CITATIONS & PLAGIARISM HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW? Lauren Arrowsmith Visiting Business Librarian Olin Library, Rollins College

QUESTION 1: You do research and take notes in your own words. Later, when typing your paper, you do not give credit to the author because you are not using the author’s exact words. You are plagiarizing your research. TRUE or FALSE? TRUE. Broussard, M. and Oberlin, J. U. (2014). Goblin Threat Plagiarism Game. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from

QUESTION 2: You find an article online for your PPT presentation which addresses issues you have been discussing in class. How can you reasonably include a direct quote from this article in your presentation? (a)a parenthetical citation on that particular slide; (b)a citation on a works cited slide; (c)both A and B; (d)formal citations are not needed for PPT presentations. C. Broussard, M. and Oberlin, J. U. (2014). Goblin Threat Plagiarism Game. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from

QUESTION 3: Making up citations for a paper because you took sloppy notes is plagiarism. TRUE or FALSE? TRUE. Broussard, M. and Oberlin, J. U. (2014). Goblin Threat Plagiarism Game. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from

QUESTION 4: If you have multiple articles that cover similar information, you: (a)must always cite all sources; (b)only need to cite one source, it doesn’t matter which one; (c)only need to cite the source which contains the most information, but more adds credibility; (d)don’t need to cite any material since it is common knowledge. C. Broussard, M. and Oberlin, J. U. (2014). Goblin Threat Plagiarism Game. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from

QUESTION 5: You find an article that is perfect for your research paper. You know you should not copy entire sentences word-for- word. Instead, you rearrange the sentences and replace the descriptive words with your own. You also add a complete footnote citing the page and the source. This is an act of plagiarism. TRUE or FALSE? TRUE. Hayes, S. (2003). Xtreme Plagiarism Game. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from

QUESTION 6: You are reading a book that cites a very pertinent article on your research topic. You forget to obtain a copy of the article. Despite this, you include a summary of the article’s findings in your paper, written in your own words, and add a footnote to cite it. Including this information into your paper is an act of plagiarism. TRUE or FALSE? FALSE. Hayes, S. (2003). Xtreme Plagiarism Game. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from

QUESTION 7: What information must you cite in your research paper? (a) common knowledge; (b) all statistics, data, and figures; (c) references to studies done by others; (d) references to specific facts the average reader would not know about unless he/she had done the research. (Hint: There may be more than one correct answer) B, C, & D. Brennecke, P. Avoiding plagiarism: What is common knowledge? Retrieved February 5, 2015, from

WHAT IS COMMON KNOWLEDGE? Common knowledge is any information that is widely accessible, likely to be known by a lot of people, and can be found in a general reference resource. This includes: General information that most people know, such as: water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Information shared by a cultural group, such as the dates of national holidays or names of famous heroes. Knowledge shared by members of a certain field, such as the fact that a SWOT analysis measures a company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Brennecke, P. Avoiding plagiarism: What is common knowledge? Retrieved February 5, 2015, from

SHOULD THIS BE CITED? Pterosaurs were the flying reptiles of the dinosaur age. NO – IT’S COMMON KNOWLEDGE, SO NO CITATION IS NEEDED. Even the largest pterosaurs may have been able to take off simply by spreading their wings whilst facing into a moderate breeze. YES – IT’S NOT COMMON KNOWLEDGE, SO A CITATION IS NEEDED. CITATION: Wilkinson, M.T., Unwin, D.M. and Ellington, C.P. (2005). High lift function of the pteroid bone and forewings of pterosaurs. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B University of Cambridge. (2014). What is common knowledge? How to avoid accidental plagiarism. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from

THE BENEFITS OF CITING SOURCES… Avoids plagiarism Respects intellectual property Helps the reader find your sources Adds credibility to your paper Broussard, M. and Oberlin, J. U. (2014). Goblin Threat Plagiarism Game. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from

PARAPHRASING TIP… When paraphrasing, one way to be sure you aren’t plagiarizing the text is to:  Read the original source  Close the original source  Write what you want to say without looking at the original source  Compare what you wrote with the original source to make sure you haven’t used any phrases from that source – if you have, enclose the phrase in quotation marks  Add a parenthetical reference at the end of what you just wrote  Add an entry for this source to the Reference List in your paper Hayes, S. (2003). Xtreme Plagiarism Game. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from

THE MORAL OF THE STORY… WHEN IN DOUBT, CITE! Questions? Ask your professor, or your librarian (me!).

HATE TYPING CITATIONS? Use a citation generator, such as Son of Citation Machine Use a Citation Management System, such as Zotero

REFERENCES Brennecke, P. Avoiding plagiarism: What is common knowledge? Retrieved February 5, 2015, from Broussard, M. and Oberlin, J. U. (2014). Goblin Threat Plagiarism Game. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from Cimasko, T. (2013). Paraphrasing. Retrieved February 9, 2015, from Hayes, S. (2003). Xtreme Plagiarism Game. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from University of Cambridge. (2014). What is common knowledge? How to avoid accidental plagiarism. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from