Plagiarism It’s cheating!

Example of Plagiarism ORIGINAL TEXT: The mission statement of the WCSCC and area employers recognize the importance of good attendance on the job. Any student whose absences exceed 18 days is jeopardizing their opportunity for advanced placement as well as hindering his/her likelihood for successfully completing their program. (from the WCSCC Handbook 2007) PLAGIARIZED VERSION: The WCSCC’s mission statement and surrounding employers recognize the importance of great attendance. Any student who is absent more than 18 days will loose the opportunity for successfully completing their trade program. EXPLANATION: This example has been plagiarized. Although the student has not copied the text word for word, and there is a citation, the translation is too close to the original. You will notice that some exact words and phrases are copied exactly. Simply changing a few words around does not count as paraphrasing.

Do you see how much has been copied almost exactly? ORIGINAL TEXT: The mission statement of the WCSCC and area employers recognize the importance of good attendance on the job. Any student whose absences exceed 18 days is jeopardizing their opportunity for advanced placement as well as hindering his/her likelihood for successfully completing their program. (from the WCSCC Handbook 2007) PLAGIARIZED VERSION: The WCSCC’s mission statement and surrounding employers recognize the importance of great attendance. Any student who is absent more than 18 days will loose the opportunity for successfully completing their trade program. (WCSCC Handbook 2007)

Example of Paraphrasing ORIGINAL TEXT: The mission statement of the WCSCC and area employers recognize the importance of good attendance on the job. Any student whose absences exceed 18 days is jeopardizing their opportunity for advanced placement as well as hindering his/her likelihood for successfully completing their program. (from the WCSCC Handbook 2007) Paraphrased Version: When you get into the real world, and start working at your real job, it’s essential to be professional and on time. If not, you could get fired, or lose your job. The same thing applies at the WCSCC: if you are absent more than 18 days, you may loose out on the chance to move up in your trade, and get good grades. (WCSCC Handbook 2007) Explanation: This example has been paraphrased and is not considered plagiarized. The student has cited the original author and conveyed the author’s idea completely in her own words

Rewording a sentence: This is one of the most common mistakes that students make. You can not simply change some words around or put them in a different order. Consider the following sentence from a Chemistry text book. ORIGINAL TEXT: "Those complexes that contain unpaired electrons are attracted into a magnetic field and are said to be paramagnetic, while those with no unpaired electrons are repelled by such a field and are called diamagnetic." (Chemistry 101) Read the next slide and determine whether the following variations are considered plagiarized or not.

ORIGINAL: “Those complexes that contain unpaired electrons are attracted into a magnetic field and are said to be paramagnetic, while those with no unpaired electrons are repelled by such a field and are called diamagnetic.“ (Chemistry 101) Complexes that contain unpaired electrons are those that are attracted to a magnetic field. These are called paramagnetic, while those with no unpaired electrons are repelled by a magnetic field and are said to be diamagnetic.

ORIGINAL: “Those complexes that contain unpaired electrons are attracted into a magnetic field and are said to be paramagnetic, while those with no unpaired electrons are repelled by such a field and are called diamagnetic." Complexes that contain unpaired electrons are those that are attracted to a magnetic field. These are called paramagnetic, while those with no unpaired electrons are repelled by a magnetic field and are said to be diamagnetic.

ORIGINAL: "Those complexes that contain unpaired electrons are attracted into a magnetic field and are said to be paramagnetic, while those with no unpaired electrons are repelled by such a field and are called diamagnetic.“ (Chemistry 101) Those complexes that contain paired electrons are repelled by a magnetic field and are said to be diamagnetic, whereas those with no paired electrons are attracted to such a field and are called paramagnetic.

ORIGINAL: "Those complexes that contain unpaired electrons are attracted into a magnetic field and are said to be paramagnetic, while those with no unpaired electrons are repelled by such a field and are called diamagnetic." Those complexes that contain paired electrons are repelled by a magnetic field and are said to be diamagnetic, whereas those with no paired electrons are attracted to such a field and are called paramagnetic.

"Those complexes that contain unpaired electrons are attracted into a magnetic field and are said to be paramagnetic, while those with no unpaired electrons are repelled by such a field and are called diamagnetic." (Chemistry 101) A magnetic field can only attract units of electrons that are single and free floating (also known as “paramagnetic” electrons). This is how electricity is transferred from one place to another. If a unit has electrons that are paired up however, they will be rejected by the magnetic field because it’s hard for the field to attract electrons that have acquired mass. (Chemistry 101)

Challenge Read the following paragraph and paraphrase a portion of it. Write at least 4 sentences. Remember, you are explaining a portion of it in your own words. Take care not to plagiarize!.

“Students are expected to conduct themselves honestly and with integrity in their work. All forms of cheating and plagiarism are prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to misrepresentation of papers, essays, writings from other students or the Internet. Violators of this policy will be disciplined on a case-by-case basis depending on the seriousness of the violation, prior violations, and other factors. Disciplinary measures include, but are not limited to, redoing the assignment/retaking test, receiving a failing grade on the project/test, or receiving a lower overall grade in the class.” (from the WCSCC Student Handbook)

Check your work! Did you… Put your paragraph completely in your own words? Did you put quotation marks around anything directly copied? Did you use a citation to give the author credit for his ideas?