How to Avoid Plagiarism

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How to Avoid Plagiarism

• Christine McLaughlin, Director
• Academic Success Center
• Marge Lippincott, Dean of Information Technology
  and Learning Resources

2
What is Plagiarism?

• Plagiarism is using others' ideas and words
  without clearly acknowledging the source of that
  information.
  
• Owl, the Purdue On-line Writing Lab. Purdue
  University. Jan. 31, 2003. http//owl.english.pur
  due.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.htmlPrint
  

3
When Do You Cite a Source?

• When you use the authors exact words
• When you borrow the authors ideas

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What Do You Cite?

• Cite
• Anything from a source other than yourself

• Do Not Cite
• Thesis
• Topic sentences
• Your examples
• Personal experience
• Your comments about the research

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How do You Cite Sources in a Paper?

• Place a parenthesis at the end of the sentence
  that contains the source
  
• information.
• Insert the authors last name and page number of
  the information cited.
  
• Example (Smith 25).

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In-Text Citations of Electronic Resources

• Avoid parenthetical references.
• Use direct references in the text to the name of
  the author or sponsoring agency.

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Examples

• Known Author
• William J. Mitchell's City of Bits discusses
  architecture and urban life in the context of the
  digital telecommunications revolution.
  
• A Known Sponsor
• More companies today are using data mining to
  unlock hidden value in their data. The data
  mining program "Clementine," described at the
  SPSS Web site, helps organizations predict market
  share and detect possible fraud.

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How Do You Cite Sources at the End of the Paper?

• Attach a Works Cited page at the end of your
  paper.
  
• List sources of information.
• Use MLA documentation style.
• List sources alphabetically by authors last
  names.

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Ways to Avoid Plagiarism in Your Research Paper

• Paraphrase
• Summarize
• Quote

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How to Paraphrase

• State the meaning in your own words.
• Include all relevant material.
• Be accurate.
• Sound like yourself.
• Cite the original source.

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Example of Paraphrasing

• Original
• Today, English is used by at least 750 million
  people, and barely half of those speak it as a
  mother tongue (McCrum et al. 19).
  
• Paraphrase
• In the beginning of the twenty-first century, 750
  million individuals speak English and less than
  half that number use it as their native language
  (McCrum et al. 19).

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How to Summarize

• Identify authors name and title of work in
  your first sentence.
  
• State the authors main idea in your first
  sentence.
  
• Paraphrase all major points of the work.
• Present ideas in the same order as in the
  original.

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What to Omit and Add

• Omit your own comments or opinions.
• Omit any minor details and points.

• Add quotation marks if you use a word or phrase
  from the original.
  
• Add the authors name within your summary as a
  reminder that you are summarizing.

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Example of Summarizing

• In Daina Savages article Weird Al Yankovic No
  Amish Expert, she interviews Weird Al to reveal
  his inspiration for his CD Bad Hair Day. A song
  on the CD entitled Amish Paradise is a parody
  of rap artist Coolios Gangstas Paradise.
  Savage discovers that Yankovic was content to
  simply use Amish stereotypes as the basis for
  his research (1-2).

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When to Quote

• When you use the authors exact words.
• When the original sentence is difficult to
  paraphrase.
  

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How to Quote

• Smith writes that --------- (25).
• Smith writes, ------------ (25).
• Smith writes about his experiences in the desert
  ------------- (25).

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Examples of Quoting

• Savage writes that Yankovic makes no pretense at
  achieving authenticity . . . (2).
  
• Savage writes, Yankovic makes no pretense at
  achieving authenticity . . . (2).
  
• Savage notes Yankovics lack of originality
  Yankovic makes no pretense at achieving
  authenticity . . . (2).
  

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Works Cited Book

• Book Single Author
• Author(s). Title of Book. Place of
  Publication Publisher, Year
  of Publication.
  
• Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House.
  Denver MacMurray, 1999.

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Works Cited Magazine or Newspaper

• Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of
  Source Day Month Year pages.
  
• Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too- Close
  Call." Time 20 Nov. 2000 70-71.

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Works Cited Scholarly Journal

• Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of
  Journal Vol (Year) pages.
  
• Allen, Emily. "Staging Identity Frances
  Burney's Allegory of Genre." Eighteenth-Century
  Studies 31 (1998) 433-51.

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Works Cited Electronic Database

• Author, Arthur A. "Title of article" (in
  quotation marks). Title of full work
  (underlined or in italics) volume.issue
  (Date) paging or indicator of length. Name
  of database (underlined or in italics).
  Name of library and location. Access date
  and .

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Works Cited Electronic Database

• Bleich, Eric. "From International Ideas to
  Domestic Policies Educational Multiculturalism
  in England and France ." Comparative Politics
  31.1 (Oct. 1998) 81-90. Expanded Academic ASAP.
  Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT. 2 Aug. 2000
  main?dbEAIM.
• Note "Access date" should indicate the date you
  visited the website. "Full web address" should be
  the main address or login screen for the
  database. It is not necessary to put the exact
  address of the article, since it is usually VERY
  long.

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Works Cited Internet Source

• Author, Alan A. Title of www page (underlined or
  in italics). Sponsoring institution or
  organization (if professional site). Access date
  and .

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Works Cited Internet Sources

• Example of Professional Internet Site
• 1492 An Ongoing Voyage. Library of
  Congress. 21 May 1998
  
  /Intro.html.
• Note. "Access date" should indicate the date you
  visited the website this is important because
  online information is frequently altered.
  

25
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26
Help with finding Information for Research
Assignments

• Contact a Librarian
• In person at the Reference Desk of the Library
  Library is Open Daily
  
• On-line Ask a Librarian
• www.mountida.edu
• Click on Information Technology

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Works Cited

• Citing Electronic Resources - MLA. Middlebury
  College Library. Jan. 31, 2003.
  .
  
• Guffey, Mary Ellen. MLA Style Electronic
  Format. Communication_at_Work.. Jan. 31, 2003.
  .
  
• Owl, the Purdue On-line Writing Lab. Purdue
  University. Jan. 31, 2003. rdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.htmlPrint.
  
• Writing Tutorial Services. Indiana University.
  Jan. 31, 2003.
  
• .
  

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Plagiarism Presentation

• Sponsored by the Massachusetts Board of Library
  Commissioners
  
• LSTA Grant Project