Plagiarism

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Plagiarism

• Facts Worth Remembering

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Plagiarism is an academic crime.
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• Plagiarism is
• Taking another persons phrasing or ideas
• and using them in your own work
• without giving that person
• the credit he deserves.

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Often, culpable students will react, But I
didnt know!

• Plagiarism is plagiarism
• regardless of your intent.

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Plagiarism is avoidable

• By recognizing what is not common knowledge.
• By knowing how to cite your sources properly.
• By knowing how to use direct and indirect
  quotations properly.
• By knowing how to paraphrase and summarize
  properly.

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What happens when someone plagiarizes?

• Depending on the teacher or school,
• he or she might
• fail the paper.
• fail the course.
• be suspended
• be expelled.

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With certainty, someone who plagiarizes

• Denies himself a chance
• to learn.
• Misrepresents himself
• to peers and teachers.
• Takes ownership of ideas not rightfully his.
• Cheats author out of
• due respect and credit.

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The consequences at CHS

• The student will
• Rewrite the assignment for no credit
• Have parent conference
• Serve one day of in-house suspension
• Face more serious consequences at the
  discretion of the administration for any
  subsequent offense.

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Why Does Plagiarism Happen?

• 1. Students dont know what plagiarism is.
• 2. Students dont know what common
  knowledge is.
• 3. Students dont know how to cite sources.
• There are more-

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More Reasons

• 4. Students dont know how to use direct quotes.
• 5. Students dont know how to paraphrase.
• 6. Students dont know how to summarize.
• There are still more -

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Still More Reasons

• 7. Students dont understand the researched
  material well enough to quote, paraphrase, or
  summarize effectively.
• 8. Students dont want to take the time to quote,
  paraphrase, or summarize effectively.
• And the final reasons-

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Final Reasons

• 9. Students feel that the more sophisticated
  the wording, the better the grade.
• 10. Students feel there is only one good way to
  say something the authors way.
• Lets go back -

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1. Students dont know what plagiarism is.

• Again,
• Plagiarism is taking what another person has
  thought, researched, or crafted
• and using it in your own work
• without giving that person the credit
• he or she deserves.

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2. Students dont know what common knowledge
is.

• Common Knowledge
• is any information that is readily available to
  and accepted as fact
• by everyone.
• It need not be cited.

• Historical facts
• Familiar proverbs
• Famous quotations
• Simple definitions

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Uncommon Knowledgeneeds to be cited.

• Unfamiliar facts
• Expert testimony
• Original research
• Opinions

• Statistics
• Direct or indirect quotations

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To determine common knowledge, ask yourself these
questions

• Did I already know this information before I read
  about it in this source?
• Does this information appear as un-cited in
  multiple sources?
• Did this information originate with me?
• If you answered yes to any question, you
  probably do not have to cite your source.

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Example of Common Knowledge vs. Uncommon Knowledge

• Common Knowledge
• Mary Flannery OConnor was a Catholic novelist
  who died at the age of thirty-nine.
• No citations needed.

• Uncommon Knowledge
• According to George Weigel in his book Letters to
  a Young Catholic, Flannery OConnor chose to
  write while looking at a whitewashed wall to
  minimize distractions and maximize her own
  imagination (11).
• Note the citations.

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Test Yourself on Common Knowledge

• The American flag currently has fifty stars.
• Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Toms Cabin.
• Of students in grades 6-12, almost 37 percent
  believe copying from the Internet is okay.
• Americans hate to wait more than they hate to
  spend money.
• Humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon
  dioxide.

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Test Yourself on Common Knowledge

• The American flag currently has fifty stars.
• Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Toms Cabin.
• Of students in grades 6-12, almost 37 percent
  believe copying from the Internet is okay.
• Americans hate to wait more than they hate to
  spend money.
• Humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon
  dioxide.

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3. Students dont know how to cite their sources.

• FAQs
• Whom do you cite?
• Anyone who owns the information youre using.
• When do you cite?
• Anytime you use information or graphics, whether
  in a paper or project, that belong to someone
  else.

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More FAQs

• How do you cite?
• According to the MLA guidelines
• Where do you cite?
• In parenthetical documentation
• On a works cited page
• In the text itself
• Why do you cite?
• To give credit where credit is due

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4. Students dont know how to use direct
quotations.

• Sometimes students
• write papers which do nothing more than link
  quotations together.
• insert quotations without any transitions or
  explanation of their significance.
• use one quotation that consumes most of a
  paragraph.
• Add quotations without reference to source.

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Quotations should be used

• Sparingly
• To support a point with expert testimony
• To add humor
• With correct punctuation
• With correct citation (author and source)

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Example of Plagiarism Using Exact Words without
Citing

• Original
• Edible, adj. means good to eat, and wholesome to
  digest, as a worm to a toad, a toad to a snake, a
  snake to a pig, a pig to a man, and a man to a
  worm.
• taken from The Devils Dictionary by Ambrose
  Bierce

• Students Work
• The word edible is an adjective which means
  good to eat, and wholesome to digest, as a worm
  to a toad, a toad to a snake, a snake to a pig, a
  pig to a man, and a man to a worm.

