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How to Avoid Plagiarism

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Title: How to Avoid Plagiarism


1
How to Avoid Plagiarism
  • According to the definition given in the 1997 New
    Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English
    Language, plagiarism is "the unauthorized use of
    the language and thoughts of another author and
    the representation of them as one's own" (508).
  • Created by Ashlee Norris
  • Western Washington University
  • 1

2
Can't I avoid problems just by listing every
source in the bibliography?
  • No, you need to integrate your acknowledgements
    into what you're saying. Give the reference as
    soon as you've mentioned the idea you're using,
    not just at the end of the paragraph. It's often
    a good idea to name the authors ("X says" and "Y
    argues against X,") and then indicate your own
    stand ("A more inclusive perspective, however, .
    . . ").
  • This system of small raised numbers signaling
    footnotes or endnotes, followed by a
    bibliography, used to be the standard method of
    documentation. You can choose either endnotes or
    footnotes, according to convenience (and let your
    word-processor help you deal with them).
  • Example
  • Renaissance audiences would have recognized
    hand-writing as a signal for inner distress,4
    specifically for a condition that the Elizabethan
    author Reynolds named "ague of the spirits."5
  • Notes
  • 4 Joan Brown, The Renaissance Stage (Toronto
    University of Toronto Press, 2000), 111.
  • 5 Peter Reynolds, The Player's Chapbooke, 1587
    quoted in Aline Mahieu, Acting Shakespeare
    (Toronto Gibson, 2003), 69.
  • Bibliography
  • Brown, Joan. The Renaissance Stage. Toronto
    University of Toronto Press, 2000.
  • Mahieu, Aline. Acting Shakespeare. Toronto
    Gibson, 2003.
  • 1

3
If I put the ideas into my own words, do I still
have to clog up my pages with all those names and
numbers?
  • If you are directly quoting from a work, you will
    need to include the author, year of publication,
    and the page number for the reference.
  • Example
  • In a recent study of student performance (Jones,
    1998), ...
  • If there is no author to cite, such as when you
    are citing a web page that lists no author, use
    an abbreviated version of the title of the page
    in quotation marks to substitute for the name of
    the author.
  • Example
  • A similar study was done of students learning to
    format research papers ("Using APA," 2001).
  • If you are citing a work that has no author and
    no date, use the first few words from the title,
    then the abbreviation n.d. (for "no date").
  • Example
  • In another study of students and research
    decisions, it was discovered that students
    succeeded with tutoring ("Tutoring and APA,"
    n.d.).
  • To cite a personal communication such as an
    interview or an e-mail, provide initials and last
    name of the communicator, the words personal
    communication, plus an exact date in the body of
    your paper.
  • Example
  • P. Smith also claimed that many of her students
    had difficulties with APA style (personal
    communication, November 3, 2002).
  • 2
  • Sorryyes, you do. In academic papers, you need
    to keep mentioning authors and pages and dates to
    show how your ideas are related to those of the
    experts.
  • It's sensible to use your own words because that
    saves space and lets you connect ideas smoothly.
    But whether you quote a passage directly in
    quotation marks, paraphrase it closely in your
    own words, or just summarize it rapidly, you need
    to identify the source then and there.
  • That applies to Internet sources too you still
    need author and date as well as title and URL.
  • 1

4
But I didn't know anything about the subject
until I started this paper. Do I have to give an
acknowledgement for every point I make?
  • You're safer to over-reference than to skimp. But
    you can cut down the clutter by recognizing that
    some ideas are "common knowledge" in the
    fieldthat is, taken for granted by people
    knowledgeable about the topic.
  • You don't need to name a specific source for
    them, even if you learned them only when doing
    your research. In some disciplines, information
    covered in class lectures doesn't need
    acknowledgement. Some interpretive ideas may also
    be so well accepted that they don't need
    referencing that Picasso is a distinguished
    modernist painter, for instance, or that smoking
    is harmful to health.
  • Check with your professor or TA if you're in
    doubt whether a specific point is considered
    common knowledge in your field.
  • 1

5
So what exactly do I have to document?
  • With experience reading academic prose, you'll
    soon get used to the ways writers in your field
    refer to their sources. Here are the main times
    you should give acknowledgements
  • Quotations, paraphrases, or summaries.
  • Specific facts used as evidence for your argument
    or interpretation.
  • Distinctive or authoritative ideas, whether you
    agree with them or not.
  • 1

6
Quotations
  • Quotations come from somewhere, and your reader
    will want to know where. Don't just parachute
    quotations into your essay without providing at
    least some indication of who your source is.
    Letting your reader know exactly which
    authorities you rely on is an advantage it shows
    that you have done your research and that you are
    well acquainted with the literature on your
    topic.
  • Example
  • The ancient Greeks never saw a need to justify
    wars that were waged outside the walls of the
    city state. "Hence we must turn to Roman
    antiquity to find the first justification of war,
    together with the first notion that there are
    just and unjust wars" (Arendt 12).
  • 1

