PLAGIARISMMS.Fatema Khurshid

IR 101

DEFINITION Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as

the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work.

Plagiarism is disapproved more on the grounds of moral offence, and cases of plagiarism can involve liability for copyright infringement.

WPA…DEFINITION : In an instructional setting,

plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source.

Council of Writing Program Administrators

http://www.wpacouncil.org

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM? Plagiarism, believe it or not, comes

from a Latin verb that means, “to kidnap.”

If you plagiarize you’re kidnapping and stealing others’ hard work and intellectual property.

It is academic and public dishonesty.

PLAGIARISM…IS 1. Submitting someone else’s text as one’s

own or attempting to blur the line between one’s own ideas or words and those borrowed from another source, and

2. Carelessly or inadequately citing ideas and words borrowed from another source.

When students submit work purporting to be their own, but which in any way borrows ideas, organization, wording or anything else from another source without appropriate acknowledgment of the fact, the students are guilty of plagiarism.

ACKNOWLEDGE SOURCES… When a student's assignment involves

research in outside sources or information, the student must carefully acknowledge exactly what, where and how he/she has employed them. If the words of someone else are used, the student must put quotation marks around the passage in question and add an appropriate indication of its origin. 

 “[p]resenting as one’s own the words, the work, or the opinions of someone else without proper acknowledgment.”  

The second kind of plagiarism is

“[b]orrowing the sequence of ideas, the arrangement of material, or the pattern of thought of someone else without proper acknowledgment.”  

Using someone else's ideas or phrasing and representing those ideas or phrasing as our own, either on purpose or through carelessness. 

"Someone else" can mean a professional source, such as a published writer or critic in a book, magazine, encyclopedia, or journal; an electronic resource such as material we discover on the World Wide Web; another student at our school or anywhere else; a paper-writing "service" (online or otherwise) which offers to sell written papers for a fee.

A person must use footnotes, endnotes, or other annotations to indicate the source of the passage - where this sequence of words and ideas first appeared.

Another common example of plagiarism in academic writing is citing a reference that you have not actually read yourself without acknowledging the source from which you took the citation.

ROLE OF INTERNET… The Internet tends to make who owns

what a little unclear . Because there is so much information

accessible through the Internet, the temptation to plagiarize increases and what needs referencing becomes increasingly unclear.

HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM To avoid plagiarism: 1. Do not use someone’s words without

referencing the source or including the information in quotation marks or a block quote; and

2. Do not use someone’s ideas without referencing the source.

Take careful and fully documented notes during research.

WHAT TO DO…. There is often information that you want

to include in your paper and you don’t know whether it came from someone in particular or not.

You still need to reference the source. When you use words or even just

ideas or images, you should always provide an in-text citation and an entry in the Works Cited or list of References. 

QUOTATIONS… Other people’s ideas must be

documented, regardless of whether writers paraphrase them, summarize them, or even directly quote them.

If the idea is not your own, it means you read it somewhere and must tell where.

In quoting too: if you use three or more words from any sentence anywhere, put it in quotes and reference it.

RESEARCH STUDENTS SHOULD… Students should understand research

assignments as opportunities for genuine and rigorous inquiry and learning.

Such an understanding involves: Assembling and analyzing a set of sources

that they have themselves determined are relevant to the issues they are investigating.

Acknowledging clearly when and how they are drawing on the ideas or phrasings of others.

Learning the conventions for citing documents and acknowledging sources appropriate to the field they are studying.

EXAMPLES OF PLAGIARISM

Example 1: Direct copying from original sources. Most commonly, this involves using one or more

sentences verbatim from your original source (with or without footnotes). This is completely unacceptable. If you copy your source text you must put the passage in quotes or offset the passage. 

Example 2: Direct copying from original sources, but with footnotes

Assembling sentences or passages from various documents and putting a footnote at the end of each sentence or paragraph is still plagiarism. None of the words in the passage are your own (and probably very little of the organization, too).

