Academic Writing Style and Avoiding Plagiarism

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Academic Writing Style and Avoiding Plagiarism

• (Or, How to Write a Research Paper the Right Way
  and Avoid Chastisement and Possible Failure)

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Section 1 Writing Style

• In this section, we will discuss
• Using third person
• Using formal language and present tense
• Transitioning between ideas
• Staying focused on your thesis

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Using Third Person

• All academic writing uses third person
  therefore, your research paper will be written in
  third person.
• (Did you notice that that sentence was in second
  person? Waitso was that one! How do I fix this?
  No! That was first person! AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!)
• Relax. All will be explained.

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Third Person, con.

• One who wishes to write in third person will find
  it in his or her best interest, in most cases, to
  stick with plurals, as they are somewhat less
  awkward than the unwieldy one and he or she.
• People who use third person plural will find that
  their sentences flow more easily once they get
  the hang of it.
• Why? Because there is no gender-neutral third
  person singular pronoun other than one, which
  is pretty darn awkward.

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Examples

• First person I feel that human trafficking is a
  horrible practice that should be stopped.
• Second Person You will agree that human
  trafficking is a horrible practice that should be
  stopped.
• Third Person Most would agree that human
  trafficking is a horrible practice that should be
  stopped or Human trafficking is a horrible
  practice that should be stopped.

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That wasnt too hard, right?
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Formal Language

• Formal language is basically a matter of shifting
  from the way people talk to the way people write.
  For instance
• Sammy got really mad is informal language.
• Sammy became angry is better.

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Present tense

• Research papers should be written in present
  tense, because, theoretically, you are trying to
  inform/persuade your reader NOW.
• (The previous sentence is in present tense. This
  one is, too.)

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Transitions

• When a teacher describes your paper as choppy
  or jumping around, this means that you arent
  transitioning between ideas properly. Showing how
  one idea relates to the next and how one
  paragraph relates to the next allows the reader
  to follow your train of thought.

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Types of transitions

• Counting transitions Firstly, secondly, thirdly,
  also, in addition to, etc. These, frankly, are
  pretty weak. Wed rather you avoid them
• Concept-based transitions These show how your
  IDEAS relate to each other. Theyre preferred.

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Example!

• If youre transitioning from describing the
  concept of GM crops to describing the potential
  effects of GM crops on the environment, this
  might be a good transition
• While scientist may feel that theyve carefully
  controlled the manipulation of the plants genes,
  the effects of GM crops on the environment have
  been anything but predictable.

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Wasnt that nicer than Next, I will discuss the
effects of GM crops on the environment? Didnt
it just soundsmarter?
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Sticking to your thesis

• EVERY point in your research paper should relate
  in a specific way to your thesis.
• Each TOPIC SENTENCE should be directly related to
  proving your thesis.
• If you cant determine what a piece of
  information has to do with making your point,
  then that piece of information DOES NOT BELONG!

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Section 2 Citation
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What is citation?

• CITATION is giving credit to the source from
  which your information came. In MLA style,
  citations look like this
• (Brown 183) This indicates that this piece of
  information came from Brown and can be found on
  pg 183 of Browns book.

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What do I cite?

• Every piece of information (fact) that you did
  not know before you began the paper must be
  cited.
• Every idea that was not originally yours must be
  cited.
• Yesyou are going to have a LOT of citations!

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PLAGIARISM

• Know why its big and red? Because its BAD.
  Academic dishonestywhether intentional or
  unintentionalmeans automatic failure.
• You need to know what to cite, when to cite, and
  how to cite properly. This is IMPORTANT.

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Types of cite-ables

• There are three ways to use the information you
  find
• Quoting directly
• Paraphrasing
• Summarizing

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Quoting directly

• When you use a quote, you are using the EXACT
  WORDS that the author used. If you use three or
  more words taken directly from a source, you must
  signal this by putting those words in quotation
  marks.
• Quote does NOT only apply to what people SAY.
  Any of the authors words qualify as quotations.

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Paraphrasing

• When you put the sources information into your
  own words, its called paraphrasing.
• YOU STILL NEED A CITATION WHEN YOU PARAPHRASE.

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Summarizing

• When you summarize, you give a very general
  impression of the article or book. Summaries need
  citations, too!

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Examples!

• Sample Passage
• Sevenpence-halfpenny's worth per week is a
  good round diet for a child a great deal may be
  got for sevenpence-halfpenny, quite enough to
  overload its stomach, and make it uncomfortable.
  The elderly female was a woman of wisdom and
  experience she knew what was good for children
  and she had a very accurate perception of what
  was good for herself. So, she appropriated the
  greater part of the weekly stipend to her own
  use, and consigned the rising parochial
  generation to even a shorter allowance than was
  originally provided for them. Thereby finding in
  the lowest depth a deeper still and proving
  herself a very great experimental philosopher.
• from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

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Example QUOTE

• Dickens says that woman finds in the lowest
  depth a deeper still, (8), which shows that even
  among the very poor, some are the predators and
  some are the victims.
• show that those are the authors words.
• (8) shows where the quote came frombecause
  Dickens is already mentioned in the sentence, he
  doesnt need to be mentioned in the parentheses.
• indicates that you altered the wording
  slightly to fit the grammar of your sentence.

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Example paraphrase

• An excellent example of the poor victimizing each
  other comes in the form of the woman whose house
  Oliver is sent to. She spends the money intended
  for the childrens food on herself, and as a
  result the children are malnourished (Dickens 8).
• Its not exact wording, but I still used the
  authors ideas, so I still need to cite it.

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Example summary

• Oliver is neglected by the woman who is supposed
  to take care of him, showing that there is little
  kindness even among the very poor (Dickens 8).
• This is a very general reference to the content
  of the passagebut it still requires a citation.

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When there isnt an author

• you cite using a shortened version of the title.
  For instance, if your source is an unsigned
  internet article titled Gelatinous Mass Consumes
  Manhattan, you would cite it as (Gelatinous).