PLAGIARISM

In order to uphold academic integrity, students are to avoid all forms of plagiarism, the submission of work which includes the words, ideas, or data of others without acknowledgement of the source of such information.

Consequences will be determined by the teacher, after due process, and may include failure for the course and/or the assessment.

Students will be taught how to correctly cite sources during Freshman English classes and library orientation.

The following information (with the exception of "Borrowing Structure") was taken from The Indiana University Bloomington Writing Tutorial Services WebPage (http://www.indiana.edu).

What is Plagiarism and Why is it Important?

In our studies, we are continually engaged with other people's ideas: we read them in texts, hear them in lecture, discuss them in class, and incorporate them into our own writing. As a result, it is very important that we give credit where it is due. Plagiarism is using others' ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information.

You are plagiarizing if you do not give credit when using

· another person's idea, opinion, or theory;

· any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings-any pieces of information-that are not common knowledge;

· quotations of another person's actual spoken or written words; or

· paraphrase of another person's spoken or written words.

How Can Students Avoid Plagiarism?

Give credit! Cite your sources when using someone else's words or ideas.

When You Do and Do Not Need to Give Credit

You need not cite everything, however. You must cite your use of other people's words (quotations) or ideas (interpretations, theories, research, analysis, or organization). However, there is no need to cite information that is common knowledge.

Common knowledge: facts that can be found in numerous places and are likely to be known by a lot of people.

Example: John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States in 1960.

This is generally known information. You do not need to document this fact.

Interpretation: someone's analysis or belief about the facts.

However, you must document facts that are not generally known and ideas that interpret facts.

Example: According the American Family Leave Coalition's new book, Family Issues and Congress, President Bush's relationship with Congress has hindered family leave legislation (6).

The idea that "Bush's relationship with Congress has hindered family leave legislation" is not a fact but an interpretation, consequently, you need to cite your source.

Quotation: using someone's words. When you quote, place the passage you are using in quotation marks, and document the source according to a standard documentation style.

Example: According to Peter S. Pritchard in USA Today, "Public schools need reform but they're irreplaceable in teaching all the nation's young" (14).

Paraphrase: using someone's ideas, but putting them in your own words. This is probably the skill you will use most when incorporating sources into your

writing. Although you use your own words to paraphrase, you must still acknowledge the source of the information.

Borrowing Structure: taking the organization from someone else's writing and using it in your own. This is simply paraphrasing on a large scale. If you rephrase every word in someone else's work, but your work says the same thing, in the same order, this is plagiarism.

Paraphrasing without Plagiarizing

How to Recognize Unacceptable and Acceptable Paraphrases

Here's the ORGINAL text, from page 1 of Lizzie Border: A Case Book of Family and Crime in the 1890s by Joyce Williams et al.:

The rise of industry, the growth of cities, and the expansion of the population were the three great developments of late nineteenth century American history. As new, larger, stream-powered factories became a feature of the American landscape in the East, they transformed farm hands into industrial laborers, and provided jobs for a rising tide of immigrants. With industry came urbanization the growth of large cities (like Fall River, Massachusetts, where the Borden's lived) which became the centers of production as well as of commerce and trade.

Here's an UNACCEPTABLE paraphrase that is plagiarism:

The increase of industry, the growth of cities, and the explosion of the population were three large factors of nineteenth century America. As steam-driven companies became more visible in the eastern part of the country, they changed farm hands into factory workers and provided jobs for the large wave of immigrants. With industry came the growth of large cities like Fall River where the Borden's lived which turned into centers of commerce and trade as well as production.

What makes this passage plagiarism?

The preceding passage is considered plagiarism for two reasons:

· The writer has only changed around a few words and phrases, or changed the order of the original's sentences.

· The writer has failed to cite a source for any of the ideas or facts.

If you do either or both of these things, you are plagiarizing.

Here's an ACCEPTABLE paraphrase:

Fall River, where the Borden family lived, was typical of northeastern industrial cities of the nineteenth century. Steam-powered production had shifted labor from agriculture to manufacturing, and as immigrants arrived in the U.S., they found work in these new factories. As a result, populations grew, and large urban areas arose. Fall River was one of these manufacturing, commercial centers (Williams 1).

Why is this passage acceptable?

This is acceptable paraphrasing because the writer:

· accurately relays the information in the original

· uses her own words.

· lets her reader know the source of her information

Here's an example of quotation and paraphrase used together, which is also ACCEPTABLE:

Fall River, where the Borden family lived, was typical of northeastern industrial cities of the nineteenth century. As steam-powered production shifted labor from agriculture to manufacturing, the demand for workers "changed farm hands into factory workers," and created jobs for immigrants. In turn, growing populations increased the size of urban areas. Fall River was one of these manufacturing hubs that were also "centers of commerce and trade." (Williams 1).

Why is this passage acceptable?

This is acceptable paraphrasing because the writer:

· records the information in the original passage accurately.

· gives credit for the ideas in this passage.

· indicated which part is taken directly from her source by putting in quotation marks and citing the page number.

Main Page