Plagiarism and ways to avoid plagiarism : citing skills

1
Plagiarism and ways to avoid plagiarism citing
skills
2
What to discuss?

• Plagiarism in Academic Writing
• Citing skills quotation, paraphrase, and summary

3
Plagiarism in Academic Writing
4
Group work

• Read the article Plagiarism in the Academic
  Community and answer the given questions on
• Definition of plagiarism
• Penalties for plagiarism
• 3 categories of plagiarism

5
Definitions

• the wrongful appropriation or purloining, and
  publication as ones own, of the ideas, or the
  expression of ideas (literary, artistic, musical,
  mechanical, etc.) of another
• (Imhoof, Maurice and Herman Hudson, 1975)

6
Definitions

• Copying of another persons ideas, words or work
  and pretend that they are your own.
• ( Oxford Advanced Genie)

7
Definitions

• You are kidnapping or stealing someone elses
  ideas or words and presenting them as if they
  were your own.
• ( the University of Melbourne)

8
Definitions

• Plagiarism means using another's work without
  giving credit
• (http//sja.ucdavis.edu/avoid.htm)

9
Definitions

• Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of
  somebody elses words or ideas.
• (http//owl.english.purdue.edu)

10
Task Decide whether the following actions in
academic writing are plagiarism or not

• Buying a paper from the printing service shop and
  handing in as your work.
• Using common knowledge in your work without
  documenting.
• Paraphrasing the source with some minor changes.

11

• Hiring someone to write your thesis because you
  are so busy teaching.
• Using your own experience and findings
• Carelessly forgetting to include quotation marks
  or a reference to show whose words or ideas you
  are using.

12
Types of plagiarism
13
Discussion

• Why Asian students are more likely to plagiarize?

14
Cultural reasons

• Confucianism appreciates your wide knowledge of
  others ideas
• Community sense advocates common use

15
Academic reasons

• Text-based learning creates rote learners
• Traditional teaching approach creates passive
  learners
• No emphasis in proper citations in writing, both
  in Vietnamese and TLs

16
Why plagiarism bad?

• You are cheating yourself by plagiarizing.
• Plagiarism devalues others' original work.
• Plagiarism is a serious offence in scholarship.
• Plagiarism is unethical.

17
Punishments for plagiarism

• Berne Convention
• Article 2
• Protected Works
• The expression literary and artistic works
  shall include every production in the literary,
  scientific and artistic domain, whatever may be
  the mode or form of its expression, such as
  books, pamphlets and other writings lectures,
  addresses, sermons and other works of the same
  nature dramatic or dramatico-musical works

18
Punishments for plagiarism

• (6) The works mentioned in this Article shall
  enjoy protection in all countries of the Union.
  This protection shall operate for the benefit of
  the author and his successors in title.

19
Punishments for plagiarism

• Postgraduate studies, CFL, VNU
• The plagiarism policy will be strictly enforced.
  Suspected plagiarism will be checked and cases
  referred to the Postgraduate Studies Department.

20
Common errors that could be considered plagiarism

• No quotation marks around borrowed language
• Paraphrase that uses the exact language or
  sentence structure of a source
• Inaccurate or incomplete references

21
How to avoid unintentional plagiarism?

• (1) Knowing what to acknowledge
• Three sources (1) your independent thoughts and
  experiences (2) common knowledge, the basic
  information people share and (3) other peoples
  independent thoughts and experiences.

22
How to avoid unintentional plagiarism?

• (2) Give credit for copied, adapted, or
  paraphrased material
• If you repeat another's exact words, you MUST use
  quotation marks and cite the source.
• If you adapt a chart or paraphrase a sentence,
  you must still cite.

23
How to avoid unintentional plagiarism?

• (3) Avoiding using others work with minor
  cosmetic changes, for instance
• Using "less" for "fewer
• Reversing the order of a sentence,
• Altering a spread-sheet layout.

