Plagiarism What it is, how to identify it, and how to prevent it

What Plagiarism Is Plagiarism is the INTENTIONAL OR UNINTENTIONAL copying of another person’s words, ideas, facts, or style without giving attribution and/or without either paraphrasing or putting quotes around the borrowed section(s). [Please note that ignorance of the law is not a defense!]

What Students Think It Is Cheating; slacker behavior Copying another student’s paper Copying an entire article or paper from the internet Having another student write the paper Not really reading the material that is the basis of the paper being written

What Students Think Is OK Taking sentences, phrases, and whole paragraphs from the internet or a book, especially if credit is given (but omitting quotation marks). Following an entire article paragraph by paragraph in the same order as the original. “I did not plagiarize” means: “I did the work myself.” “I spent a lot of time on the project.” “I understand everything I said.”

Paraphrasing Is Hard Work (even professionals mess up) Original: “The next morning, the 29ers draped the body with the Stars and Stripes and hoisted it on top of a huge pile of stones that once had been a wall in the St. Croix Church, one block west of the cemetery. The body remained on display throughout July 19. The 29ers and some of the few civilians remaining in town adorned the site with flowers.” --Joseph Balkoski, Beyond the Beachhead, Plagiarized: “Men from the 3 rd Battalion draped the body with the Stars and Stripes and hoisted it on top of a huge pile of stones that once had been a wall in the St. Croix Church, a block from the cemetery. Howie’s body remained on display through the next day, July 19. GIs and some of the few civilians remaining in town adorned the site with flowers.” -- Stephen Ambrose, Citizen Soldiers, 1997.

Paraphrasing Is… Easier with multiple sources Easier when student has time to THINK about the project Easier when rhythm of original is broken up (start from middle or end, if possible) Easier when student knows why s/he wants to use the information Common factor here: TIME!!

Example 1 Original: “There are many addictive drugs, and several work in the same way as the narcotics.” Student version (plagiarized): There are lots of drugs that cause addiction, and many operate like narcotics (Smith 23). Student version (not plagiarized): Narcotics are not the only drugs that can result in addiction (Smith 23). [starts at end of quote; breaks up rhythm]

Example 2 Original: “In the early part of the 20th century, widgets were seen as the quintessential technological development. They provided the average citizen with up-to-date information, a substitute for transportation, and undeniable style. Nobody wanted to be without one.” Student version (plagiarized): In the early 1900s, widgets were viewed as the essential technological improvement. They gave ordinary people the latest information, an alternative to use for transportation, and a fashion statement. Everyone wanted one (Jones 78). [this follows the same style as original]

Example 2, continued Student version (not plagiarized): At the turn of the century, everyone wanted a widget. Not only were they a fashion statement, but they provided the people of that era with a convenient way to travel and get their news (Jones 78). [except for reference to era, starts at the end of the original passage and breaks up the rhythm]

English 101 Student Sample Student: Poverty, as a social problem, has a deep impact on a culture and society. This pertains to a community that consists of low income families. They include the lack of education, health care, decision making skills, sanitation, transportation, communication, food and water. These communities often share the same hopelessness and despair. Poverty is a social problem that affects children. Some factors relating to that are: ignorance, disease, and apathy. [These were the titles of the sections of the web article “borrowed” by the student.] Web article: Poverty as a social problem is a deeply embedded wound that permeates every dimension of culture and society. It includes sustained low levels of income for members of a community. It includes a lack of access to services like education, markets, health care, lack of decision making ability, and lack of communal facilities like water, sanitation, roads, transportation, and communications. Furthermore, it is a "poverty of spirit," that allows members of that community to believe in and share despair, hopelessness, apathy, and timidity. Poverty, especially the factors that contribute to it, is a social problem, and its solution is social.culturesociety

Student Sample, continued Student: When a community has a high disease rate, productivity is low and less money is made. Disease is a major problem in poverty. The communities’ economy is more likely to be higher if health is good. Diseases of poverty are commonly caused from not having access to clean drinking water, separation of sanitation from the water supply, and lack of knowledge for better hygiene. [Note: Almost ALL lists will be copied directly from their source and in the same order as the original.] Web: When a community has a high disease rate, absenteeism is high, productivity is low, and less wealth is created. Apart from the misery, discomfort and death that results from disease, it is also a major factor in poverty in a community. Being well (well- being) not only helps the individuals who are healthy, it contributes to the eradication of poverty in the community. Here, as elsewhere, prevention is better than cure. It is one of the basic tenets of PHC (primary health care). The economy is much healthier if the population is always healthy; more so than if people get sick and have to be treated. Health contributes to the eradication of poverty more in terms of access to safe and clean drinking water, separation of sanitation from the water supply, knowledge of hygiene and disease prevention -- much more than clinics, doctors and drugs, which are costly curative solutions rather than prevention against disease.

Student Sample, continued Student: Apathy is when people don’t care, or they feel powerless and do not change things to improve conditions. There is a saying that states “apathy breeds apathy,” meaning a man that feels jealous of another mans achievements may seek to bring that man down to his own level. Sometimes apathy is used in religious ways: “Accept what exists because God has decided your fate.” This quote can be misused as an excuse. Although it is ok to believe that God decides our fate, we can accept that God may decide we should be motivated to improve our conditions. Web: Apathy is when people do not care, or when they feel so powerless that they do not try to change things, to right a wrong, to fix a mistake, or to improve conditions. Sometimes, some people feel so unable to achieve something, they are jealous of their family relatives or fellow members of their community who attempt to do so. Then they seek to bring the attempting achiever down to their own level of poverty. Apathy breeds apathy. Sometimes apathy is justified by religious precepts, "Accept what exists because God has decided your fate." That fatalism may be misused as an excuse. It is OK to believe God decides our fate, if we accept that God may decide that we should be motivated to improve ourselves. "Pray to God, but also row to shore," a Russian proverb, demonstrates that we are in God's hands, but we also have a responsibility to help ourselves. [Phil Bartle, “Factors of Poverty,”

Student Sample Comments Student did not think she had plagiarized. She admitted she was in a hurry. Student didn’t do a bad job of paraphrasing in the rest of the paper. This demonstrates a typical unintentional (mostly) plagiarism. Student deserved a chance to revise. Student learned a valuable lesson for next time.