Plagiarism

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Plagiarism
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What is it?

• Copying some elses words or ideas and presenting
  them as your own. It is unethical and illegal.
• Real research means finding facts, thinking about
  what you've learned, organizing the information,
  and presenting it in your own words.  

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How do I avoid plagiarism?

• Resist the temptation to copy and paste
  information, write a few connecting paragraphs,
  and call it your own.
• Your teachers are familiar with your writing
  ability and style.  They will suspect plagiarism
  if your paper or presentation does not look like
  your work!

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Isnt it enough to list my sources in a
bibliography?

• NOAlthough a bibliography is an essential part
  of a research project, you are now expected to
  provide more specific details about your sources
  of information in footnotes or endnotes.
• Your notes and drafts must reflect the content of
  your paper/presentation.

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So what do I do?

• Dont copy sentences or paragraphs.
• DO record facts in bulleted form.
• Dont forget to include source information.

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Sample Passage

• Wolves are equally at home on prairies, in forest
  lands, and on all but the highest mountains. In
  the winter they travel in packs searching for
  food. Small animals and birds are the common prey
  of wolves, but a pack sometimes attacks reindeer,
  caribou, sheep, and other large mammals, usually
  selecting weak, old, or very young animals for
  easier capture. When no live prey can be found,
  wolves feed on carrion (decaying flesh of dead
  animals). They also eat berries.

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Sample Notes

• Habitat prairies, forests, mountains
• Individual hunting birds, small animals.
• Pack hunting (winter) reindeer, caribou,
  sheepweak, old, young
• When no prey carrion or berries
• Source "Wolf (animal)," Microsoft Encarta Online
  Encyclopedia 2001http//encarta.msn.com Jan.
  15, 2002.

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Sample Paraphrase

• Wolves live in prairies, forests, and mountains.
  They usually eat birds and small animals. In the
  winter, they hunt in packs and may attack larger
  animals including reindeer, caribou, and sheep.
  When no live prey is available, theyll eat dead
  animals and berries.

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Changing a few words is still plagiarism!

• If you read
• The reintroduction plan has been extremely
  successful-both biologically and economically.
  Wolf populations are growing incrementally in all
  reintroduction areas.

• You cant write
• The reintroduction plan has worked well
  biologically and economically. Wolf populations
  are growing slowly in all reintroduction areas.

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Is it ever okay to directly copy?

• Yes, but you must put quotations around the
  selection.
• Be extra careful to accurately copy a direct
  quote.
• Properly credit the speaker/author and the place
  where you found it.

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Sample Quote

• Al Schneeberger of the New Mexico Cattle Growers
  Association believes the issue goes beyond the
  wolves, It's the land control. The wolves are
  really almost a side issue. It's the control by
  government. It's about, you know, bringing wolves
  into school kids and indoctrinating school
  children into complex issues that adults can't
  even agree on.
• Pennsylvania State University Dept. of Earth and
  Mineral Sciences, Reintroduction of the Wolves
  into the Southwest Jan. 16, 2002.
  http//www.ems.psu.edu/Wolf/AIFF/AlSchneeberger.ht
  ml

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YIKES Do I have to cite EVERY SENTENCE?

• Your introduction and conclusion should be your
  original material.
• Factual information found in multiple sources
  does not need to be cited. Example Wolves were
  reintroduced into Yellowstone in 1995. OR Most
  wolves in the U.S. were killed by the mid 19th
  century.