24
How to avoid unintentional plagiarism?

• (4) When in doubt, cite.
• Better to be safe than not give credit when you
  should!
• http//sja.ucdavis.edu

25
Task Detect any plagiarism (if any) in the
following writing

• " In research writing, sources are cited for two
  reasons to alert readers to the sources of your
  information and to give credit to the writers
  from whom you have borrowed words and ideas."
• In research writing, sources are cited to alert
  readers to the sources of your information and to
  give credit to the writers from whom you have
  borrowed words and ideas.

26

• " In research writing, sources are cited for two
  reasons to alert readers to the sources of your
  information and to give credit to the writers
  from whom you have borrowed words and ideas."
• In research writing, we cite sources for a couple
  of reasons to notify readers of our information
  sources and give credit to those from whom we
  have borrowed. (Hacker).

27

• " In research writing, sources are cited for two
  reasons to alert readers to the sources of your
  information and to give credit to the writers
  from whom you have borrowed words and ideas."
• A researcher cites her sources to ensure her
  audience knows where she got her information, and
  to recognize and credit the original work.
  (Hacker, 1995 260 )

28
Citing skills
29
Definition - Paraphrase

• To paraphrase to restate a portion of a text
  with the purpose, usually, of clarifying it.
• A paraphrase is about the same length as the
  original passage.
• A paraphrase should not include any of the words
  from the original passage, nor should it follow
  the same sentence structure as the original
  passage, just changing vocabulary.
• Paraphrased information must be accompanied by a
  citation, or in-text reference to the source
• Failure to provide citation will be interpreted
  by others as plagiarism, even if you list the
  source in your bibliography.

30
Definition of Summary

• To summarize to restate a portion of a text in
  a shortened form.
• A summary should bring out the main ideas of the
  passage, and this means that it need not follow
  the same order as the original text.
• The requirements of the summary are that it be
  clear, concise, and accurate in representing the
  original text.
• Summarized information must be accompanied by a
  citation, or in-text reference to the source
• Failure to provide citation will be interpreted
  by others as plagiarism, even if you list the
  source in your bibliography

31
Definition

• To quote to copy exactly a portion of a text,
  with the purpose of presenting the author's
  actual words

32
Examples

• Original Text
• "If you're coping with an illness or want to
  exchange views about a medical topic, you'll want
  to find your way to a newsgroup. Despite the
  name, these are not collections of news items.
  They are, in effect, virtual bulletin boards open
  to anyone who cares to participate. The messages
  generally consist of plain text" (Schwartz 28).

33
Example of Paraphrase

• In a recent Consumer Reports article, the author
  suggests finding a relevant newsgroup if you have
  a particular medical problem or if you want to
  talk with others about a medical subject.
  Newsgroups are online bulletin boards that are
  available to anyone in spite of their name, they
  are not news reports. Anyone who wishes to may
  join in a newsgroup discussion (Schwartz 28).

34
Example of Attempted Paraphrase That Is
Classified as Plagiarism

• Based on the quotation above
• Whenever you are dealing with a disease or need
  to talk about a medical subject, you should look
  for a newsgroup. . . .

35
Example of summary

• Newsgroups, online discussion groups open to any
  participant, are a useful resource for anyone
  concerned about specific medical issues.
  (Schwartz 28).

36
Example of quotation

• People concerned about medical issues may find
  it helpful to look for a relevant newsgroup.
  Schwartz (28) points out that, "Despite the name,
  these are not collections of news items. They
  are, in effect, virtual bulletin boards open to
  anyone who cares to participate. "

37
Quotations
38
When to quote material?

• Quote passage when the author has said something
  in a distinctive or especially insightful or
  interesting way.
• Quote material that supports the assertions you
  make in your paper.
• Quote authorities who disagree with a position
  you are advocating or who offer alternative
  explanations or contradictory data.

39
When not to quote material?

• Do not quote passage merely to fill in space
• Do not quote passages as a substitute for
  thinking.
• Do not quote passages because you do not
  understand the authors ideas well enough to
  paraphrase them.

