Avoiding Plagiarism: Paraphrasing/Quoting and Citation Resources Giving credit where credit is due

How is piracy like plagiarism?

Objectives Learn how to paraphrase and effectively integrate direct quotes into an essay. Identify citation tools to help you with MLA formatting. Understand how to give proper credit to your sources by including parenthetical citations and a works cited page. What do you already know about avoiding plagiarism? Take this quiz to find out.

What is plagiarism? Watch this YouTube video. Forms of plagiarism

How can plagiarism be avoided? To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit to the author or creator of the information that you want to use. This is called citing your sources. You must also paraphrase the information you find. Copying word for word or simply changing or rearranging a few words or phrases is plagiarism and will lead to serious negative consequences! Our school’s Honor Code provides more information about types of plagiarism and potential consequences.

What is paraphrasing? A paraphrase is... your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form. one legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source. a more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea. Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because... it is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage. it helps you control the temptation to quote too much. the mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original.

6 Steps to Effective Paraphrasing Reread the original passage several times until you understand its full meaning. If it’s a long article, break it into sections. Set the original aside, and write or type your paraphrase. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. Include a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source. Record the source (including the URL, author’s name, title, page number) on your reference document so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

How can I tell if I am paraphrasing correctly? Some examples to compare The original passage: Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (2014): 46-47. A legitimate paraphrase: In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47). A plagiarized version: Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes. Paraphrasing Practice

Direct Quotations and Statistics Another way you can incorporate information from your sources is using direct quotes or statistics. You typically only want to use a direct quotation (1) if you’re using that statement as a piece of evidence for your own argument, (2) if you’re establishing another’s position, or (3) if another person has said something better and more clearly than you can.  The main problem with using quotations happens when writers assume that the meaning of the quotation is obvious.  Writers who make this mistake believe that their job is done when they’ve chosen a quotation and inserted it into their text.  Quotations need to be taken from their original context and integrated fully into their new textual surroundings.  Every quotation needs to have your own words appear in the same sentence.  Templates for Introducing Quotations X states, “__________.” As the world-famous scholar X explains it, “________.” As claimed by X, “______.” In her article _______, X suggests that “_________.” In X’s perspective, “___________.” X concurs when she notes, “_______.”

More Tips High-Risk Situations Have you heard or read about plagiarism cases in the news? What examples come to mind? If you can’t think of any, Google famous plagiarism cases (or something similar).

What if I’m clueless about how to cite information???!!! Don’t stress! The Media Center website has tons of Citation Resources to help you. Citing sources is a two-part process that involves creating in-text citations and a works cited or references page. In an upcoming lesson, we will talk more about how to do this and practice so you’ll be confident before trying it on your own. Don’t hesitate to ask your teachers and Mrs. Smith for help! Citations can be intimidating but they are very important. Once you learn how to accurately paraphrase and use citation generators, it’ll become much easier.

Questions/Test Your Knowledge Questions? What are you still confused/concerned about regarding avoiding plagiarism? Test Your Knowledge: Complete the Plagiarism Post-Test.