KINDS OF PLAGIARISM Example 3: Rewording a sentence (paraphrasing) This is one of the most common mistakes that students

make. You can not simply reword a sentence. Example 4: Borrowing organization Example 6: Failing to reference/footnote source

material Anytime you present a new fact that is not immediately

obvious to someone in the field (or at your level of knowledge), you should provide a footnote reference to the source material. Ideally, this will be a reference to the primary literature (usually a scientific journal or sometimes a book).Some examples of items that need to be referenced/footnoted:

PLAGIARISM VS MISUSE OF SOURCES Ethical writers make every effort to

acknowledge sources fully and appropriately in accordance with the contexts and genres of their writing.

A student who attempts (even if clumsily) to identify and credit his or her source, but who misuses a specific citation format or incorrectly uses quotation marks or other forms of identifying material taken from other sources, has not plagiarized.

Instead, such a student should be considered to have failed to cite and document sources appropriately.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS Western cultures value knowledge

and information as something that can be owned. It’s called intellectual property. If someone has created some particular ordering of language or an idea, in the least, that person deserves recognition.

WORD FOR WORD-VERBATIM PLAGIARISM Is one in which the writer directly quotes a passage or

passages from an author's work without the use of proper quotation marks.

Original Source Material: Technology has significantly transformed education at several major turning points in our history. In the broadest sense, the first technology was the primitive modes of communication used by prehistoric people before the development of spoken language. Mime, gestures, grunts, and drawing of figures in the sand with a stick were methods used to communicate -- yes, even to educate. Even without speech, these prehistoric people were able to teach their young how to catch animals for food, what animals to avoid, which vegetation was good to eat and which was poisonous.

Frick, T. (1991). Restructuringeducation through technology. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.

PLAGIARIZED VERSION… In examining technology, we have to

remember that computers are not the first technology people have had to deal with. The first technology was the primitive modes of communication used by prehistoric people before the development of spoken language.

CORRECT VERSION… In examining technology, we have to

remember that computers are not the first technology people have had to deal with. Frick (1991) believes that "... the first technology was the primitive modes of communication used by prehistoric people before the development of spoken language" (p. 10).

References: Frick, T. (1991). Restructuring education through technology. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.

Explanation: Note in this example that the passage begins with the author and year of the publication. Quotation marks are used to indicate that this passage is a word-for-word citation from the original document.

EXAMPLE.. The minds of children are

"wired" to acquire language automatically (undergoing exactly the same stages, no matter what the language is). From ages 1-5, kids can acquire any possible language (from English to Chinese to Hawaiian), and acquiring multiple languages is no problem, provided children have enough exposure. From 5-10, kids still have an easy time, but once adolescence hits, most people lose the ability to pick up languages easily. Ironically, that is just when most U.S. schools start offering foreign language.

Bad Linguistics Page Web site (Pyatt, 2000).courses.

For instance, suppose you are doing the assignment on how bilingual children learn language, and you include a paragraph from the original.

Contrary to what many people may expect, it is very easy for young children to learn more than one language at a time.[The minds of children are "wired" to acquire language automatically (undergoing exactly the same stages, no matter what the language is). From ages 1-5, kids can acquire any possible language (from English to Chinese to Hawaiian), and acquiring multiple languages is no problem, provided children have enough exposure. From 5-10, kids still have an easy time, but once adolescence hits, most people lose the ability to pick up languages easily.]

CORRECTED VERSION… Despite the anxieties of many

immigrant parents in the United States, it is actually very easy for young children to become multilingual.

“The minds of children are "wired" to acquire language automatically (undergoing exactly the same stages, no matter what the language is). From ages 1-5, kids can acquire any possible language (from English to Chinese to Hawaiian), and acquiring multiple languages is no problem, provided children have enough exposure. From 5-10, kids still have an easy time, but once adolescence hits, most people lose the ability to pick up languages easily.”

— Pyatt, 2000

Good (with quoted text indented and the author cite afterwards)

Avoid cut and paste plagiarism with citations…

ORIGINAL PASSAGE… Constructivism is a movement that extends

beyond the beliefs of the cognitivist. It considers the engagement of students in meaningful experiences as the essence of learning. The shift is from passive transfer of information to active problem solving. Constructivists emphasize that learners create their own interpretations of the world of information.