40
How much should I quote?

• Consider quoting a passage from one of your
  sources if any of the following conditions holds
• The language of the passage is particularly
  elegant or powerful or memorable.
• You wish to confirm the credibility of your
  argument by enlisting the support of an authority
  on your topic.
• The passage is worthy of further analysis.
• You wish to argue with someone else's position in
  considerable detail

41
Alternatives to quotations

• If an argument or a factual account from one of
  your sources is particularly relevant to your
  paper but does not deserve to be quoted verbatim,
  consider
• paraphrasing the passage if you wish to convey
  the points in the passage at roughly the same
  level of detail as in the original
• summarizing the relevant passage if you wish to
  sketch only the most essential points in the
  passage

42
Integrating quotations into your writing

• Block quotations
• Use with longer quotations.
• Follow APA guidelines (see handout on APA
  guidelines)

43
Integrated quotations

• Introduce the quotation with appropriate verb
• Precede with a coma
• Employ a verb of saying that fits the overall
  tone of your essay

44
Reporting verbs

• Pattern 1 reporting verb that subject verb
  
• Pattern 2 reporting verb somebody/something
  for noun/gerund
• Pattern 3 reporting verb somebody/something
  as noun/gerund/adjective

45
Pair work

• List the reporting verbs of the three patterns
• Check your list with other pairs lists

46
Introduce a quotation without a verb

• A more formal way of quoting
• Precede with a colon
• Run your sentence and the quotation together
• Pick out only certain words to quote.
• There are other ways to begin quotations
• Eg. In the words of X,  .  .  .
• According to X,  .   .  .
• In X's view,  .  . .
• Vary the way you introduce quotations to avoid
  sounding monotonous. But never sacrifice
  precision of phrasing for the sake of variety

47
Paraphrase vs. Summary
Paraphrase Both Summary
Re-states the authors words
Covers a short passage Covers a longer passage
Includes all the points in the original passage Includes only the main ideas of the original passage
Uses your own words
Is about the same length as the original passage Is about 60 shorter than the original passage
Preserves the emphasis of the original passage
48
Discussion

• When should I paraphrase, and when should I
  summarize?

49

• Consider relying on either tool when an idea from
  one of your sources is important to your essay
  but the wording is not.
• You should be guided in your choice of which tool
  to use by considerations of space.
• But above all, think about how much of the detail
  from your source is relevant to your argument.
• If all your reader needs to know is the bare
  bones, then summarize.
• Ultimately, be sure not to rely too heavily on
  either paraphrase or summary. Your ideas are what
  matter most

50
How to write a paraphrase?

1. Read, reread, and annotate the material.
2. Change words in the passage.
3. Change the verbs
4. Change the sentence structure in the passage.
5. Combine sentences found in the source text.
6. Unpack sentences found in the source text.

51
Qualities of a good paraphrase

• Thorough It attempts to include all of the
  authors primary ideas or findings.
• Accurate It attempts to reflect what the author
  actually wrote.
• Fair It attempts to employ even-handed language
  and content.
• Objective It attempts to avoid voicing the
  writers opinion on the topic or the quality of
  the source text.

52
How to write a summary?

• Read, reread, and annotate the material, paying
  particular attention to the content and structure
  of the piece.
• Be sure to note
• The thesis.
• The primary assertions, arguments, or findings
  and,
• The primary means of support for each point.
• Write one-sentence summaries of each section of
  the text.
• Write the first draft of your summary
• Check the rough draft of your summary against the
  source text
• Rewrite the summary.

53
Qualities of a good summary

• Comprehensive it conveys all the important
  information in the reading.
• Brief It conveys this information concisely
• Accurate It correctly conveys the authors
  ideas, findings, or arguments
• Neutral It avoids judgments concerning the
  readings topic or style.
• Independent It makes sense to someone who has
  not read the source text.
• (Adapted from Wilhoit, 2000)

54

• Enjoy writing!