7
Paraphrase
  • Whenever you paraphrase, remember these two
    points
  • You must provide a reference.
  • The paraphrase must be entirely in your own
    words. You must do more than merely substitute
    phrases here and there. You must also completely
    alter the sentence structure.
  • To paraphrase means to express someone else's
    ideas in your own language. To summarize means to
    distill only the most essential points of someone
    else's work.
  • Example
  • The original passage is from Oliver Sacks' essay
    "An Anthropologist on Mars"
  • The cause of autism has also been a matter of
    dispute. Its incidence is about one in a
    thousand, and it occurs throughout the world, its
    features remarkably consistent even in extremely
    different cultures. It is often not recognized in
    the first year of life, but tends to become
    obvious in the second or third year. Though
    Asperger regarded it as a biological defect of
    affective contactinnate, inborn, analogous to a
    physical or intellectual defectKanner tended to
    view it as a psychogenic disorder, a reflection
    of bad parenting, and most especially of a
    chillingly remote, often professional,
    "refrigerator mother." At this time, autism was
    often regarded as "defensive" in nature, or
    confused with childhood schizophrenia. A whole
    generation of parentsmothers, particularlywere
    made to feel guilty for the autism of their
    children.
  • What follows is an example of illegitimate
    paraphrase
  • The cause of the condition autism has been
    disputed. It occurs in approximately one in a
    thousand children, and it exists in all parts of
    the world, its characteristics strikingly similar
    in vastly differing cultures. The condition is
    often not noticeable in the child's first year,
    yet it becomes more apparent as the child reaches
    the ages of two or three. Although Asperger saw
    the condition as a biological defect of the
    emotions that was inborn and therefore similar to
    a physical defect, Kanner saw it as psychological
    in origin, as reflecting poor parenting and
    particularly a frigidly distant mother. During
    this period, autism was often seen as a defense
    mechanism, or it was misdiagnosed as childhood
    schizophrenia. An entire generation of mothers
    and fathers (but especially mothers) were made to
    feel responsible for their offspring's autism
    (Sacks 247-48).
  • 1

8
Summaries
  • Summary moves much farther than paraphrase away
    from point-by-point translation. When you
    summarize a passage, you need first to absorb the
    meaning of the passage and then to capture in
    your own words the most important elements from
    the original passage. A summary is necessarily
    shorter than a paraphrase.
  • Here is a summary of the passage from "An
    Anthropologist on Mars"
  • In "An Anthropologist on Mars," Sacks notes that
    although there is little disagreement on the
    chief characteristics of autism, researchers have
    differed considerably on its causes. As he points
    out, Asperger saw the condition as an innate
    defect in the child's ability to connect with the
    external world, whereas Kanner regarded it as a
    consequence of harmful childrearing practices
    (247-48).
  • 1

9
Specific facts used as evidence for your argument
or interpretation.
  • Examples
  • In September 1914, more than 1300 skirmishes were
    recorded on the Western Front.
  • Other recent researchers confirm the findings
    that drug treatment has little effect in the
    treatment of pancreatic pseudocysts.
  • 1
  • First consider whether the facts you're
    mentioning are "common knowledge" if so, you may
    not need to give a reference.
  • But when you're relying on facts that might be
    disputed within your disciplineperhaps newly
    published dataestablish that they're trustworthy
    by showing that you got them from an
    authoritative source.

10
Distinctive or authoritative ideas, whether you
agree with them or not.
  • The way you introduce a reference can indicate
    your attitude and lead into your own argument.
  • Example
  • (MLA example) Writing in 1966, Ramsay Cook
    asserted that Canada was in a period of critical
    instability (174). That period is not yet over,
    judging by the same criteria of electoral
    changeability, economic uncertainty, and
    confusion in policy decisions.
  • (APA example) One writer (Von Daniken, 1970) even
    argues that the Great Pyramid was built for the
    practical purpose of guiding navigation.
  • 1

11
References
  • 1 Procter, M. (2004). How to avoid plagiarism.
    January 18, 2005, from http//www.utoronto.ca/writ
    ing/plagsep.html
  • 2 Neyhart, D., Karper E. (2001). Using American
    Psychological Association (APA) Format (Updated
    to 5th Edition). January 18, 2005, from
    http//owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_
    apa. htmlYour20Reference20List

12
Resources For You To Check out
  • Western Washington University Writing Center
    Located Wilson Library 667 360-650-3219
  • http//www.library.wwu.edu/ref/plagiarism.html
  • http//www.ac.wwu.edu/soc/plagiarism.PDF
  • Washington State University
  • http//www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/electric/trainingmods/p
    lagiarism_test/main.html
  • Owl Writing Center at Purdue University
  • http//owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_
    apa. htmlYour20Reference20List
  • APA Citations
  • http//www.lib.usm.edu/research/guides/apa.html
  • MLA Citations
  • http//www.ccc.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtml
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