Knowing is half the battle… Not knowing… still no excuse. Avoiding Plagiarism

What is Plagiarism? Edison State College says: “the term ‘plagiarism’ includes, but is not limited to, the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment. It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials.” *Only widely known facts and first-hand thoughts and observations original to the student do not require citations.

Quoting Quoting a text involves copying the exact wording without any changes to the original material. All material taken directly from a source must have quotation marks around the words, phrases, or sentences AND include parenthetical citations.

Unattributed quotation of the exact words of a published or unpublished text Original quotation: “Could it be that the homeless, like [Greek dramatists], are reminding us of our common humanity? Of course, there is a difference. This play doesn’t end – and the players can’t go home.” Plagiarism: The homeless are like the Greek dramatists in that they remind us of our common humanity, but of course now the player’s can’t go home. Acceptable: Ascher suggests that “the homeless, like [Greek dramatists], are reminding us of our common humanity,” although now “the players can’t go home” (195).

Paraphrasing Paraphrasing entails rewriting the main details of a short passage of a text in your own words. A paraphrase is roughly the length of the original text. A paraphrase includes all of the important information of the original material, but is written in your own words AND your own sentence structure. All material that is paraphrased includes parenthetical citations.

Unattributed use of the form, structure, and/or style of a secondary source Original quotation: “We stand to be collectively judged by our treatment of immigrants, who may appear to be ‘other’ now but in a generation will be ‘us.’” Plagiarism: Cole argues that we will be judged as a group by how we treat immigrants, who seem to be different now but eventually will be the same (110). Paraphrase: Cole argues that the way the United States deals with immigrants now will come back to haunt it when those immigrants are eventually integrated into mainstream society (110).

Summarizing Summary is used to distill the gist of a long passage or work into a condensed version of main ideas in your own words. Summaries help link the author’s main ideas and can be either long or short. Outlining a text prior to writing is a great strategy to help prepare for a summary. All summarized material must include parenthetical citations. (Are you sensing a pattern here??)

Widely known facts do NOT require citation According to the Purdue Owl, “Generally speaking, you can regard something as common knowledge if you find the same information undocumented in at least five credible sources. Additionally, it might be common knowledge if you think the information you’re presenting is something your readers will already know, or something that a person could easily find in general reference sources.” For example, you would not need to cite information stating that George Washington was the first President of the United States. On the other hand, you would need to cite information that George Washington wrote in a diary or journal because that information is his intellectual property.

Works Cited Kennedy, X.J., Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Jane E. Aaron, eds. The Bedford Reader. 10th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, Print. Purdue OWL. "Research and Citation." The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, Web. 20 Oct