avoiding plagiarism

Avoiding Plagiarism

Tabitha Kidwell, M.A, English Language Fellow

Adapted from Mrs. McGowan, Teacher-Librarian (2011)

Adapted from Ms. E. Hansen, QE (2006)

Adapted from Ms. M. Mirka, Centennial (2004)

Do you know…

• What is plagiarism?

• What is successful research?

• How do we give credit to sources?

• How does plagiarism affect you?

Getting Started…

• What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism means using another’s

work without giving them credit and

saying that it is your own

From: Mirka, 2004, The Plagiarism Trap. Powerpoint Presentation

Examples of Plagiarism…• Copying and pasting text from

online encyclopedias

• Copying and pasting text from any web site

• Using photographs, video or audio without permission or acknowledgement

• Using another student’s or your parents’ work and claiming it as your own even with permission

• Using your own work without properly citing it!

From: Mirka, 2004, The Plagiarism Trap. Powerpoint Presentation

More Examples of Plagiarism…• Quoting a source without using

quotation marks-even if you do cite it

• Citing sources you didn’t use

• Getting a research paper, story, poem, or article off the Internet

• Turning in the same paper for more than one class without the permission of both teachers (this is called self-plagiarism)

• Can you think of more?

From: Mirka, 2004, The Plagiarism Trap. Powerpoint Presentation

Source: http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/000811.php

For Better or For Worse – Lynn Johnston

Source: http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/000809.php

Source: http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/000810.php

H:\\samcgowan\Plagiarism&Citations.ppt

Skills for Successful Research• Summarizing: The ability to reduce

the main idea and concepts of a text in a couple of sentences using your own words. Usually shorter than the original text.

• Paraphrasing: Restating another’s ideas in your own words and sentence structure. Simple substituting synonyms but keeping the same sentence is not paraphrasing. Usually about the same length as the original text.

• Documenting Sources: Giving credit to people whose ideas you summarize, paraphrase, and quote.

From: Hill, 2011, Methodology for English Language Teaching

How to Avoid Plagiarism…

• Use your own words and ideas

• Take very good notes--write down the source (your original text) as you are taking notes. Do not wait until later to try and retrieve the original source. You will forget!

• If you use someone’s exact words - put them in quotes and give credit. Include the source in your references

From: Mirka, 2004, The Plagiarism Trap. Powerpoint Presentation

How to Avoid Plagiarism…• If you have paraphrased or

summarized someone’s work, always give credit

• Avoid using someone else’s work with minor “cosmetic” changes

• Always give credit to the source where you have received your information

From: Mirka, 2004, The Plagiarism Trap. Powerpoint Presentation

Getting Started…• What is a Citation?

– Telling where information came from.

• Example: “There are 7 different types of intelligence (Gardner, 1993).”

• An In-Text Citation?

– Direct citations and quotations tight in the sentence or paragraph

• Example: “Gardner, in his 1993 book Multiple Intelligences, says that there are 7 different types of intelligence.”

• Both are good ways to give credit to the original author!

Practice: Is this correct?

• Last summer, my family and I traveled to Yogyakarta, which was quite different from the rural area I grew up in. We saw Borobudur Temple and walked down Jl. Malioboro.

Practice: Is this correct?

• Indonesians believe in the one and only God, just and civilized humanity, the unity of Indonesia, democracy guided by the inner wisdom in the unanimity arising out of deliberations amongst representatives, and social justice for the all of the people of Indonesia.

Practice: Is this correct?

• I find it ridiculous that 57% of university students think their teachers assign too much homework.

Practice: Is this correct?Komodo passes 100m votes in New7Wonders

contestAs of Monday morning, more than 100 million text messages had been sent to vote for Komodo Island to become one of the New7Wonders of the world, P2 Komodo, a team campaigning for the island, says.“On Sunday alone 14.3 million SMS came in. As of Monday morning there has been more than 100 million SMS to support [komodo], but, we cannot state the exact figure because that is against the rules,” P2 Komodo chief Emmy Hafidz said Monday in Kupang.On Monday evening the figure may have exceeded 110 million, Emmy said, adding that it needed 120 million votes.“For those sending more than 100 text messages, you can register to be added to the Komodo Monument as witnesses of history,” Emmy added, as quoted by Antara.She said the New7Wonders Foundation, the organizer of the New7Wonders contest, was expecting a total of 1 billion SMS votes for 28 finalists from various countries.Emmy added that people wanting to support Komodo can send a text message that reads “Komodo” to 9818, for only Rp 1 per SMS.

The Jakarta Post, retrieved Mon, 10/31/2011 from <http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/10/31/komodo-passes-100m-votes-new7wonders-contest.html>

Practice: Is this correct?

• My friend Kara told me that she loves living so close to the ocean.

Practice: Is this correct?

• Martin Luther King wrote that the city of Birmingham's "white power structure" left African-Americans there "no alternative" but to demonstrate ("Letter from the Birmingham Jail" para. 5).

Reference Lists• What is a reference list (or

bibliography, works cited, resource page, etc.)?– A list at the end of a paper that

provides the full information necessary to find each source.

– References should be alphabetically listed by author’s last name at the end of the paper or presentation.

Sound Confusing? Don’t Worry!

• There are websites that can help you do this:– www.easybib.com– www.citationmachine.com

• Don’t worry about MLA, APA, or Chicago style.

• Unless your teacher tells you to use a specific one, any of them are fine.

References

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of

the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington,

DC: Author.

APA Style.Org (2005). Electronic references: Citations in text of

electronic material. Retrieved from

http://www.apastyle.org/electext.html

Calgary Board of Education. (2000). References and citations in text:

Formats for student research. Retrieved from

http://www.cbe.ab.ca/sss/ssspdf/ref-citations-05-00.pdfi

Hill, J. (2011). Methodology for English Language Teaching. Personal

Communication.

Special Consideration: The INTERNET

• Be careful when you use the internet! It changes all the time! You don’t know who wrote it!

SO…

• You should keep a copy (either paper or electronic) of the website used.

• Internet sites must be evaluated very carefully for reliability, as all sources are not authoritative or trustworthy. Who wrote it? What’s the source? Contact

info? Is the info accurate? Appropriate?

Reliable? When was the information last updated?

Choosing Internet Sources

• What is a bad internet source?– References, like Wikipedia,

Google, and Yahoo – Online dictionaries or

encyclopedias

• These are good starts to your research.

• They don’t belong on your reference page!

Choosing Internet Sources

• What is a good internet source?– Online journals and articles.

• These can be found on databases (like ERIC) and through special search engines (like Google Scholar).

• Look for peer reviewed articles – they are reliable and accurate.

http://gladstone.vsb.bc.ca/library/cheating/

How does plagiarism affect you??WHAT happens if you

plagiarize?

• In junior/senior high school?

• In post-secondary?

• In society?

Thank You!

You are welcome to ask the staff of the American Corner

if you need any help.

The End.