Plagiarism: An Overview Teaching & Learning Toolkit

Adapted with the permission of Kirsten Fleming (1998).

What is Plagiarism? Plagiarism occurs when you intentionally or unintentionally use the work of another— including, for example, writing, music, computer code, and ideas— without properly giving credit to the source of the work and ideas. ??????? Scope ??????

What Types of Materials Can Be Plagiarized? The published word, unpublished drafts, spoken word, opinions, theories, pictures, graphs, music, computer code, and data analysis (to name a few). Plagiarism is possible any time the material of another is used, regardless of the source or its format.

Example: Ideas from Group Work Blah blah blah Blah blah (T. Smith, personal communication, May 3, 2014).

What Actions Constitute Plagiarism? 1. Using material verbatim, without quotation marks, and without crediting the source. Using unique phrases and words without quotation marks, even when crediting the source. Using literal material without placing it in quotation marks, even if you credit the source.

Example of #3 Original Source Material Plagiarism Why do we sometimes fail to recall the names of people whose faces are perfectly familiar to us? What accounts for episodes of misplaced keys, wallets, or similar lapses? Daniel Schacter (2001) In this essay, I will explain why we sometimes fail to recall the names of people whose faces are perfectly familiar to us and what accounts for episodes of misplaced keys, wallets, or similar lapses (Schacter, 2001).

4. Reproducing the basic structure of other work—even if you credit the source.

Example Original source material: Why do we sometimes fail to recall the names of people whose faces are perfectly familiar to us? What accounts for episodes of misplaced keys, wallets, or similar lapses? Daniel Schacter (2001) Plagiarism: In this essay, I will explain why we sometimes cannot recall the names of people whose faces are familiar to us and why we sometimes misplace keys and wallets (Schacter, 2001).

5. Self-plagiarism: repeating your own material without crediting the original source. Multiple submission is academic dishonesty: “Multiple submission is the submission of the same, or substantially the same, work for credit in two or more courses…Students may not normally submit any academic assignment, work, or endeavor in more than one course for academic credit of any sort. This will apply to submissions of the same or substantially the same work in the same semester or in different semesters” (CMU’s Policy on Academic Integrity, 2013, p. 2).

Let’s Review When you take quotations directly from a source, place the words in quotation marks and cite the source. Treat unique words and phrases as quotations. Do not lightly paraphrase a passage while preserving the overall structure of another’s material. This is still plagiarism. When you describe information from a source in your own words, you must credit the source where you found the information—even if you are the author of the original source.

How Do I Credit a Source? Possibilities: Footnotes Endnotes Internal citations (also called citations, in-text citations, and parenthetical citations) …than did witnesses who selected a person without first describing the suspect. Another research team concluded that this occurs only rarely, however (Jones & Steel, 2009). References Jones, T. J., & Steel, M. (2009). Verbal overshadowing in a real-world eyewitness task. Journal of Life, 12, 1–2. for APA style

When Can I Omit an Internal Citation? When the information is common knowledge. 2002: …a “selfie” (citation). Today: …one of the first selfies was taken in…

Plagiarism Rules in Action (examples from Fleming, 1998) Original Student’s Plagiarized Excerpt #1 An attribute of a high-quality education is, most certainly, the quantity of knowledge conveyed to, and learned by, a student. In addition to possessing a good knowledge base, a student who has been fully educated should be able to communicate effectively, apply critical thinking skills, and adapt to unanticipated circumstances. A characteristic of a good education is, most certainly, the amount of information conveyed to, and assimilated by, a student. As well as having a broad knowledge base, a student who has been completely educated should be able to speak well, use critical thinking skills, and adapt to unforeseen circumstances.

Plagiarism Rules in Action Original Student’s Plagiarized Excerpt #1 An attribute of a high-quality education is, most certainly, the quantity of knowledge conveyed to, and learned by, a student. In addition to possessing a good knowledge base, a student who has been fully educated should be able to communicate effectively, apply critical thinking skills, and adapt to unanticipated circumstances. A characteristic of a good education is, most certainly, the amount of information conveyed to, and assimilated by, a student. As well as having a broad knowledge base, a student who has been completely educated should be able to speak well, use critical thinking skills, and adapt to unforeseen circumstances.

