Plagiarism

In this ILS session you will …• Read about examples of plagiarism and the

consequences in the real world.

• Learn more about plagiarism:– What plagiarism is and how one can avoid it– When to cite your sources– How to cite your sources

• Take a quiz to verify your understanding.

• Pledge that you will avoid plagiarism.

I didn’t realise. I didn’t copy and paste it entirely.

Why do students plagiarize?Here are some excuses…

Why does it matter? My (pick one of the following)

teacher/parent/guardian doesn’t care if I do it.

Everybody else does it. Why not me, too?

The assignment was dumb/boring/too hard/too easy/etc., so why should I put my effort into it?

I didn’t realise. I didn’t copy and paste it entirely.

Why do students plagiarize?Here are some excuses…

Why does it matter? My (pick one of the following) teacher/parent/guardian

doesn’t care if I do it.

I didn’t understand the assignment

and I needed some help.

I didn’t know that I had to

cite my sources.

Everybody else does it. Why not me, too?

The assignment was dumb/boring/too hard/too easy/etc., so why should I put my effort into it?

Why do students plagiarize?Here are some excuses…

Why does it matter? My (pick one of the following) teacher/parent/guardian

doesn’t care if I do it.

I had to. I need to have good grades.

I didn’t have the time to do the work on my own. I had work/rehearsal/practice/etc.

I didn’t understand the assignment

and I needed some help.

I didn’t know that I had to

cite my sources.

Everybody else does it. Why not me, too?

The assignment was dumb/boring/too hard/too easy/etc., so why should I put my effort into it?

Why do students plagiarize?Here are some excuses…

Why does it matter? My (pick one of the following) teacher/parent/guardian

doesn’t care if I do it.

I had to. I need to have good grades.

I didn’t have the time to do the work on my own. I had work/rehearsal/practice/etc.

Have you heard anyof those before?

I didn’t understand the assignment

and I needed some help.

I didn’t know that I had to

cite my sources.

Everybody else does it. Why not me, too?

The assignment was dumb/boring/too hard/too easy/etc., so why should I put my effort into it?

But those excuses don’t cut it…

There is no acceptable excuse for plagiarism.

Plagiarism is cheating(and it will be treated as such if it is found in your work).

Look at these real life examples…

Real Life Plagiarism ScandalsDoris Kearns Goodwin, a Pulitzer Prize winning historian, was forced to step down from the Pulitzer board after she was found to have accidentally used someone else’s words in one of her books.

Hostetter, Janet. 6 Apr 2006. Associated Press Images. 5 Aug 2008. <http://apimages.ap.org>

Kirpatrick, David D. “Author Goodwin Resigns from Pulitzer Board.” New York Times. (1 June 2002.) 5 Aug. 2008. <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E7D7143AF932A35755C0A9649C8B63>.

Real Life Plagiarism Scandals

After being accused of rampant plagiarism in her work, tenured professor Madonna G. Constantine was fired from her position at Columbia University.

Bondafeff, Dian. 10 Oct. 2007. Associated Press Images. 5 Aug 2008. <http://apimages.ap.org>.

Santora, Marc. “Columbia Professor in Noose Case Is Fired on Plagiarism Charges.” New York Times. (24 June 2008.) 5 Aug. 2008. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/nyregion/24columbia.html?scp=1&sq=Madonna%20Constantine%20&st=cse>.

Real Life Plagiarism ScandalsAs a reporter for the New York Times, Jayson Blair plagiarized or fabricated in more than 40 stories between 2002 and 2005. He was fired from his job. The top two editors of the newspaper resigned as a result of the scandal.

“Correcting the Record.” New York Times. 11 May 2003. The New York Times. 5 Aug 2008. <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403E1DB123FF932A25756C0A9659C8B63>

Image: Szymaszek, Jennifer. 12 May 2004. Associated Press Images. 5 Aug 2008. <http:// apimages.ap.org>

Real Life Plagiarism ScandalsBlair Hornstein was the valedictorian of her high school class and had earned admission to Harvard University. After articles Hornstein wrote for a local newspaper were discovered to have been plagiarized, Harvard University withdrew their acceptance.

Capuzzo, Jill P. “MOORESTOWN JOURNAL; Seeing Crimson.” New York Times. (20 July 2003.) 5 Aug. 2008. <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E00E6D61E3CF933A15754C0A9659C8B63&scp=4&sq=Blair%20Hornstein%20&st=cse>.

