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How to Avoid Plagiarism and Document Sources

English/Literature

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What is Plagiarism?

• Copying from a source without quotation marks or proper citations.

• Copying from a source without quotation marks, but citing the source.

• Paraphrasing or summarizing without citation.

• Poor paraphrasing.

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Penalties for Plagiarism

• A grade of zero or an F on the assignment• Failing the course• Expulsion from college

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Why is Plagiarism Such a BIG Deal?

• Because you don’t learn anything • Because it hurts other students• Because professors must take valuable

time to track down plagiarism• Because it undermines academic integrity

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Common Ways of Plagiarizing

• Downloading from an Internet paper mill• Hiring someone else to write the paper• Poor notetaking and paraphrasing skills• Ignorance of how to cite, quote, and use

source information.

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How Not to Plagiarize When Quoting Information

• When you quote, quote exactly. • Put quotation marks around any

information that you quote. • Cite your source

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How Not to Plagiarize when Summarizing

• Make sure none of the source language has crept into your summary.

• Cite the source (use MLA).

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How Not to Plagiarize When Paraphrasing Information

• Make sure you understand the original material

• Turn the original over, and then write your paraphrase

• Check the original to make sure language didn’t creep in

• Cite the source of your paraphrase

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Examples

• The following paragraph is from a master’s thesis:“Lorine Niedecker admired Dickinson, but she may have been wary of literary history consigning her as an imitator of Dickinson. Although both tend toward ontological obscurity in their poetry, Niedecker’s images, form, and language are strikingly different than Dickinson’s.”

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Quotations

• Proper: “Although both tend toward ontological obscurity in their poetry, Niedecker’s images … are strikingly different than Dickinson’s” (Johnson 11).

• Improper: “Although both show obscurity in their poetry, Niedecker’s style is much different than Dickinson’s” (Johnson 11). This does not quote the source word for word.

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Summary

• Proper: Lorine Niedecker worried about being considered an imitator of Emily Dickinson’s (Johnson 11).

• Improper: Niedecker loved and admired Emily Dickinson and wanted to be much like her (Johnson 11). This summary is inaccurate.

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Paraphrases

• Proper:Lorine Niedecker worried about being considered too much like Emily Dickinson, and that literary scholars might consider her an “imitator.” Despite their similarities in existential vagueness, their poetic styles are dissimilar (Johnson 11).

This paraphrase is accurate and puts any source language in quotation marks.

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Improper Paraphrase

• With Dickinson there is a resistance along with an attraction; Niedecker admired Dickinson, but she may have worried about literary history saying she was an imitator of Dickinson. Niedecker’s form, images, and language are very different from Dickinson’s (Johnson 11). This paraphrase uses phrases from the original without quotation marks.

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Proper Documentation

• Any of these examples are plagiarism if the author is not given credit.

• Work the author into your writing: Joan Johnson points out that… (11).

• Use parenthetical documentation: (Johnson 11).

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Common Knowledge

• You do not have to cite anything that would be considered common knowledge. – Emily Dickinson was an American poet.– George Washington was our first president.If you already know it, it is probably common

knowledge. If it is in three or more of your sources, it is common

knowledge. If in doubt, cite it!

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Handy little things to know

• Ellipses ….– You may use these to delete information from

a quotation. – Do not delete important information that could

distort the meaning. – Put brackets around your ellipses: […]

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• Brackets– Use brackets to add information to a

quotation: “[Emily] Dickinson…”

– Sic – used to indicate that a mistake is in your source, not you: • “Dickinsons (sic) poetry was obscure.”

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Quote in a Sentence

• If your source quotes a source that you would like to use, put “qtd. in” in your citation. – As Harold Bloom notes, “We know, as Blake

did, that Poetic Influence is gain and loss…” (qtd. in Johnson 4).

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Remember:

• Learning to paraphrase well is a skill. As with any skill, if you do not practice it, you do not improve.

• Professors would rather have your writing, even if it is somewhat awkward, rather than someone else’s polished prose.

• We’re here to help you. Just ask!

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Documenting Sources• Anything that you take from a source must be cited,

unless it is common knowledge.– If in doubt, cite it

• It is a common misconception that only quotations must be acknowledged. All material you take from a source must be acknowledged.

• Each citation of a source must match up with a full bibliographical reference in the works cited.

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In-text Citations• Either introduce the source in your writing: Susan Farrell

points out in “fight vs. flight: A re-evaluation of Dee in Alice Walker’s ‘Everyday Use’” that… and put a page number in parentheses at the end (2). – I prefer that you use browser page numbers for electronic sources

rather than paragraph numbers.

• OR put the author and page number in parentheses at the end of your paraphrase, quotation, or summary: (Farrell 2).

• Never put a URL in an in-text citation. • If you must use a title because there is no author use only

the first major word (“Fight” 2).

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Works Cited• Complete bibliographical information for your sources• Arranged in alphabetical order by the last name of the

author or the first main word of the title• First line is on left margin, and the subsequent lines for

each entry are indented 5 space

• Follow the correct models in your textbook or handbook for proper ways to cite books, journals, electronic, and other sources

• Caution: a sloppy works cited is usually an indication of a sloppy paper.

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Works Cited

Szymborska, Wislawa. “The Terrorist, He Watches.” An Introduction to Literature. 13th ed. Ed. Sylvan Barnet et al. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2004. pp. 687-688.

Tapcott, Stephen and Mariusz Przybytek. “The Sky, A Sky, Heaven, the Heavens, a Heaven, Heavens: Reading Szymborska Whole.” The American Poetry Review. World Poetry Inc. July 2000. Brish Lib., Hagerstown Community College. 6 April 2004 <galenet. Galegroup. Com.exproxy.hagerstowncc.edu>.

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Other Miscellaneous Points• Never put numbers next to works cited entries• In MLA format, everything is double spaced. • Periods go after citations in in-text citations

“quoted material” (Johnson 11). • Quotations that are more than 4 typed lines are

indented ten spaces, do not have quotation marks, and the period goes before the citation.

• Most importantly, ALL information from a source, unless it is common knowledge, MUST be cited.

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Sources for MLA Documentation

• Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research papers. 5th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1999. – This is the bible for MLA documentation. It can be found in most

bookstores. • Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St.

Martin’s, 2003. – Most HCC 101 students should have this book.

• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab, a wonderful site.

• http://webster.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtmlsource– Another very good site