Paraphrasing and Plagiarism

PLAGIARISM Plagiarism is using data, ideas, or words that originated in work by another person without appropriately acknowledging their source. It is generally regarded as a form of cheating in academic and publishing contexts. Incomplete citation also prevents you from gaining credit for knowing the work of other researchers in the field.

Avoiding plagiarism Avoiding plagiarism requires writers to do two things: to be aware of the kinds of situations where inadvertent plagiarism is likely to occur; and to develop effective note-taking practices to ensure they remain aware of the status of their notes as they convert them into sentences in a paper/report for submission.

Identifying plagiarism (example) Next are two versions of the same information, adapted from the Introduction in McNeill et al. (1997). In version 2, identify where the writer has plagiarized by writing in his or her own voice ideas that originated in another document (as demonstrated in version 1).

Identifying plagiarism (example)

Avoiding plagiarism Direct quotations using quotation marks or inverted commas (‘‘... ’’) are extremely rare in science writing.  Need to paraphrase sentences that appear in the work of other authors, rather than copying them verbatim.  you can expand your repertoire of sentence structures by removing the content (most often the noun phrases, indicated by NP in the example below) from sentences that appeal to you and re-using the shell (or sentence template) for your own content. For example, from the sentence in the previous slides, version 1, you could reuse this shell:

Additionally … Plagiarism includes plagiarizing your own work. In fact, some journals stipulate that you cannot use more than five consecutive words from another paper that you have written.

Plagiarism is not difficult to spot Plagiarism is very easy to identify, particularly in papers written by non- native speakers. A paragraph that contains a considerable number of mistakes in the English (grammar, vocabulary, spelling etc.) and then suddenly there is a sentence written in perfect English!  Immediately makes the reader suspicious,  Google  from a published paper.

You can copy generic phrases It is perfectly normal to copy phrases from other people’s papers. However, these phrases must be generic. In fact, such phrases should help you to improve your English. Example ….

You can copy generic phrases (Example ) Highlighted phrases in italics; these phrases are completely generic.

You can copy generic phrases (Example ) Note how none of the phrases in italics contain unique information. The phrases could be used in many other contexts.

How to quote from another paper by paraphrasing S1. The owners of international scientific English should be international scientists not Englishmen or Americans. S2. International scientific English belongs to everyone in science [Wood, 1997]. S3. International scientific English does not just belong to native English speakers but to the whole scientific community [Wood, 1997]. Compare and Analyze….

How to quote from another paper by paraphrasing

The original uses a noun, the paraphrased version (PV) uses a verb. Switching parts of speech (e.g. noun to verb, noun to adjective) is a great way to paraphrase and ‘disguise’ the original. The only item in the original sentence that has not been paraphrased is international scientific English (ISE). This is because ISE is not an expression that was coined (i.e. used for the first time) by the original. It is a recognized expression that people in the field of teaching English as a foreign language will be aware of.

How to quote from another paper by paraphrasing The original uses a noun that refers to a person (scientist), the PV uses the root word (science) and the adjective (scientific). This method of using the same root, but changing the part of speech is very common. A similar combination would be: photographer, photography, photographic. The original made a contrast between two groups of people – all those involved in science (international scientists), and just the English and Americans (and by implication, Canada, Australia etc.). The PV changes the focus slightly and interprets this contrast as being between non-native speakers (international scientists) and native speakers.

How to quote from another paper by paraphrasing S1. It is important that you understand the work you are using in your writing. S2. It is crucial that you completely understand the works you use in your paper [Gratz 2006]. S3. You must have a clear understanding of the reference papers that you quote from in your own manuscript [Gratz 2006]. S4. If you cite any works by other authors in your own paper, it is vital that you really understand the full meaning of what the other authors have written [Gratz 2006]. S5. Researchers should ensure that they fully grasp the meaning of any of the literature that they cite in their papers [Gratz 2006]. Compare and Analyze….

Paraphrasing S2 crucial is a synonym for important; completely is redundant but is a modification of the original; work (singular) vs works (plural); the present continuous (are using) vs present simple (use); writing (an – ing form used to indicate an activity) vs your paper (a noun). S2 is an example of what would be defined as ‘unacceptable’ because it is essentially identical to the original. Nevertheless, the devices used (synonyms, change of tense etc.) are very useful when paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing S3 The concept of important (adjective) has been replaced by must (a modal verb); understand (verb) vs understanding (noun); works you use in your paper vs reference papers that you quote from in your own manuscript (three synonyms for three nouns). S3 might still be considered unacceptable by some experts.

Paraphrasing S4 The order in which the information is presented in the original is reversed in the PV. Similar devices to those used in S2 and S3 have also been exploited. S4 is, in my opinion, an acceptable paraphrase.

Paraphrasing S5 The major change here is in the way readers are addressed (you vs. researchers), this factor along with the other changes make the sentences almost unrecognizable compared to Gratz’s original sentence. However, Gratz is still referenced at the end of the sentence. This is because the concept contained in the sentence still ‘belongs’ to Gratz. S5 is certainly an acceptable paraphrase.

PARAPHRASING Your turn to paraphrase!