Source: Heinich, R., Molenda, M., Russell, J. D., & Smaldino, S. E. (1999). Instructional media and technologies for learning. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

PLAGIARIZED VERSION Constructivists do not hold views

entirely opposed to those of the cognitivists. The position of constructivists extends beyond the beliefs of the cognitivist.

References: Heinich, R., Molenda, M., Russell, J. D., & Smaldino, S. E. (1999). Instructional media and technologies for learning. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

CORRECT VERSION… Constructivists do not hold views

entirely opposed to those of the cognitivists. The position of constructivists "... extends beyond the beliefs of the cognitivist" (Heinich, Molenda, Russell, & Smaldino, 1999, p. 17).

References: Heinich, R., Molenda, M., Russell, J. D., & Smaldino, S. E. (1999). Instructional media and technologies for learning. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

EXPLANATION… Explanation: This example of student

written work is plagiarized. The student included a portion of the original author's work in a sentence without using quotation marks. Although the work was cited in the references, no credit was given to the original author in the text of the paper, and quotation marks were not used.

Explanation: Quotation marks are used to indicate that this passage is a word-for-word citation from the original document.

ORIGINAL  The concept of systems is really quite

simple. The basic idea is that a system has parts that fit together to make a whole; but where it gets complicated -- and interesting -- is how those parts are connected or related to each other.

Source: Frick, T. (1991). Restructuring education through technology.Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.

PLAGIARIZED VERSION A system has parts that fit together to

make a whole, but the important aspect of systems is how those parts are connected or related to each other (Frick, 1991).

References: Frick, T. (1991). Restructuring education through technology. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.

CORRECT VERSION…. Frick (1991) states that "... a

system has parts that fit together to make a whole ..." but the important aspect of systems is "... how those parts are connected or related to each other" (p. 17).

References: Frick, T. (1991). Restructuring education through technology. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.

CORRECT METHOD…  Note in this example that the passage

begins with the author and year of the publication. Quotation marks are used to indicate that the passages are word-for-word citations from the original document. The author is also listed in the references.

If several passages are taken from the original work and inserted into original prose, this is still an example of word-for-word plagiarism.

Theories and philosophies are different from each other because, according to Gredler (2001) theories seek

to explain real-world events and can be certified through scientific investigation... A characteristic of learning theories is that they address the underlying psychological dynamics of events. Thus, they provide a mechanism for understanding the implications of events related to learning in both formal and informal settings. (pp. 12-13)

References: Gredler, M. E. (2001). Learning and instruction: Theory into practice (4th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

WORD TO WORD…

Explanation: An indented block is used to indicate that this passage is a word-for-word quotation and the pages where it was taken from the original document. The original author of the content is cited at the end of the passage and in the reference section as well.

CORRECT WAY….

WORD-FOR-WORD PLAGIARISM

THE ORIGINAL PASSAGE

This book has been written against a background of both reckless optimism and reckless despair. It holds that Progress and Doom are two sides of the same medal; that both are articles of superstition, not of faith. It was written out of the conviction that it should be possible to discover the hidden mechanics by which all traditional elements of our political and spiritual world were dissolved into a conglomeration where everything seems to have lost specific value, and has become unrecognizable for human comprehension, unusable for human purpose. Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1973 ed.), p.vii, Preface to the First Edition.

This book has been written against a background of both reckless optimism and reckless despair. It holds that Progress and Doom are two sides of the same medal; that both are articles of superstition, not of faith. Interestingly enough, Arendt avoids much of the debates found in some of the less philosophical literature about totalitarianism.

The material that represents a direct quotation must either be put within quotation marks or indented. For example:

A. As Hannah Arendt explains, her book was “written against a backdrop of both reckless optimism and reckless despair.”1 The book “holds that Progress and Doom are two sides of the same medal . . . .”2

B. As Dr. Arendt has explained:

This book has been written against a background of both reckless optimism and reckless despair. It holds that Progress and Doom are two sides of the same medal; that both are articles of superstition, not of faith.1

Interestingly enough, Arendt avoids much of the debate found in some of the less philosophical literature about totalitarianism.