“Blair Hornstein.” The Gothamist. 14 July 2003. 5 Aug. 2008. <http://gothamist.com/2003/07/14/gothamist.php>.

If you have …• Included the words and ideas of others in your

work that you have neglected to cite…

• OR

• Had help that you wouldn’t want your teacher to know about …

YOU HAVE PROBABLY

PLAGIARIZED

Two types of plagiarism

• INTENTIONAL • Copying a friends work, • Buying or borrowing

papers, • Cutting and pasting

blocks of information, • Media borrowing

without documentation, • Web publishing

• UNINTENTIONAL • Careless paraphrasing,

• Poor documentation,

• Quoting excessively,

• Failure to use your own voice

How to Avoid Plagiarism

• Cite the source of any idea or words you take from anyone else.

• Carefully mark the beginning and end of the source’s words or idea.

• Provide a bibliography to show where the borrowed material originated.

Let’s look at some hypothetical situations.

For each, determine if the student plagiarized or did not.

Click on the arrow to move to the next page.

Jack’s SituationJack has an English paper due tomorrow. He read the

book and paid attention during class, but he has no idea what to write about.

Jack logs onto the Internet “just to get some ideas about topics for his paper.”

He finds a great idea and begins writing his paper using the topic he found. He is very careful to avoid copying any text or words from the Internet article he found.

Is this plagiarism? Yes No

You must choose from the blue buttons at the bottom of the page.

Read the situation and then choose one of the options presented.

Click here to return to previous slide

You said…Jack did plagiarize.

You are right. Jack’s actions constitute plagiarism.– Jack is committing plagiarism by taking the ideas

of the source without citing them in the paper.– Even though he put the ideas in his own words,

Jack is stealing the intellectual property of the source.

You are wrong. Jack’s actions constitute plagiarism.– Jack is committing plagiarism by taking the ideas of the

source without citing them in the paper.– Even though he put the ideas in his own words, Jack is

stealing the intellectual property of the source. You are wrong. Jack’s actions constitute plagiarism.

– He could avoid plagiarism if he cites the source of the ideas in his paper.

You said…Jack did not plagiarize.

Test Case #1

Jack isn’t sure if he needs to cite the source of the information below. He found the fact online.

“Abraham Lincoln was our 16th president.”

What do you think? What should Jack do? Pick one of the answers below.

Cite the source.This means he will:(1) Either:

a) Surround with quotation marks, orb) Put the quotation into his own words,

changing the syntax, structure, & organization

You must choose one of the buttons at the bottom of the p...(2) Include a lead-in giving the source’s name,

(3) Give the page number, and

(4) List the source in a bibliography

Do not cite thesource.This means that the information is a commonly reported fact. It is generally known and available from many sources.

(1) Jack should verify the information in at least two sources, then

(2) Jack will write the well-knowninformation in his own words.

You must choose one of the buttons at the bottom of the page.

Read the situation and then choose one of the options presented.

Click here to return to previous slide

You are incorrect.In this case,

citation is not necessary.

• Jack does not need to cite the source or quote the information because it is general knowledge.

• Abraham Lincoln’s status as the 16th President of the US is a fact that is verifiable in many places. Therefore, Jack can use the information without citation.

You are correct!Jack does not need to cite this information.

• Jack does not need to cite the source or quote the information because it is general knowledge.

• Abraham Lincoln’s status as the 16th President of the US is a fact that is verifiable in many places. Therefore, Jack can use the information without citation.

So, to review…• Plagiarism is a serious offense. Not only does

it carry heavy penalties, but your integrity is damaged when you plagiarize.

• Plagiarism is easily avoidable—just cite the sources when you use the words or ideas of another person.

• If you have any questions, see your teacher or school librarian!

Final Directions:

• Your teacher has a written quiz for you to take on the subject of plagiarism.

• At the end of the quiz is an honor code statement. You will sign it in order to verify that you have receive this training.

Sources ConsultedDeSena, Laura Hennessey. Preventing Plagiarism: Tips and

Techniques. National Council of Teachers of English: Urbana, IL, 2007.

Harris, Robert A. The Plagiarism Handbook: Strategies for Preventing, Detecting, and Dealing with Plagiarism. Pyrczak Publishing: Los Angeles, 2001.

Valenza, Joyce Kasman. “What is Plagiarism? (And Why You Should Care).” Springfield High School Media Center Information Literacy Lessons. Springfield School District.