WHAT IS PLAGIARISM? (AND HOW YOU CAN AVOID IT!) School District of Springfield Township. “What is plagiarism?” Internet. 7 October
What is the definition of plagiarism? Plagiarism is: the act of presenting the words, ideas, images, sounds or the creative expression of others as your own.
You have probably plagiarized if: You included the words and ideas of another person and you did not give that person credit; You had help you wouldn’t want your teacher to know about.
How can I avoid plagiarizing? Cite your work by writing a bibliography listing the sources you used to get your information!!
Reasons not to plagiarize: You are cheating yourself and limiting your own learning Serious consequences Plagiarizing IS cheating It is only fair to give credit to someone else’s work
Real life consequences to plagiarizing Doris Kearns Goodwin, a famous historian, was forced to leave a television position after it was discovered she plagiarized fifty passages for one of her books about the Kennedy family.
More real life consequences: In 1987, Sen. Joe Biden was running for the Democratic presidential nomination when it was discovered he copied in law school and borrowed from the campaign speeches of Robert Kennedy.
Even more real life consequences: Mike Barnicle, a journalist, was forced to resign for plagiarism in his column. A high school valedictorian was denied admission to Harvard when it was discovered that she plagiarized in a local newspaper.
There are two types of plagiarism: Intentional Unintentional
Examples of intentional plagiarism include: Copying a friend’s work; Buying or borrowing research papers; Cutting and pasting information from the Internet without giving credit to the source.
Examples of unintentional plagiarism: Careless paraphrasing Citing your sources incorrectly Too many quotations Not using your own voice
Use one of these strategies when borrowing from other peoples work: Quoting Paraphrasing Summarizing
Quoting Quotations are the exact words of an author, copied directly from the source, word for word. Quotations must be cited!!
Paraphrasing Paraphrasing means rephrasing the words of an author and putting them in your own words. Paraphrased material must be cited!!
Summarizing Summarizing is when you put the main idea of one or several writers into your own words and only include the main idea. Summarized material must be cited!
Do I have to cite everything?? NO!
You do not have to cite: Facts that are widely known; Information that is considered “common knowledge”; Example: George Washington was the first president of the United States.
How do I know if my fact is common knowledge? You are fairly certain your readers already know this information But, when you are not sure, CITE!!!
You also don’t have to cite: When you are using your own experiences, observations, or reactions; When you are using common knowledge; When you are explaining the results of your own scientific experiment.
How do I write a bibliography so I am not accused of plagiarism? COMING SOON!!