PLAGIARISMWhat It Is & How To Avoid It

pla⋅gia⋅rism

• –noun 1. the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work. 2. something used and represented in this manner.

• Dictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.

Three Ways Plagiarism Occurs

• Directly quoting without indicating it is a quotation

• Incorrectly paraphrasing

• Claiming unique ideas as your own

Directly quoting without indicating it is a

quotation

• You must put a direct quotation in quotation marks otherwise, it is considered plagiarized – even if you include the source in a Works Cited page.

Is This Plagiarism?

Original Text

“Plagiarism is the act of claiming to be the author of material that someone else actually wrote. Students have plagiarized book reports, term papers, essays, projects, and graduate-degree theses. Teachers—including college professors—have plagiarized journal articles, course materials, and textbooks. Researchers have plagiarized reports, articles, and book chapters. Although academic plagiarism is not new, what is new since the latter years of the 20th century is the ease with which writings on virtually any topic can be misappropriated with little risk of detection. The principal instrument responsible for the recent rapid rise in academic plagiarism has been the Internet, which John Barrie, a developer of software for detecting Web plagiarism, called ‘a 1.5 billion-page searchable, cut-and-pasteable encyclopedia’ (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2).”

The Paper

Plagiarism seems to be a common problem in schools and universities – more common than many people may believe. There are a variety of reasons and methods students use to cheat, but without a doubt the principal instrument responsible for the recent rapid rise in academic plagiarism has been the Internet, which John Barrie, a developer of software for detecting Web plagiarism, called “a 1.5 billion-page searchable, cut-and-pasteable encyclopedia.”

Is This Plagiarism?

Original Text

“Plagiarism is the act of claiming to be the author of material that someone else actually wrote. Students have plagiarized book reports, term papers, essays, projects, and graduate-degree theses. Teachers—including college professors—have plagiarized journal articles, course materials, and textbooks. Researchers have plagiarized reports, articles, and book chapters. Although academic plagiarism is not new, what is new since the latter years of the 20th century is the ease with which writings on virtually any topic can be misappropriated with little risk of detection. The principal instrument responsible for the recent rapid rise in academic plagiarism has been the Internet, which John Barrie, a developer of software for detecting Web plagiarism, called ‘a 1.5 billion-page searchable, cut-and-pasteable encyclopedia’ (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2).”

The Paper

Plagiarism seems to be a common problem in schools and universities – more common than many people may believe. There are a variety of reasons and methods students use to cheat, but without a doubt “the principal instrument responsible for the recent rapid rise in academic plagiarism has been the Internet, which John Barrie, a developer of software for detecting Web plagiarism, called ‘a 1.5 billion-page searchable, cut-and-pasteable encyclopedia’ (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2).”

Incorrectly paraphrasing

• Use your own words and sentence structure to paraphrase another work. If it is too similar, it is considered plagiarism.

• An in-text citation is required, although quotation marks are not when paraphrasing.

Is This Plagiarism?

Original Text

“Plagiarism is the act of claiming to be the author of material that someone else actually wrote. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2).”

The Paper

Plagiarism is claiming to be the writer of material that somebody else actually wrote.

Is This Plagiarism?

Original Text

“Plagiarism is the act of claiming to be the author of material that someone else actually wrote. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2).”

The Paper

Plagiarism is taking credit for someone else’s work (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2).

Claiming unique ideas as your own

• Even if the information is in your own words, if it is a unique idea or new information (verses well-known facts and ideas), you must give credit to the source.

Sources

• "plagiarism." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 02 Nov. 2009. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plagiarism>.

• "New Frontiers in Cheating." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. 2 Nov. 2009 <http://school.eb.com/eb/article-228894>.

• http://www.templateswise.com/detail/link-6.html