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Another Example of Plagiarism Changing and/or
Rearranging Words

• Original
• Edible, adj. means good to eat, and wholesome to
  digest, as a worm to a toad, a toad to a snake, a
  snake to a pig, a pig to a man, and a man to a
  worm.
• taken from The Devils Dictionary by Ambrose
  Bierce

• Students Work
• The word edible is an adjective which means
  healthy to digest and okay to eat, just like a
  worm is to a toad, or a toad is to a snake, or a
  snake is to a pig, or a pig is to a man, and or a
  man is to a worm.

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Effective Use of Quotation

• Original
• Edible, adj. means good to eat, and wholesome to
  digest, as a worm to a toad, a toad to a snake, a
  snake to a pig, a pig to a man, and a man to a
  worm.
• taken from The Devils Dictionary by Ambrose
  Bierce

• Students Work
• In his popular anthology of terms defined with a
  satirical twist, The Devils Dictionary, Ambrose
  Bierce once wrote that edible means good to eat,
  and wholesome to digest, as a worm to a toad, a
  toad to a snake, a snake to a pig, a pig to a
  man, and a man to a worm (30).

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5. Students dont know how to paraphrase.

• Paraphrasing is putting written information into
  your own words.
• The best way to paraphrase is to
• 1. Read the information carefully.
• 2. Understand the material clearly.
• 3. Rewrite without looking.
• 4. Check back for accuracy.

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Example of Plagiarism Changing Phrasing a
Little Bit

• Original
• Since the fourteenth century the Swiss Guards
  are the official Vatican police officers and the
  popes body guards. Their red, yellow, and blue
  uniforms were designed by Michelangelo. They
  number 110
• --taken from Catholic Source Book

• Students Work
• Since the 1300s, the Swiss Guards have been the
  official police for the Vatican as well as the
  popes body guards. Their uniforms of red,
  yellow, and blue were designed by Michelangelo.
  There are 110 of them

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Example of Correct Paraphrasing

• Original
• Since the fourteenth century the Swiss Guards
  are the official Vatican police officers and the
  popes body guards. Their red, yellow, and blue
  uniforms were designed by Michelangelo. They
  number 110
• --taken from Catholic Source Book

• Students Work
• According to the Catholic Source Book, The Swiss
  Guard traditionally 110 in number -- have
  policed the Vatican and guarded the pope for the
  last seven hundred years. Legend gives credit for
  the design of their uniforms to Michelangelo, but
  there is no documented proof of this. During the
  Renaissance, their uniforms became brighter and
  more colorful, incorporating red with yellow and
  blue.
• Notice the synthesis of the original
  information with other common knowledge
  information.

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Another Example of Correct Paraphrasing/Citing

• Original
• OConnors writing habits were as austere as
  her prose her desk faced a whitewashed wall, and
  she wrote her fiction looking at the blank space.
  What she wanted to convey in her stories and
  novels came out of her head and her reading and
  her reflection and her prayer -- taken from
  Letters to a Young Christian by George Weigel

• Students Work
• In Letters to a Young Christian, George Weigel
  describes the way in which Flannery OConnor
  typically wrote her books. According to Weigel,
  she would sit at her desk, facing the nothingness
  of a white wall and thus limiting the stimuli
  around her, OConnor would tap into the ideas
  that would percolate from her own mind and memory
  (11).

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6. Students dont know how to summarize.

• Summarizing is reducing
• the amount of written information
• to convey the most general or
• most important ideas.

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Example of Summarizing

• Original
• You think, I dare say, that our philologists
  chief job is inventing new words. But not a bit!
  Were destroying words scores of them, hundreds
  of them, every day by the year 2050 not a
  single human being will be alive who can
  understand such a conversation as we are having
  now. two pages taken from 1984 by George
  Orwell

• Summary
• According to Syme, a character in George Orwells
  1984, those responsible for revising the
  dictionary in 1984 endeavor to remove words from
  the collection rather than add words in the hope
  that limited word choice will ultimately limit
  depth and range of thought. one sentence

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7. Students dont understand the researched
material well enough to paraphrase, summarize, or
quote effectively.

• Avoid books, articles, and web sites that are too
  technical or lofty.
• Ask your teacher/librarian to help you find
  sources that are more age- appropriate.

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8. Students dont want to take the time to
paraphrase, summarize, or quote effectively.

• You really dont have a choice.
• Accept the fact that research
• requires all of the above.
• is a time-consuming task.
• will be a requirement
• throughout high school
• and college.
• is a valuable life skill.

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9. Students feel that the more sophisticated the
wording, the better the grade.

• The truth is
• Teachers expect and prefer age-appropriate
  discussion in high school papers.
• Teachers main concern is that students
  understand what theyre writing about and
  communicate that understanding through their
  writing.

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10. Students feel there is only one good way to
say something the authors way.

• There are multiple good ways!
• Besides,
• Teachers know when the writing sounds like a
  college professor wrote it.
• Teachers recognize individual writing styles and
  sense when the writing doesnt sound like a
  particular student.

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The bottom line isWhen in doubt,
cite.Plagiarism is stealing and leads to
serious consequences,but can be happily avoided
by learning how to research and to cite
properly.The End