How to Avoid Plagiarism

How to Avoid Plagiarism

What does the Bible have to say about integrity? • Prov. 24:26 An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips. • Prov. 12:17 A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies. • I Chron. 29:17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.

Introduce Source Material • Introducing source material alerts readers that you are, for the moment, no longer speaking entirely in your own voice. Quotations, paraphrases and summaries all must be properly introduced.

Here's an example of a properly introduced quotation: • Robert Harbison (1977) describes the English reverence for home "that has not changed much to American eyes in a hundred years" (p.25).

Example of a Properly Introduced Paraphrase: • In Eccentric Spaces, Robert Harbison (1977) describes an English sense of home based on turn-of-the-century literature and notes that American readers are still influenced by these works (p. 25).

Example of a Properly Introduced Summary: • Robert Harbison (1977) notes that Americans' impression of the English sense of home is based on Victorian literature (p. 25).

Cite Source Material • Citing means identifying for the reader the source of the quotation, paraphrase, or summary. There are two main types of citations: parenthetical in-text citations and notes (either footnotes or endnotes).

1. Parenthetical in-text citations • Shorthand references to the full bibliographical description of the source listed at the end of the student's paper. The author and date of publication are most important in the APA style. If there is an exact quote, then the page number should also be included.

Here's an example of an APA-style in-text citation: • In her book about toddlers, Alicia Lieberman (1993) does a good job of explaining their sometimes mystifying behavior.

2. Notes • Footnotes and endnotes, in general, are being replaced by the parenthetical citation but are still used in scholarly writing in the liberal arts

Reference Source Material • Citations direct readers to the paper's bibliography or reference list, which is an alphabetical listing on a separate page at the end of the paper of all the resources used in the paper.

Reference Source Material • Beyond the author's last name, the publication date, and the page number (also referenced in your parenthetical in-text citation), this listing provides the initials of the author's first and middle names, the title of the text, and the place of publication. APA references should be double-spaced. Each reference should begin flush with the left margin, and following lines should be indented five spaces.

Reference Source Material • The page of references is titled differently depending on the documentary style used. In APA style, bibliographical information is collected under the heading References. In MLA style, the heading is entitled Works Cited. In Chicago (or Turabian) style, it is called Bibliography.

Guidelines for Avoiding Quotation Errors

Guideline I: • Place quotation marks around words copied verbatim (exactly) from a source, even if you've credited the author in the same sentence.

Example of properly used quotation marks: • According to Ric Edelman (1996), the fee of a full-service broker to buy and sell stocks is "typically 1.5% of the investment amount. And that's each way, meaning you pay 1.5% when you buy a stock and another 1.5% when you sell it, for a total cost of about 3.0%" (p. 131).

Example of properly used quotation marks: • Explanation: • This example is correct because Ric Edelman's exact words are surrounded by quotation marks. If the citation notes (in parentheses) were used by themselves, they would not be sufficient, even though they're needed. All of the author's words must be enclosed in quotation marks so that it is clear which are the author's words and which are the student's.

Guideline 2 • Place quotation marks around even part of a sentence that you reproduce.

Example of properly used quotation marks: • Robert Harbison points to the "dream stories" (1970, p. 25) of Sherlock Holmes, who is less an "adventurer" than "a scientist of gossip" (p. 26). Harbison believes these mysteries reassure us "that conventional lives are not boring" (p. 26).

Example of properly used quotation marks: • Explanation: • Though it may seem picky to expect you to quote even individual words, both writers and teachers consider adept phrasing to be a valuable commodity. • When you paraphrase, carefully examine all the words in the passage to make sure you do not inadvertently borrow the author's wording, even in part.

Guideline III: • Provide a citation note whenever you quote a source.

Examples of proper in-text citations: • In an article about the use of DDT, Fred Soper is referred to as "the General Patton of entomology" (Gladwell, 2001, p. 44). • In his article about the use of DDT, Malcolm Gladwell describes Fred Soper as "the General Patton of entomology" (2001, p. 44).

Guideline IV: • Avoid the most blatant of all forms of plagiarism--failing to acknowledge the author in any way when reproducing his or her words.