PLAGIARISM OF A PHRASE… Following the Second World War, scholars from a variety of

disciplines began to explore the nature of “totalitarianism.” One of the most pressing issues for these writers was understanding the “essence” of totalitarianism. How, for example, is a totalitarian regime different from an authoritarian regime? Although authors disagree on the precise answer to this question, a common thread running throughout most of the classic works on totalitarianism deals with the relationship between State and Society. In a totalitarian state, the traditional boundaries between State and society are dissolved into a conglomeration so that the two become indistinguishable.

This passage is almost entirely original, but the phrase “dissolved into a conglomeration” is taken directly from Arendt. Even though this is a short phrase, it must be footnoted.

Only phrases that have truly become part of general usage can be used without citation.

 PARAPHRASING A paraphrased

example must be cited. You cite a paraphrased example as you would a word-for-word quote. Paraphrasing is a condensed version of another author's work, or putting the author's words into your own words.

Re-wording…

ORIGINAL SOURCE MATERIAL:  Developing complex skills in the

classroom involves the key ingredients identified in teaching pigeons to play ping-pong and to bowl. The key ingredients are: (1) inducing a response, (2) reinforcing subtle improvements or refinements in the behavior, (3) providing for the transfer of stimulus control by gradually withdrawing the prompts or cues, and (4) scheduling reinforcements so that the ratio of reinforcements in responses gradually increases and natural reinforcers can maintain their behavior.  

Gredler, M. E. (2001). Learning and instruction: Theory into practice (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

PLAGIARIZED VERSION Inducing a response, providing

for the transfer of stimulus control by gradually withdrawing prompts or cues, reinforcing subtle improvements in the behavior, and scheduling reinforcements so that natural reinforcers can maintain their behavior are the key ingredients identified both in teaching pigeons to play ping-pong and in developing complex skills in the classroom.  

Gredler, M. E. (2001). Learning and instruction: Theory into practice (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Explanation: This example has been plagiarized. The student has only moved the original author's words around, inserting and deleting small portions as needed. The student has not used quotation marks for the portions that are still identical to the original, and has not credited the original author.

CORRECTED… According to Gredler (2001),

the same factors apply to developing complex skills in a classroom setting as to developing complex skills in any setting. A response must be induced, then reinforced as it gets closer to the desired behavior. Re inforcers have to be scheduled carefully, and cues have to be withdrawn gradually so that the new behaviors can be transferred and maintained.

References: Gredler, M. E. (2001). Learning and instruction: Theory into practice (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Explanation: This example has been paraphrased and is not considered plagiarized. The author was cited as well as in the bibliographic section.  Since paraphrasing occurred, quotation marks are not used.  Nothing was directly quoted.

ORIGINAL/PLAGIARIZED During the last decade,

there has been a shift from "instructivist" approaches towards "constructivist" approaches in the field of instructional design. Instructivist approaches reflect the belief that the role of knowledge is basically to represent the real world. Meaning is eventually determined by this real world and [is] thus external to the understander.

Source: Merriënboer, J. J. van. (1997).Training complex cognitive skills.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.

Over the last ten years, there has been a marked change from "instructivist" points of view to "constructivist" points of view among instructional designers. Instructivist points of view hold the belief that the role of knowledge is fundamentally to represent the real world. In this view, meaning is determined by the real world and is therefore external to the learner.

References: Merriënboer, J. J. van. (1997).Training complex cognitive skills. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications

CORRECTED… Instructivists hold that

the "real world," external to individuals, can be represented as knowledge and determines what will be understood by individuals. This view has been shifting to a constructivist view over the past decade (Merriënboer, 1997).

References: Merriënboer, J. J. van. (1997).Training complex cognitive skills. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.

Explanation: This example has been plagiarized. The student has substituted synonyms for many words in the passage, but has not changed the structure of the text and has used another person's ideas without crediting that person for them.

