper must be cited. Every idea that was not originally yours must be cited. Yes—you are going to have a LOT of citations!

17. PLAGIARISM Know why it’s big and red? Because it’s BAD. Academic dishonesty—whether intentional or unintentional—means automatic failure. You need to know what to cite, when to cite, and how to cite properly. This is IMPORTANT.

18. Types of cite-ables • There are three ways to use the information you find: • Quoting directly • Paraphrasing • Summarizing

19. Quoting directly When you use a quote, you are using the EXACT WORDS that the author used. If you use three or more words taken directly from a source, you must signal this by putting those words in quotation marks. “Quote” does NOT only apply to what people SAY. Any of the author’s words qualify as quotations.

20. Paraphrasing • When you put the source’s information into your own words, it’s called paraphrasing. • YOU STILL NEED A CITATION WHEN YOU PARAPHRASE.

21. Summarizing • When you summarize, you give a very general impression of the article or book. Summaries need citations, too!

22. Examples! Sample Passage: “Sevenpence-halfpenny's worth per week is a good round diet for a child; a great deal may be got for sevenpence-halfpenny, quite enough to overload its stomach, and make it uncomfortable. The elderly female was a woman of wisdom and experience; she knew what was good for children; and she had a very accurate perception of what was good for herself. So, she appropriated the greater part of the weekly stipend to her own use, and consigned the rising parochial generation to even a shorter allowance than was originally provided for them. Thereby finding in the lowest depth a deeper still; and proving herself a very great experimental philosopher.” from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

23. Example QUOTE Dickens says that woman “find[s] in the lowest depth a deeper still,” (8), which shows that even among the very poor, some are the predators and some are the victims. “ “ show that those are the author’s words. (8) shows where the quote came from—because Dickens is already mentioned in the sentence, he doesn’t need to be mentioned in the parentheses. [ ] indicates that you altered the wording slightly to fit the grammar of your sentence.

24. Example paraphrase An excellent example of the poor victimizing each other comes in the form of the woman whose house Oliver is sent to. She spends the money intended for the children’s food on herself, and as a result the children are malnourished (Dickens 8). It’s not exact wording, but I still used the author’s ideas, so I still need to cite it.

25. Example summary Oliver is neglected by the woman who is supposed to take care of him, showing that there is little kindness even among the very poor (Dickens 8). This is a very general reference to the content of the passage—but it still requires a citation.

26. When there isn’t an author… • …you cite using a shortened version of the title. For instance, if your source is an unsigned internet article titled “Gelatinous Mass Consumes Manhattan,” you would cite it as (“Gelatinous”).