Plagiarism & Parenthetical References

How do we define “PLAGIARISM”? It ranges from failure to properly cite your sources all the way through cheating. American Heritage Dictionary: the theft and use of another’s ideas or writings as one’s own.” Plagiarism can be unintentional or deliberate, but it can be avoided!

Examples of Plagiarism Buying a paper from a research services or term paper mill…$$$$ Turning in another student’s work without that student’s knowledge Turning in a paper that someone else wrote for you Copying from a source without proper acknowledgement

Examples of Plagiarism, continued Copying materials from a source using proper documentation but leaving out quotation marks Paraphrasing from a source without appropriate documentation AND….thanks to the Internet, Turning in a paper from a “free term paper” website…

How can I avoid plagiarism within my work? The most important way to avoid plagiarizing is… GIVE CREDIT TO YOUR SOURCES! Whenever you use… another person’s idea, opinion, or theory any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings,etc.-- any pieces of info.-- that are not common knowledge

Avoiding Plagiarism AND whenever you use... quotations of another person’s actual written or spoken words a paraphrase of another person’s written or spoken words IF YOU DON’T KNOW, ASK, ASK, ASK!!!

The key is to know what plagiarism is… Intentional plagiarism: deliberate copying or use of another's work without credit. Unintentional plagiarism: results from not knowing citation standards ("I thought the Internet was free!"), from sloppy research and poor note-taking, or from careless "cutting and pasting” of electronic sources. (UC Davis Website)

Guidelines for avoiding plagiarism Use your own thoughts and ideas; choose with care… Give credit for copied, adapted, or paraphrased material Use quotations if you repeat another’s exact words

Guidelines, cont. Avoid using others’ works with minor changes i.e., “Less” instead of “fewer”, reversing the order of sentence, etc. Common knowledge: If MOST people would know this info, then you’re okay… WHEN IN DOUBT, CITE!

3 Types of Note Taking Direct Quotations: copy the wording from the book, article, web page word for word. All material must be exact and in quotation marks. Use for acts and scenes from the play. Must include a citation in draft and final.

Direct Quotation Lung cancer is an increasingly fatal disease among many Americans. This disease not only attacks smokers, but it is also a target for countless non-smokers alike, “The burden has grown steadily in recent decades, thanks to the rising incidence among women, and survival rates have scarcely budged. Nearly 60 percent of patients still die within a year of diagnosis” (Cowley 43-44).

3 Types of Note Taking A Paraphrase is... –Your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form. –One legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source. –A more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.

5 Steps to Effective Paraphrasing Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase.

Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source. Cite the source so that you can credit it. Paraphrasing

There are many researchers and scientists focusing on the causes as well as treatment of lung cancer. Health officials, Geneticists, Biologists and Radiologists are also contributing to prolonging the life of those who are at risk; however, this does not constitute a cure for those who suffer from this debilitating cancer (Cowley 43-44).

3 types of Note Taking Summarizing: You are taking general information and putting it into a shorter format in your own words.

Summarizing There are many causes of lung cancer, the most significant being a smoker. However, the disease also affects many non-smokers.

Examples to AVOID… The Original Source: " In research writing, sources are cited for two reasons: to alert readers to the sources of your information and to give credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas” (Hacker 13). MLA Bibliography! Hacker, Diana. A Writer's Reference. St. Martin's Press, New York: 1995.

Plagiarism (same words, no quotation marks): In research writing, sources are cited to alert readers to the sources of your information and to give credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas (Hacker 13). The student has used the author's exact words, leaving out only a phrase, without quotation marks or a citation.

Also Plagiarism (incorrect paraphrase): In research writing, we cite sources for a couple reasons: to notify readers of our information sources and give credit to those from whom we have borrowed. (Hacker 13). The student has made only slight changes, substituting words such as "a couple" for "two", "notify" for "alert", and "our"/"we" for "your"/"you," leaving out a few words, and giving an incomplete citation.

A Solution (appropriate paraphrase): A researcher cites her sources to ensure her audience knows where she got her information, and to recognize and credit the original work (Hacker 13). This student has paraphrased in her own words, while accurately reflecting and citing the author's ideas.

A Different Solution (quotation with cite): In her book A Writer's Reference, Diana Hacker notes, "In research writing, sources are cited for two reasons: to alert readers to the sources of your information and to give credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas" (260). By introducing his source, the student signals that the following material is from that source. All verbatim words are in quotation marks, and the source of the quote is cited with a page number.