PLAGIARISM & MLA

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PLAGIARISM MLA

• A Workshop Brought to You by the COS Writing Lab

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Top Ten Science Papers That Wont Be Winning A
Nobel
Prize 10. Sex and Pregnancy A Possible
Connection 9. EMC3 Thats Right Einstein,
I Said Cubed! 8. Sweet and Sour Pork How Can
It Be Both? 7. Lincoln The Man, The
President, The Town Car 6. Whoops! I Blew My
800,000 Research Grant At The MGM Grand
Casino 5. Kraft Macaroni Cheese So Cheesy,
It Should Be Called Kraft Cheese Macaroni 4.
There Sure Are A Lot of Smiths In The Phone
Book, Dude 3. The Isotope Conjecture A Fake
Title So My Wife Wont Look Inside Here and See
My Letters To Penthouse Forum 2. Why The
People Who Award The Nobel Prize Are A Bunch of
Jerks 1. Gravity The Devils Tool
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What is Plagiarism?

• Essentially, plagiarism is not giving credit
  where credit is due.

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Top Ten Ways To Avoid Plagiarism

• Dont Procrastinate (Yeah Right!) and Start Early
• 9. Create an Outline
• 8. Include Ideas From Other Sources Only When
  They Add Weight to
• Your Argument
• 7. Use Index Cards or Notebook to Keep Track of
  Your Sources
• 6. Be Aware of Some Internet Sources
  (www.YouCanTrustUs.com)
  
• 5. Dont Borrow the Structure of Another
  Authors Phrases or
• Sentences Without Crediting That Author
• 4. Use Quotation Marks When Reproducing the
  Exact Words of a
• Printed Source
• 3. DO NOT USE Another Writers IDEAS Without
  Proper Citation
• 2. DO NOT USE Another Writers WORDS Without
  Proper Citation
• 1. You Have a Brain, So Write YOUR OWN Paper

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What Happens If I Plagiarize?

• You will most likely receive an F on your paper
• You may fail the entire class
• Some institutions will expel you
• It may be on your permanent record

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Using MLA Format

• MLA (Modern Language Association) is a commonly
  used
• method for documenting sources in a written work.

• For the beginner, MLA can be daunting, but there
  are many
• resources for the student to use, and in time,
  this method will
• become a piece of cake.

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Why use MLA format?

• Allows readers to cross reference your sources
• easily

• Provides consistent format within a
• particular discipline

• Gives you credibility as a writer

• Protects you from plagiarism

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Where do I find MLA?

• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research, 6th ed.
• Textbooks (Writers Inc., A Writers Reference,
  etc.)
• www.mla.org

• COS Writing Lab Website www.siskiyous.edu/writin
  glab/
• Writing Lab Handouts
• Writing Lab Staff

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Two Parts of MLA

• PARENTHETICAL NOTATION
• WORKS CITED

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Parenthetical Notation (In-text Citations)
The Two Basic Features Always Used When Citing a
Source In Your Paper

• The last name(s) of the author (or authors)
• The page number(s) where the information is
  located, unless
• the source is online or only one page long
• Do not include the abbreviation p. (or pp.)
  or the
• word page or pages

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Parenthetical Notation (Examples)

• One Author, named in your introductory phrase

According to Jane Leeves, there are too many
rules when it comes to writing a research paper
(21).

• Author not named in the text

In the last ten years, the guidelines for writing
an A paper have become very stringent and
selective (Leeves 17-18).

• Two or more authors (Leeves and Smith 71).

Work in an anthology (Hemingway (author, not
editor)25).
Work cited indirectly in another source (qtd.
in Smith 91).
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What is the format for a long quote?

• If a quotation is four lines or longer, indent
  each line of text
• ten spaces on the left quotation marks are
  omitted no period
• after citation

When Ambrose asked Tom Hanks if he is an
optimist, Hanks replied
Shamelessly so. I apologize to my friends and
family because I say it all
the time, but if you had told me in 1966 that Id
be an actor and make movies,
I would have thought you were insane.
If you told me in 1966 Id be married
and have four great kids, I
could never have imagined it. (68)
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How do I paraphrase?

• Original Text The amazingly fast recovery of
  the cancer
• patient baffled the doctors and scientists.

• Unacceptable Paraphrasing

The cancer patients amazingly fast recovery
surprised the scientists and doctors.

• Acceptable Paraphrasing

When they were informed about the speedy recovery
of the cancer patient, neither doctors nor
scientists could provide a reasonable
explanation.
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What is Works Cited?

• At the end of your paper, you must list the
  authors
• names alphabetically (last name first) of all the
  sources you
• refer to in your paper

• Most citations should include

Authors Name
Title of Publication
Publication Information (Location, Publisher,
Year)
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Works Cited (Examples)

• Books

-One Author
Leeves, Jane. Writing An A Paper. New York
Penguin, 1995.
-Two of More Authors
Jamison, Jane, and Mike Krauss. No Gain Without
Pain. Chicago Random House, 1992.
-Author and Editor
Shakespeare, William. The Complete Tragedies.
Ed. John Sawyer. Boston Norton, 1987.
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Works Cited (More Examples)

• Magazine article

Myers, Kevin. Research is Overrated. Time 25
June 2001 7-9.

• Newspaper Article

Miller, Joe. Plagiarism on the Rise. New York
Times 28 May 2000 B1.

• Web Page

The Perfect Quote. Encyclopedia Britannica
Online. Vers. 55. 9 August 2001.
Encyclopedia Britannica. 20 August 2001
lthttp//www.eb.com180gt.
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What is Turnitin.com?

• A powerful online anti-plagiarism tool designed
  to detect un-cited sources in a students paper.
• After a student submits a paper, within 24 hours,
  instructors receive a set of Originality Reports.

• Originality Reports include a Similarity Index
  which shows how much of the paper has been
  plagiarized.
• Turnitin makes the cut and paste method extinct.

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How to Use Turnitin.com
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