Plagiarism
Plagiarism is using someone else's words or ideas without appropriately giving them credit. Any time you answer a discussion question for class, write a paper, or do a presentation while using someone else's idea, you must cite them.
Paraphrasing someone else's words without a citation is still plagiarism!
Avoiding Plagiarism
There are 4 good strategies to avoid plagiarism: Summarize, Paraphrase, Quote, Cite.
The chart below is a quick reference for when and how to use each method.
|
|
Summarize | Paraphrase | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Exact Words? |
No | No | Yes |
|
Quotation Marks? |
No | No | Yes |
|
In-text Citation? |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Reference Citation? |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
How Often? |
As needed | As needed | >10% |
- Plagiarism and ParaphrasingPurdue's guide to plagiarism and paraphrasing
Helpful eBooks from the ACC Library
Cheating Lessons by
Nearly three-quarters of college students cheat during their undergraduate careers, a startling number attributed variously to the laziness of today's students, their lack of a moral compass, or the demands of a hypercompetitive society. For James Lang, cultural or sociological explanations like these are red herrings. His provocative new research indicates that students often cheat because their learning environments give them ample incentives to try--and that strategies which make cheating less worthwhile also improve student learning. Cheating Lessons is a practical guide to tackling academic dishonesty at its roots. Drawing on an array of findings from cognitive theory, Lang analyzes the specific, often hidden features of course design and daily classroom practice that create opportunities for cheating. Courses that set the stakes of performance very high, that rely on single assessment mechanisms like multiple-choice tests, that have arbitrary grading criteria: these are the kinds of conditions that breed cheating. Lang seeks to empower teachers to create more effective learning environments that foster intrinsic motivation, promote mastery, and instill the sense of self-efficacy that students need for deep learning. Although cheating is a persistent problem, the prognosis is not dire. The good news is that strategies which reduce cheating also improve student performance overall. Instructors who learn to curb academic dishonesty will have done more than solve a course management problem--they will have become better educators all around.
ISBN: 9780674724631Publication Date: 2013-09-02
Plagiarism by
An in-depth look at the history of plagiarism in light of today's Web-based plagiarism detection services.
ISBN: 9780791470374Publication Date: 2007-03-22
Perspectives on Plagiarism and Intellectual Property in a Postmodern World by
Offers a wealth of thinking about the complex and often contradictory definitions surrounding the concepts of plagiarism and intellectual property.
ISBN: 9780791440803
Summarize
The key to summarizing something is to boil it down to just its main ideas. When summarizing, you're looking for the big picture, not the little details.
A few key parts of a good summary are:
1. It answers the question directly. If you are summarizing something to answer a question, your summary should start with the answer.
2. It captures the main idea. Don't just choose a big idea from the text, make sure to capture the meaning. What's it about?
3. Make it brief. A good summary is much shorter than the text you're summarizing.
Paraphrase
To paraphrase a paragraph
-
Begin with a summary. Answer your question directly, or state the main point of the idea you're borrowing.
-
Choose a few important ideas to borrow. Make sure you say them in your own words! If you don't use your own words, it's plagiarisim, not paraphrasing!
-
Finish with a conclusion. Restate your main idea, put a twist on it, or add your own thoughts about the subject.
- How to Paraphrase Guide from ScribbrA comprehensive guide to paraphrasing to avoid plagiarism and improve flow of academic writing from Scribbr.
Quote
The Purdue OWL website (2015) suggests using quotations for less than 10% of your writing. Think of quotations as garnishes or finishing touches, rather than the bulk of your writing. Only use quotations when the source of the quotation is an important person or group, or if the exact words are very powerful.
Cite
Every time you borrow an idea or words from someone else, you need to cite it. That means, whether you summarize, paraphrase, or quote, you should cite your source. If you're not sure if you need to cite something, go ahead and cite it. It's never bad to cite too much, but you can get into trouble with plagiarism if you don't cite enough.
