Avoiding Plagiarism

1. Avoiding Plagiarism Presented by:RIT Academic Support Center

2. Thought-provoking Questions • How many of these questions can you answer: • Why do you need to know about plagiarism? • What is RIT’s policy on plagiarism? • How do professors and other professionals identify plagiarism? • How can you ensure that you are not plagiarizing in your writing?

3. Definition • Plagiarism is stealing academic or intellectual materials.

4. Additional Definitions • Paraphrasing is representing the idea of your source by rewriting it in your own words and in about the same number of words. • Summarizing is stating the main ideas of your source by rewriting it in your own words and in a sentence or paragraph.

5. Paraphrasing and Summarizing • Try this process: • Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning. • Write about the topic without looking at the original – rely on your memory and notes. • Check what you have written against the original text.

6. Paraphrasing and Summarizing (cont.) • Try this process: (cont.) • Correct any errors, and use quotation marks for exact phrases from the original text. • Check your writing against sentence and paragraph structure of the original -- copying those is also considered plagiarism. • Put quotation marks around words or phrases that you cannot change; e.g., “computing’s innate agenda” is one way of describing . . . (Crowcroft).

7. Paraphrasing and Summarizing (cont.) • For a sample, refer to the following: • http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/02/

8. Writing About Another’s Ideas • To make sure you are giving credit: • Note the source’s name either in the sentence or throughout a paragraph when you are writing about the idea. • Use quotation marks around key phrases or words that the source used to describe the idea.

9. Writing Direct Quotations • With direct quotes: • keep the source author's name in the same sentence as the quote. • mark the quote with quotation marks, or set it off from your text in its own block, per your style guide. • For example: According to Jon Crowcroft, “Computing involves (virtual) systems that may never exist, either in nature or through human creation.”

10. Writing Direct Quotations (cont.) • With direct quotes: (cont.) • Use quotes that have the most impact; too many direct quotes may weaken your credibility • To shorten quotes and remove text, use ellipsis points (...) to indicate omitted text. • For example: Crowcroft states, “Although we computer scientists do not need to be complete, consistent, or correct…we wish our systems to be complete, consistent, and correct.”

11. Needs Credit (Citing) • Document any words, ideas, or other productions that originate somewhere outside of you; e.g.: • Words or ideas presented in a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, Web page, computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other medium • Information you gain through interviewing or conversing with another person, face to face, over the phone, or in writing • When you copy the exact words or a unique phrase • When you reprint any diagrams, illustrations, charts, pictures, or other visual materials • When you reuse or repost any electronically-available media, including images, audio, video, or other media

12. Does Not Need Credit (No Citing) • Certain things do not need documentation or credit; e.g.: • Your own results obtained through lab or field experiments • Your own artwork, digital photographs, video, audio • Your own lived experiences, observations, insights, thoughts, and conclusions about a subject • Generally-accepted facts; e.g., pollution is bad for the environment • Common knowledge, such as folklore, common sense observations, myths, urban legends, and historical events

13. Common Knowledge • Something is common knowledge: • if you find the same information undocumented in at least five credible sources. • if you think the information is something your readers either already know or could easily find in general reference sources. • Note: When in doubt, cite it.

14. Reading and Note-taking • In your notes: • mark someone else's words with a big Q, for quote. • indicate which ideas are taken from sources with a big S, and which are your own insights (ME) • record relevant documentation when information comes from sources (book and article titles; URLs on the Web)

15. Maintaining Drafts of Your Paper • Keep your own intellectual property safe by: • saving your paper in different files; e.g., use a numbering system as you progress such as research_paper1.doc, research_paper2.doc, research_paper3.doc. • maintaining copies of your drafts on different media and different secure locations. • password-protecting your computer. • password-protecting your files.

16. Check Your Understanding • For a sample on Safe Practices with Plagiarism, refer to the following: • http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/04/

17. Check Your Understanding • Describe something you learned (or recall) about avoiding plagiarism.

18. Resources • Contents adapted from the following websites (which are excellent resources for further study): • http://www.suu.edu/hss/english/writingcenter/pdf/tip-plagiarism.pdf • http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/03/ • Crowcroft, J. (2008). On the nature of computing. In Computers in Society 08/09 (pp. 12-13). Boston: McGraw Hill. • Faigley, L. Backpack Writing. New York: Custom Publishing, 2008.