What the site tags as plagiarism Academic Integrity and Turnitin.com

What is Turnitin.com? Turnitin is an internet-based plagiarism-prevention service. Turnitin's Originality Check helps teachers check students' work for improper citation or potential plagiarism by comparing it against the world's most accurate text comparison database. Turnitin shows how much of the student's paper matches content from their databases so teachers can quickly understand how much of a student’s paper is unoriginal.

How Does Turnitin.com Work? When a paper is submitted to Turnitin, it is compared against three databases of content from three primary sources: 1. A database which contains over 24 billion current and archived web pages. 2. Over 50 percent of plagiarism comes from other student's work. Turnitin compares submitted papers to a database of over 300 million student papers in the Turnitin paper database. Each day, the Turnitin student database grows by 190,000 papers. 3. Turnitin has partnered with leading content publishers, including library databases, text-book publishers, digital reference collections, subscription-based publications, homework helper sites and books.

Why should this matter to you? Because GOHS’s academic integrity policy mandates that if a certain percentage of a student’s paper is plagiarized, the student will face consequences outlined in the Academic Integrity Contract. KNOW YOUR TEACHERS’ PARAMETERS! It is important that you understand how to avoid having your paper flagged as plagiarized by correctly sourcing, quoting, paraphrasing, and citing works or ideas you obtain from someone else that’s included in your writing. Please note that you may be asked to submit written assignments to Turnitin.com in any GOHS class—not just English.

BRAINSTORM: What types of resources are available for you when writing a paper? Which would you consider “reliable”? Which would you consider “unreliable”? Sources such as Wikipedia, Blogs and About.com are all unreliable sources. Wikipedia is written by many volunteer contributors, some of whom may have ulterior motives or want to play a joke. Blogs and About.com are written by individuals that may include little fact checking and/or editing. Choose High Quality Authorized Sources

Evaluating Sources When reviewing the source, consider Is it written by a professional? Is it academic? Is it trying to sell you something? Is it real? (not a hoax or a prank) Is it biased? Is it recent? Adapted from "How to Source Your Academic Paper”

Tips for Finding Quality Authorized Sources Ask a librarian or your teacher for suggestions. Identify reliable media sources that may be appropriate. Limit Google searches to.edu,.gov or.org websites. Use Google Scholar. Use library databases such as ProQuest SIRS, EBSCOHost, Gale Virtual Reference Library and JSTOR. Examine references or works cited lists for more resources.

Cite Sources Correctly Parenthetical Citations Incorporated into the text of the essay Specifically used when you are quoting or paraphrasing another person’s work. If you are referencing a particular page, the correct format is (author page), such as in (Seuss 12). If you are referencing an entire article or work, the correct format is (author, year), such as in (Seuss, 1960) Works Cited Alphabetical and located at the end of the paper Follow MLA format See “Cite it Right” on the GOHS Library WebsiteGOHS Library Website Example for a book: Seuss, Dr. Green eggs and ham. New York: Beginner Books/Random, Print.

We will use a known phrase from this famous children’s book to administer a quick quiz to check your understanding of what constitutes plagiarism Citing Correctly Do you remember Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss?

What Is Plagiarism? Please take a look at each sentence and vote for whether or not it is plagiarism We will discuss each one as we go. Good luck!

Is this plagiarism? Many people do not like green eggs and ham. As written, is this plagiarism? Yes! The phrase, “do not like green eggs and ham” was taken directly from someone else’s work, word for word, and was not cited appropriately.

Is this plagiarism? Many people “do not like green eggs and ham.” Is this plagiarism? Yes! The phrase, “do not like green eggs and ham” is in quotes, showing that it is in fact someone else’s work, but there is no reference listed as a citation.

Is this plagiarism? Many people do not like green eggs and ham (Seuss 12). Is this plagiarism? Yes! While a citation is present, the phrase “do not like green eggs and ham” is still taken word for word from someone else’s work. The lack of quotes implies that these are your words, which they are not.

Is this plagiarism? Many people “do not like green eggs and ham” (Seuss 12). Is this plagiarism? No! The phrase “do not like green eggs and ham” is in quotes, showing that it is in fact someone else’s work, and the correct citation is in place. However, most teachers would prefer you to paraphrase a quote as short as this one.

Is this plagiarism? Many people dislike green eggs and ham (Seuss 12). Is this plagiarism? Yes! This is not adequate paraphrasing. The sentence structure is still too similar to the original quotation, and you can’t put this one in quotes because it’s not the exact words of Seuss.

Is this plagiarism? Many people have a strong distaste for forest-colored fowl embryos and cured domesticated pig products (Seuss 12). Is this plagiarism? Yes! This is still not adequate paraphrasing. The sentence structure is still too similar to the original quotation, and you still can’t put this one into quotes because it’s not the exact words of Seuss.

Explanation Have a strong distaste = do not like Forest-colored = green Fowl embryos = eggs Cured domesticated pig products = ham Substituting a synonym for the original word is too similar to the original to be called a paraphrase.

Is this plagiarism? Lack of familiarity with particular preparation styles of foods is likely to lead to premature rejection based on ignorance rather than an objective appraisal of the inherent taste qualities of that food (Seuss 12). Is this plagiarism? No! Here we have an adequate paraphrasing that represents Seuss’s intended message, but it’s not very readable. In fact, this pretty much represents everything people hate about academic writing.

Is this plagiarism? When something is unfamiliar or foreign to us, we tend not to judge it fairly (Seuss 12). Is this plagiarism? No! Finally, we have an adequate paraphrasing that accurately represents Seuss’s message and that is clear and easily understood.

How Does This Relate to GOHS’s Academic Integrity? There are four (4) references to this type of error on the GOHS Academic Integrity Contract. Let’s take a look…

Academic Integrity Contract Reads: In order to maintain Academic Integrity I will avoid: Utilizing unauthorized outside resources (sources) Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit (citing) Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks (quoting) Changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit (paraphrasing)

Academic Integrity Contract Reads: In order to maintain Academic Integrity I can: Acknowledge my source whenever I borrow words or ideas. The following situations almost always require citation: 1. Whenever I use quotes 2. Whenever I paraphrase 3. Whenever I use an idea that someone else has already expressed 4. Whenever I make specific reference to the work of another 5. Whenever someone else’s work has been critical in developing my own ideas

Academic Integrity Policy Contract After reviewing the Academic Integrity Contract with your teacher: Sign it Take it home and review it with your parents Ask your parents to sign where indicated Return your signed contract to your English teacher by Monday, August 17 th THE END Thank you for your attention!

Works Cited Azman, Rosiana L., Ph.D., and Stephen H. Fox, Ph.D. "Understanding Plagiarism with Help from Dr. Seuss." Turnitin.com. IParadigms, LLC, Web. 27 July "How to Source Your Academic Paper” BachelorsDegreeOnline.com. N.p., 23 Apr Web. 31 July Seuss, Dr. Green eggs and ham. New York: Beginner Books/Random, Print. "The Plagiarism Spectrum: Tagging 10 Types of Unoriginal Works." Turnitin.com. IParadigms, LLC, May Web. 27 July 2015.