Plagiarism

Learning Enrichment

Plagiarism

• We know that plagiarism is bad because it's like cheating. But what exactly is plagiarism?

• In this presentation, we hope to make clear the definition of plagiarism, identify examples of plagiarism, and use strategies to avoid plagiarism.

Identifying Plagiarism

• In the following slides, we will present you with some scenarios in which you will identify whether or not what the student

Is This Plagiarism?

• You read this sentence in an online article by Mark Crester and decide to use it in your paper:

• "Federal statistics show that 42% of Latinos drop out of high school."

• But your professor says that she wants you to paraphrase rather than quote, so you change it a bit:

• "National statistics demonstrate that 42% of Hispanics drop out of high school."

The Answer is...

• YES

• Changing a few words from the original quote STILL counts as plagiarism!

• Let's look at another example.

Is This Plagiarism?

• You read this sentence in a book (Incredible Science by Jones and Hughes) and decide to use it in your paper:

• "Nikola Tesla invented Alternating Current, or AC Power, in the late 19th century."

• This time, you choose not to paraphrase and instead use the quote in your paper:

• "Nikola Tesla earned a number of prizes because he 'invented Alternating Current, or AC Power, in the late 19th century.'"

The Answer is...

• YES

• Though you used quotation marks around the information you took directly from the source, you didn't give credit to the book or the author.

Is This Plagiarism?

• You find the perfect source through a database (an article by Hector Rodriguez) and decide to use this sentence:

• "Kate Chopin used short stories as a way of comminucating her feminist ideology."

• Here's what you came up with:• "According to Hector Rodriguez, Kate Chopin

revealed her 'feminist ideology' in her short stories."

The Answer is...

• NO

• By giving credit to the author, paraphrasing accurately, and quoting any information you took directly from the source, you've avoided committing plagiarism.

Definition

• According to MLA, plagiarism is "using another person's ideas, information, or expressions" without giving credit to him or her.

Consequences

• Plagiarism can result in a number of things for students:

• Failure on the assignment,

• Expulsion from class, or even...

• Expulsion from school!

• And plagiarism also reflects your institution!

Consequences

• And if you think you can get away with it, think again.

• Your professors have access to a plethora of resources that allow them to locate instances of plagiarism IN LESS THAN 10 SECONDS.

Safe Assign

• Safe Assign is a program designed by Blackboard that allows BOTH students and faculty to compare their own work against other sources online.

• The program looks at phrases and key words in a document and compares them with other phrases and key words in other documents.

• Safe Assign then gives a percentage of how much information matches a selected source AND highlights that information.

Safe Assign

• Do NOT be surprised if the program says you have 7% matching.

• That 7% can be information that you quoted AND cited correctly.