Avoiding Plagiarism Delores Carlito, Associate Professor, UAB Libraries Jaclyn Wells, Director, University Writing Center

Today’s Workshop Today’s presentation will address: What is plagiarism? Why should you be concerned? What research practices can help you avoid plagiarism? Where can you go for help?

Instructor Views In an anonymous survey, writing center tutors and first- year composition instructors were asked their views on students and plagiarism.

Instructor Views Few responses dealt with the type of “steal-a-paper from the internet” or “borrow-a-paper from a friend” cheating that commonly comes to mind when we hear the word “plagiarism.” Instead, nearly all responses dealt with problems with integrating and documenting sources, understanding the purpose of research, and other actions that we may not even label plagiarism.

Instructor Views Survey responses suggested that most plagiarism happens unintentionally, when students: Do not realize that they need to acknowledge others’ ideas, not just their words Struggle to paraphrase and cite sources Misunderstand what counts as “common knowledge” Get particularly confused when using “non- traditional” types of sources

Source Integration “I think most students who plagiarize do it without meaning to do so, and it is their lack of knowledge about what plagiarism actually is and also their lack of knowledge or understanding about documentation.”

Words & Ideas “Most students seem to understand they are plagiarizing if they use someone else's exact words without quotes or a citation; however, they seem confused about what it means to plagiarize another person's ideas.”

The Internet & Common Knowledge “I see the majority of the students [who plagiarize] struggling to correctly cite their research, particularly information that they easily found on the internet. Because the information was so easy for them to find, they seem to think it is “ok” to use without citing. They consider it a “common knowledge” that does not require reference.”

Paraphrasing “One of the biggest issues I have seen is students having difficulty paraphrasing….so they can take the seemingly easier route of quoting.” “The most frequent issue I…[see] is the student who believes he or she has paraphrased but has really only changed a word here or there.” “I have seen students struggle with paraphrasing. They think “putting something in their own words” means to use a thesaurus to find synonyms.”

Example Case 1 Recently, I was reading a response paper about “road rage” from a student. In her introduction, she stated that a little over 50% of aggressive drivers tend to be young people. When I asked her where she got the statistic from, she said the internet. There was no in-text citation or works cited page entry with the Internet source this statistic came from.

Example Case 2 One student plagiarized the textbook. He said he assumed that because it was the textbook, it was “common knowledge” and didn't need to be cited.

Example Case 3 One student directly copied his professor's lecture handouts, without using quotation marks or citations. He assumed that since it was given in class, it must be common knowledge even when the assignment sheet says in bold how the professor wants their lecture material cited. Of course, some professors don't care if they use this material without citation, so no wonder students get confused.

Example Case 4 My students were to write an informative brochure about a campus resource. One of them took whole paragraphs from a website about the resource and placed them on the brochure. When I asked him about it, he pointed out that he’d included the URL from the website on his pamphlet. He said he didn’t think it was necessary to reword the information or use quotation marks since it was available on the internet.

Example Case 5 Last semester, I found a student's essay was a series of paragraphs copied and pasted from online sources. When I discussed it with her, she said, “But I didn't do it. My sister took this class last year, and she gave me this paper to turn in.”

Avoiding Plagiarism Good research habits! Research thoughtfully Keep track of your research Keep copies of your sources (and read!) Ask questions

Research Habit 1 Research thoughtfully. Research Process Research Worksheet

Research Habit 2 Keep track of your research. Research Log Citation Manager (EndNote, Zotero)

Research Habit 3 Keep copies of your sources & READ them. Citation Manager (EndNote, Zotero) Types of Serials Scholarly Article Reading Guide Bias in Publications

Research Habit 4 Ask questions! Professor Librarian More on library help below!

University Writing Center The UWC is happy to help you learn to: Use sources in your writing Paraphrase, quote, and summarize sources Introduce paraphrases, quotes, and summaries Cite in MLA, APA, or other styles Schedule an appointment on our website!

UAB Libraries Make an appointment for a consultation with a Librarian for help with: Finding the best sources for your writing Creating a works cited page in (almost) any style Keeping track of your research Locating images and other media you can ethically use Schedule a consultation with us!