Avoiding PlagiarismWhat is plagiarism?

“The uncredited use (both intentional and unintentional) of somebody else’s words or ideas” (Purdue OWL).

Why it matters to you?“A charge of plagiarism can have severe consequences, including…”

Zero credit for plagiarized answers Zero on assignments, essays, tests, etc. After high school

o Expulsion from college/universityo Loss of jobo Loss of credibility and respect

Obvious forms of plagiarism: Buying, stealing, or borrowing another person’s work Copying an entire paper/article from web Hiring another person to do your work Copying word-for-word without quotation marks or proper

citation

Less than obvious forms of plagiarism: Using the words of a source too closely when paraphrasing

o Fix this by changing the wording or by using quotation marks and proper citation

Building on another’s idea without giving him or her credito Fix this by always giving credit (proper citation)

Modern Language Association (MLA)

In this class, we will use the MLA citation style to cite our work. You will be responsible for an in-text citation any time you quote, paraphrase, or summarize another person’s work. You will only have to worry about a Works Cited page (the bibliographic information) for essays, unless I tell you otherwise.

MLA Headings

Written and Typed Assignments: Place heading in the top, left corner

Format:

Your Name ----------------------------- Your Name Goes HereMrs. Nichols ---------------------------- My Name Goes HereEnglish 3/ (your class period) ---------- English 3/1, 3/2, 3/3, etc.25 August 2015 ------------------------ The day’s date, inverted

In-Text Citation

This is also known as the parenthetical citation. It is the citation you use in the body of your work to cite a direct quotation, summarized information, or paraphrased information. Any information you learn from a source that is not either common knowledge or your own ideas must be cited. The purpose of this is to get you comfortable citing your work because it will be required in your adult life, at both college and work. An in-text citation is not long. It is simply designed to let readers know that you are not claiming credit for the idea. Once you get used to it, it will become second nature for you to give credit to your sources.

We will use Author-page citations. The following is an example.o (Poe 269) o This is the author’s name, followed by the page where the

information was found. Notice there are no commas and periods in the citation.

The following is an example of a quotation from “The Pit and the Pendulum” in your literature books.

o “And then my vision fell upon the seven tall candles upon the table” (Poe 269).

o This is a quotation, followed by an in-text citation. Notice the end punctuation, in this case a period, is not written until after the citation.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu