Plagiarism What’s the big deal, anyway??? © Becky Portwood All Rights Reserved

What is plagiarism? According to Webster’s 2002 Dictionary and Thesaurus, plagiarism is: The practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as your own. Some synonyms for plagiarism are: 1.Borrow 2.Counterfeit 3.Infringe 4.Pirate 5.Reproduce 6.Appropriate 7.Thieve 8.Steal 9.Cheat

Did you know? 80% of “high-achieving” high school students admit to cheating (plagiarizing). 51% of these students did not believe cheating was wrong. 95% of cheating high school students said they had not been caught. Source: Nov. 22, 1999 issue of U.S. News and World Report

Another study found: 72% of students reported one or more instances of serious cheating on written work. 15% had submitted a paper obtained in large part from a term paper mill or website. 52% had copied a few sentences from a website without citing the source. 90% of the students using the Internet to plagiarize had also plagiarized from written sources. Source: McCabe, D.L., & Tevino, L.K. (1996). “What we know about cheating in college: Longitudinal trends and recent developments” Change, 28(1), (EJ )

And in more recent studies: 59% of high school students admitted cheating on a test during the last year. 34% self-reported doing it more than two times. One out of three high school students admitted that they used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment. (Source: Jarc, Rich. (2011). “What Would Honest Abe Lincoln Say?” from The Ethics of American Youth Survey: 2010.) In a survey of 24,000 students at 70 high schools, Donald McCabe (Rutgers University) found that 64 percent of students admitted to cheating on a test, 58 percent admitted to plagiarism and 95 percent said they participated in some form of cheating, whether it was on a test, plagiarism or copying homework. (Source: Meyer, Jeremy P. (2010). “Students’ Cheating Takes a High-Tech Turn.”)

And really……  It doesn’t matter if you intend to plagiarize or not! In the eyes of the law….any form of plagiarism is an offense that demands punitive action. Ignorance is never an excuse.  If a plagiarist receives more than $2,500 for copyrighted material, he or she may face up to $250,000 in fines and up to ten years in jail!  It is even possible to plagiarize from yourself, if you are citing a work you submitted elsewhere. Source: Turnitin.com-

All of the following are considered plagiarism: Turning in someone else’s work as your own Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit to them as the original author Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation Changing words, but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not

ATTENTION!!! Changing the words of an original source is NOT sufficient to prevent plagiarism. If you have kept the essential idea of an original source, and have not cited it, then no matter how drastically you may have altered its context or presentation, you have still plagiarized!

Are there consequences for plagiarism? Academic: Could result in a zero for that paper, bringing down your average. At the college level, it can result in getting kicked out of the school. In the workplace: Zero tolerance- you can lose your job! Legal: Most cases are considered misdemeanors, with fines between $100-$50,000, and up to ONE YEAR in jail. A felony conviction can cost you $250,000 and up to ten years in jail!

Let’s Watch This HereHere’s a short video that will give some good examples of plagiarism. Afterward we will discuss them in detail.

Types of Plagiarism There are several types of plagiarism that need further discussion. Pay CLOSE attention! You could be guilty of one of these…

Okay, okay, okay. I get it. But do I have to cite sources for EVERY fact I use? NO! Facts that are readily available and generally known to the public are considered “common knowledge” and are not protected by copyright laws. You can use these facts without citing authors or sources.

Copyright, Public Domain, and Fair Use All expressions of original ideas that are recorded in some media are protected under copyright laws. Once copyright law protection expires, original works go into public domain. Fair Use laws allow the public to “borrow” these copyrighted or public domain ideas, as long as they’re cited properly.

So, what is citation? The title of the work Information about the author(s) The name and location of the publisher of the work The date the work was published The page numbers of the material you’re borrowing The website where you found it Any other important information that identifies the work or the date you accessed the material

And when do I cite? Whenever you use quotes Whenever you paraphrase Whenever you use an idea that someone else has already expressed Whenever you make specific reference to the work of another Whenever someone else’s work has been critical in developing your own ideas.

And WHY do I cite? Citations are helpful to anyone who want to find out more about your ideas and where they came from. Not all sources are good or right- proper citation will keep you from taking the rap for someone else’s bad ideas. Citing sources shows the amount of research you’ve done. Citing sources strengthens your work by lending outside support to your ideas.

But…HOW do I cite? MLA Style Most high school English teachers prefer this style APA Style Most college professors prefer this style

Preventing Plagiarism You can always “borrow” from the works of others if you know how to do the following: Quote Paraphrase Summarize

Use quotations when: You want the author’s words to support your text You want to disagree with an author’s argument You want to highlight important or powerful phrases or passages by the author

Paraphrase when…  You want to use your own voice to present information. Paraphrasing means rephrasing the words of an author in your own words. You rework the ideas, words, phrases, and sentence structures with your own.

Summarize when… You want to establish background or offer an overview of a topic You want to describe knowledge from several sources about a topic You want to determine the main ideas of a single source

But don’t forget… Proper citation keeps you from being accused of the dreaded…. PLAGIARISM

For more information: - Everything you want to know about plagiarism but were afraid to ask! The definitive laws on copyright and fair use Andy Spinks has made APA citation style very simple with this guide Andy did it again with his MLA citation guide.

Works Cited Jarc, Rich. “What Would Honest Abe Lincoln Say”. Josephson Institute. Josephson Institute: Center for Youth Ethics, 10 Feb Web. 11 Mar card_honesty-integrity.htmlhttp://charactercounts.org/programs/reportcard/2010/installment02_report- card_honesty-integrity.html Meyer, Jeremy P. “Students' cheating takes a high-tech turn.” Denver Post.com. The Denver Post, 27 May, Web. 11 Mar “Plagiarism Statistics.” Hamilton Southeastern High School English Department Policies and General Information. 27 Jan “Plagiarism Survey”. U.S. News and World Report.. Nov. 22, Software4Students. “How to Avoid Plagiarism”. 24 Feb Web. 2 Feb Turnitin.com. “White Pages: the Plagiarism Spectrum”. Web Feb Valenza, Joyce Kasman. “What is Plagiarism? (And why you should care!)” Springfield Township High School, PA.Web. 5 Feb “What is Plagiarism”. Plagiarism.org iParadigms, LLC. 27 Web. Jan