Addison
Trail Student Information Center - Information Literacy
STUDY
Plagiarism
IMSA
Micro-Module on Plagiarism - Exercise
Definition Examples Guidelines How to Avoid Plagiarism Resources
What
is it? The Warriner’s High School Handbook defines Plagiarism as “ the use of another person’s words or ideas
without acknowledging the source – is a serious, punishable offense, one
you must always avoid” (443). Whenever another person’s work is
presented as your own, it is plagiarism. It deceives both the
readers of your research and the writing instructors. Plagiarism is
avoided by giving credit whenever it is due.
Examples of Plagiarism
-
Direct Quotation
Original Source: “Mostly, they were energetic
and idealistic. They were Jewish and Catholic and Protestant and
Muslim and Buddhist. They had skin tones that were chocolate and
honey and peach and mustard. They were male and female. None of
that seemed to matter. What did matter were the music and
protests and ideas."
Student Paper: “They were
energetic and idealistic. They were Jewish, Catholic,
Protestant, Muslim and Buddhist. Their skin tones were
chocolate, honey, peach and mustard. None of that mattered.
What mattered were music, protests and ideas.” (no quotations or
citation)
-
Paraphrase
Original Source: “Kennedy decided he would
run for president; there were many who believed he would win that
prize. And so he set out, giving speeches across the country.
Young people flocked to his side. It was an uproarious campaign,
filled with enthusiasm and fun…….. Bobbie had won the Democratic
primaries in California and South Dakota."
Student Paper: “It was
election time and the Kennedy said yea to the presidential race.
Many people throughout the country thought he could win the race.
Young people came from across the country to hear him
speak……….” (no citation)
Guidelines: Warriner’s
High School Handbook provides the following guidelines to use when
documenting information from sources in your research paper:
-
Always document the source of a
direct quotation.
-
Document the sources of specific
surveys, scientific experiments, public polls, and research studies.
-
Document a new or unusual theory or
opinion, or one held by a particular author, even if you present the
author’s ideas in your own words.
-
Document rare, unusual, or questionable
facts or statistics especially if they appear in only one source.
Usually it is not necessary to document facts or ideas that appear in
several sources. Do not document facts widely available in
reference books (Cleopatra was a queen of Egypt) or commonly accepted
theories (comets are composed of frozen gasses).
-
If you do not know whether a particular
fact is general or specialized knowledge, give its source.
-
When possible, introduce source material
with the name of the author or title of the work, so that source
material will be clearly distinguished from your own ideas, and the
paper will read more smoothly” (446).
Understand Plagiarism So You Can Avoid It!
Develop personal notes with your own ideas on a topic. How do you
feel about the issue. Synthesize the ideas of the authorities with
your own ideas. Make the meaningful connections between your
thoughts and facts and ideas from your sources. Think your own
thoughts!
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