Blatant Plagiarism In 1938, the worst malaria epidemic in the history of the Americas broke out. A hundred thousand people were infected and as many as twenty thousand were thought to have died from it. Proper Citation According to an article in The New Yorker (2001), "In 1938, the worst malaria epidemic in the history of the Americas broke out" (Gladwell, p. 45). "A hundred thousand people" were infected and "as many as twenty thousand" were thought to have died from it (p. 45).

Guideline V: • Introduce your source before you restate its words or ideas in a paraphrase or summary. Then when you finish your paraphrase or summary, cite the source.

Example of an incorrect summary: • The stories of Sherlock Holmes celebrate the notion of home, reassuring us that our lives are not boring. • Explanation: • The above is a very common mistake. The student here has condensed a couple of pages from the source but has not acknowledged the author.

Guideline VI: • In paraphrasing or summarizing literary or non-technical works, avoid dependence on the source's wording.

Study the source material until you understand it well, and then put the source away before you start paraphrasing. When your paraphrase is complete, compare it to the original to be sure you have been faithful to its meaning but have avoided parroting its phrasing.

To paraphrase correctly, you need to change all, not just some, of the author's words into your own. Remember Guideline II: Place quotation marks around even part of a sentence (even a few words) that you reproduce.

Guideline VII: • In paraphrasing or summarizing technical materials, you may need to preserve some of the technical terms and expressions of the original.

Terms like "data processing," "energy crisis," "Oedipus complex," or "strategic planning process" are widely understood technical terms that will not be mistaken for your own original expressions. Use such terms in your own text without paraphrasing them and enclosing them in quotations.

Guideline VIII: • Re-acknowledge the author and provide the proper citations whenever you paraphrase more than once, even within the same paragraph.

Here is the original text: • A vision is an expression of hope and idealism. It oversimplifies the world and implies that anything is possible. The embarrassment we may feel is really our vulnerability at taking a stance of innocence in the midst of an environment that seems sophisticated, hard-nosed, and pragmatic....

Here is the original text: • We know we create a great vision when it has three qualities: • 1. It comes from the heart.... • 2. We, alone, can make this statement.... • 3. It is radical and compelling....

Proper paraphrasing and summarizing • A vision statement is a personal statement (Block, 1987, p. 115). In devising our own, we shouldn't be concerned with the limitations of the marketplace (Block). Peter Block lists three characteristics of a good vision statement: it's emotional rather than logical; it reflects our uniqueness; and it challenges us and others.

Explanation: • The three sentences above correctly paraphrase and cite the original source. If one of these sentences was not referenced either directly--e.g., "Peter Block lists..."--or using a parenthetical citation, then the paraphrase would be incorrect because it would not adequately reflect who is saying what.

Explanation: • When the paraphrases are taken from different pages, then you should cite the new page number but omit the author's name because it is implied that the author is the same.

Summary • Avoiding plagiarism is really a matter of giving credit where credit is due.

Summary • It may help to compare your role as a writer to that of a stage director. That is, it’s up to you to introduce the reader to whatever new speakers you bring into the discussion, to represent the new speaker’s ideas faithfully, and to give the reader a way to enlarge on his or her knowledge of the source. You should leave the reader with no questions about when you are speaking in your own voice and when another author has the stage.

Steps to Summarizing and Paraphrasing. • 1.Read the quotation you wish to summarize. • 2.Think about what the author is describing. Once you fully understand the quotation, continue to the next step. • 3.Read the quotation once more and look away from the book.

Steps to Summarizing and Paraphrasing. • 4.Without looking to your source, write what you believe the key points are. • 5.When you have finished your summary, refer to your source once more. Compare the quote to your summary and make sure that you correctly stated (in your own words), the main points and any conclusions that author had made. If your summary is too similar to the actual source, you could be plagiarizing.

1. Is this my own style or have I simply rearranged words? • 2. Does this sound like I wrote it, or does it sound like the style of my source?

Final Details • 1. If the information in the paper does not come from the source cited, it will be considered plagiarism. • 2. Note cards must match the research paper and must be placed in the order of the paper. If the note cards do not match the paper, it will be assumed that the paper is not the work of the student.

How to Avoid Plagiarism