Plagiarism Rules in Action Original Student’s Plagiarized Excerpt #2 An attribute of a high-quality education is, most certainly, the quantity of knowledge conveyed to, and learned by, a student. In addition to possessing a good knowledge base, a student who has been fully educated should be able to communicate effectively, apply critical thinking skills, and adapt to unanticipated circumstances. A student who has been fully educated should be able to apply critical thinking skills, communicate effectively, and adapt to unanticipated circumstances. Although an attribute of high-quality education is, most certainly, the quantity of knowledge conveyed to, and learned by, a student, the possession of a good knowledge base does not constitute a complete education.

Plagiarism Rules in Action Original Student’s Plagiarized Excerpt #2 An attribute of a high-quality education is, most certainly, the quantity of knowledge conveyed to, and learned by, a student. In addition to possessing a good knowledge base, a student who has been fully educated should be able to communicate effectively, apply critical thinking skills, and adapt to unanticipated circumstances. A student who has been fully educated should be able to apply critical thinking skills, communicate effectively, and adapt to unanticipated circumstances. Although an attribute of high-quality education is, most certainly, the quantity of knowledge conveyed to, and learned by, a student, the possession of a good knowledge base does not constitute a complete education.

Plagiarism Rules in Action Original Student’s Plagiarized Excerpt #3 An attribute of a high-quality education is, most certainly, the quantity of knowledge conveyed to, and learned by, a student. In addition to possessing a good knowledge base, a student who has been fully educated should be able to communicate effectively, apply critical thinking skills, and adapt to unanticipated circumstances. There are many different ideas of what makes a high- quality education. Most people believe that an important attribute of a high-quality education is the quantity of knowledge conveyed to, and learned by, a student. However, it is also believed that the tangible skills and knowledge gained from education do not constitute a complete education. A complete education must also give a student the ability to communicate effectively, apply critical thinking skills, and adapt to unanticipated circumstances.

Plagiarism Rules in Action Original Student’s Plagiarized Excerpt #3 An attribute of a high-quality education is, most certainly, the quantity of knowledge conveyed to, and learned by, a student. In addition to possessing a good knowledge base, a student who has been fully educated should be able to communicate effectively, apply critical thinking skills, and adapt to unanticipated circumstances. There are many different ideas of what makes a high- quality education. Most people believe that an important attribute of a high-quality education is the quantity of knowledge conveyed to, and learned by, a student. However, it is also believed that the tangible skills and knowledge gained from education do not constitute a complete education. A complete education must also give a student the ability to communicate effectively, apply critical thinking skills, and adapt to unanticipated circumstances.

Plagiarism Rules in Action Student’s Excerpt #4 Original There are many different ideas of what makes a high-quality education. An important part of a good education is that a student gain a significant body of knowledge and also that the student master the tangible skills appropriate to their discipline. However, it is also believed that the tangible skills and knowledge gained from education do not constitute a complete education. Fleming (1998, p. 2) believes that a complete education must also give a student the ability to “communicate effectively, apply critical thinking skills, and adapt to unanticipated circumstances.” A student should also leave college with the ability to work successfully with other people as well as independently. An attribute of a high-quality education is, most certainly, the quantity of knowledge conveyed to, and learned by, a student. In addition to possessing a good knowledge base, a student who has been fully educated should be able to communicate effectively, apply critical thinking skills, and adapt to unanticipated circumstances.

How to Avoid Plagiarism When using source materials: Express ideas, facts, etc. in your own words. Do not just replace words here and there or rearrange the order of someone else’s words. Ensure that the information being conveyed accurately reflects the original material. Place the spoken or written words of another person in quotation marks. Cite the source material using the format appropriate to your discipline. If you are unsure as to whether a source should be cited, then err on the side of including a citation.

For More Information For practice making decisions based on the concepts in this presentation, visit an online tutorial from the University of Southern Mississippi. To find it, type “University of Southern Mississippi plagiarism tutorial” into a search engine to look up the current location. Familiarize yourself with CMU’s Policy on Academic Integrity. Use the search engine at www.cmich.edu to find its current location. Consult current editions of the Chicago Manual of Style, the MLA Style Manual & Guide to Scholarly Publishing, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, or The Bedford Handbook for Writers.

References Academic Senate, CMU. (2013). Policy on academic integrity. Mt. Pleasant, MI: Author. Retrieved from https://www.cmich.edu/office_president/ombuds/Documents/ACADEMIC_INTEGRITY_POLICY.pdf#search=academic%20integrity%20policy Fleming, K. (1998). Plagiarism: A brief overview. Unpublished manuscript.  Schacter, D. L. (2001). The seven sins of memory: How the mind forgets and remembers. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.  University Libraries, University of Southern Mississippi. (2014). What is an internal citation? Retrieved from http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/plag/whatisplag.php