Explanation: This example has been paraphrased and the original author has been credited for those ideas. The student has cited the source of the ideas appropriately, and included the source in the reference list.

ORIGINAL/PLAGIARIZED Technology has significantly

transformed education at several major turning points in our history. In the broadest sense, the first technology was the primitive modes of communication used by prehistoric people before the development of spoken language. Mime, gestures, grunts, and drawing of figures in the sand with a stick were methods used to communicate - yes, even to educate. Even without speech, these prehistoric people were able to teach their young how to catch animals for food, what animals to avoid, which vegetation was good to eat and which was poisonous.

Frick, T. (1991). Restructuring education through technology. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.

History has demonstrated that technology affects education profoundly. Considering the definition of technology broadly, one may say that prehistoric people used primitive technologies to teach skills to their young (Frick, 1991).

Explanation: This example has

been plagiarized. Although the student has paraphrased the original material and included a citation for the original author, no reference is provided in the reference list.

CORRECT WAY…. History has demonstrated

that technology affects education profoundly. Considering the definition of technology broadly, one may say that prehistoric people used primitive technologies to teach skills to their young (Frick, 1991).

References: Frick, T. (1991). Restructuring education through technology. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.

Explanation: This example has been paraphrased and is not considered plagiarized. The student has cited the original author and included an appropriate entry in the reference list

TASK The original text from

Elaine Tyler May's "Myths and Realities of the American Family" reads as follows:

Because women's wages often continue to reflect the fiction that men earn the family wage, single mothers rarely earn enough to support themselves and their children adequately. And because work is still organized around the assumption that mothers stay home with children, even though few mothers can afford to do so, child-care facilities in the United States remain woefully inadequate.

Here are some possible uses of this text. As you read through each version, try to decide if it is a legitimate use of May's text or a plagiarism.

Version A: Since women's wages often

continue to reflect the mistaken notion that men are the main wage earners in the family, single mothers rarely make enough to support themselves and their children very well. Also, because work is still based on the assumption that mothers stay home with children, facilities for child care remain woefully inadequate in the United States.

Version B: As Elaine Tyler May

points out, "women's wages often continue to reflect the fiction that men earn the family wage" (588). Thus many single mothers cannot support themselves and their children adequately. Furthermore, since work is based on the assumption that mothers stay home with children, facilities for day care in this country are still "woefully inadequate." (May 589).

Version C: By and large, our economy

still operates on the mistaken notion that men are the main breadwinners in the family. Thus, women continue to earn lower wages than men. This means, in effect, that many single mothers cannot earn a decent living. Furthermore, adequate day care is not available in the United States because of the mistaken assumption that mothers remain at home with their children.

Version D: Women today still earn less than men —

so much less that many single mothers and their children live near or below the poverty line. Elaine Tyler May argues that this situation stems in part from "the fiction that men earn the family wage" (588). May further suggests that the American workplace still operates on the assumption that mothers with children stay home to care for them (589).

This assumption, in my opinion, does not have the force it once did. More and more businesses offer in-house day-care facilities. . . .

ANSWERS… Plagiarism: In Version A

there is too much direct borrowing of sentence structure and wording. The writer changes some words, drops one phrase, and adds some new language, but the overall text closely resembles May's. Even with a citation, the writer is still plagiarizing because the lack of quotation marks indicates that Version A is a paraphrase, and should thus be in the writer's own language.

Version B -Plagiarism: The writer now cites May, so we're closer to telling the truth about the relationship of our text to the source, but this text continues to borrow too much language.

Plagiarism: Version C shows good paraphrasing of wording and sentence structure, but May's original ideas are not acknowledged. Some of May's points are common knowledge (women earn less than men, many single mothers live in poverty), but May uses this common knowledge to make a specific and original point and her original conception of this idea is not acknowledged.

No Plagiarism: The writer makes use of the common knowledge in May's work, but acknowledges May's original conclusion and does not try to pass it off as his or her own. The quotation is properly cited, as is a later paraphrase of another of May's ideas.