ACADEMIC DISCOURSEB. Mitsikopoulou

PLAGIARISM AND PARAPHRASING

The use of secondary sources

Why use secondary sources in your text

a)To include in your writing material you have read somewhere (e.g. in a book)

b)To support your own ideas and the points you make in a text

c)To avoid plagiarism

What is plagiarism?

WHY DOCUMENT

TO AVOID PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is using the words or ideas of another writer without giving proper credit. The plagiarist usually intends to pass off his paper as being an original creation when it is not.

Plagiarism as stealing

Plagiarism is a form of stealing. If you copy a sentence, a phrase or an idea and use it in your paper without acknowledging its owner (the author), you are stealing from the author of the source.

Please notice:

Plagiarism refers to borrowing both words and ideas

Forms of Plagiarism

Plagiarism takes many forms

1. Word-for-word copying without using quotation marks or crediting the writer’s source.

2. Using another student’s work but turning it in under your own name.

3. Using a catchy or clever phrase or comment without giving credit.

4. Taking material from a variety of sources and tying it together to make it look original.

DOCUMENTATION

Documentation gives the reader the source of the information you use in your paper. It says to the reader: “Here is where I found this information in case you are interesting in finding out more about this topic”.

WAYS TO AVOID PLAGIARISM

1. PARAPHRASE

2. SUMMARIZE

3. QUOTE

PARAPHRASE

WHY a) Restate an idea using your own words b) Avoid having many different writing styles in your paper

WHAT a) Important idea not well statedb) Material you would like to incorporate in

your text but you cannot quote

WHEN Incorporate material you have read into your paper

HOW By changinga) vocabulary and b) sentence structure  + reference to the source

SUMMARY

WHY Condense a paragraph, a text etc

WHAT a) The gist of a text in one-two sentences (one-sentence summary)b) The main ideas of a text (global summary)c) An aspect of a text you have read (selective summary)

WHEN Recall an idea in a text

HOW By identifying the topic sentence and the main points of a text or an aspect of a text + reference to the source

QUOTE

WHY Transfer the exact words of a text and support a point you make in your paper

WHAT Something brief and well stated (remember: quotations in a text can be up to 10-15% of the total number of words)

WHEN Emphasize a point

HOW By using quotation marks and transferring the exact words of the original text + reference to the source

PARAPHRASE

What is a paraphrase?

DEFINING PARAPHRASING

To paraphrase is to read and understand a piece of source material (which can be of any length) and then to rewrite it in your own words.

How can you rewrite a text in your own words?

(a) using different vocabulary words, and

(b) using different sentence structure

The most important aspect of paraphrase

The ability to relate the borrowed idea to the writer’s purpose

IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF PARAPHRASING

Meaning

The paraphrase must have the same meaning as the source: it should also have the same relationships between main ideas and supporting details.

Length

The length should not vary much from the length of the original.

Style

It should be your own and not an imitation of the source.

HOW TO PARAPHRASE…words

Use different words when possible, usually more common synonyms, expressions and simpler phrases.

Keep specialized vocabulary which has no synonyms (e.g. calcium, plastic, theory), numbers and formulae.

CHANGING VOCABULARY ITEMSCharacter words

Character words are like a writer’s signature, because they carry the style of the original author. Therefore, they must be changed when paraphrasing.

How to identify character words:

They are almost always words of substance – such as nouns, verbs, special adjectives, and unusual adverbs. A character word is one the reader is likely to notice and remember: it is not a common class word such as building or plant but a specific word such as high-rise or philodendron.

RECOGNIZING CHARACTER WORDS

In each of the following set of words, identify one is unusual or one that is noticed and remembered.one, tick, was, and, manbeautiful, cumbersome, interesting, importantcar, automobile, vehicle, conveyanceflower, daisy, blossomwalk, run, amble, movedig, uncover, excavate, workparched, dry, thirstylate, delayed, tardy

HOW TO PARAPHRASE…grammatical structures

The grammatical structure should be changed if this can be done without changing meaning.

Different things you can do:

1.break up long sentences

2.combine short sentences

3.expand phrases for clarity

4.shorten sentences for conciseness

STEPS IN PARAPHRASING

1. Read the source

2. Understand the source

3. Put away the source

4. Make a simple list of the main points you remember from the source

5. Reread the source quickly to make sure you have included all the important points

6. Put away the source again

7. Join the points into appropriate sentence structure

8. Reread your paraphrase, checking the grammar and organization if necessary

A GOOD PARAPHRASE IS

Accurate

the ideas in the paraphrase are the same as in the source

Original

the language used is different from the source

Grammatical

Paraphrase the direct quotation below

Text 1“Terseness of note taking rather than mere quantity seems to be an essential ingredient of effective notetaking” (Dunkel, 1988)

Activity on notetaking

Paraphrase 1

As Dunkel affirmed in 1988 conciseness is the key to a successful notetaking.

“Terseness of note taking rather than mere quantity seems to be an essential ingredient of effective notetaking” (Dunkel, 1988)

Activity on notetaking

Paraphrase 2

Dunkel (1988) argues that an important factor of successful notetaking is not being simple but being brief and concise.

“Terseness of note taking rather than mere quantity seems to be an essential ingredient of effective notetaking” (Dunkel, 1988)

Activity on notetaking

Paraphrase 3

As Dunkel points out, the briefer one’s notes are the better result is achieved.

“Terseness of note taking rather than mere quantity seems to be an essential ingredient of effective notetaking” (Dunkel, 1988)

Activity on notetaking

Paraphrase 4

According to Dunkel (1988) notetaking can only prove useful when it is characterized by accuracy and not quantity.

“Terseness of note taking rather than mere quantity seems to be an essential ingredient of effective notetaking” (Dunkel, 1988)

Activity on notetaking

Paraphrase 5

As Dunkel states writing briefly is the most functional way of taking notes.

“Terseness of note taking rather than mere quantity seems to be an essential ingredient of effective notetaking” (Dunkel, 1988)

Paraphrase the direct quotation below on notetaking

Text 2“Several other researchers have found similar positive relationships between “terseness” of notes and test performance” (Chaudron, Loschky and Cook, 1994)

Now put the two paraphrases together in a brief report. Use a linking expression to connect the two sentences.

“Terseness of note taking rather than mere quantity seems to be an essential ingredient of effective notetaking” (Dunkel, 1988)

“Several other researchers have found similar positive relationships between “terseness” of notes and test performance” (Chaudron, Loschky and Cook, 1994)

Paraphrase the two direct quotations relating to the same topic (teaching of academic discourse)

“In the past, composition and argumentation played a key role in higher education, as the teaching of scientific discourse consisted largely of teaching students about how to compose ideas in writing” (Jones, 1990).

“The process of students moving from school to university studies is currently associated with the acquisition of an increased expertise in the discourse and culture of academia rather than an increased ability to argue in writing” (Brown & Mitchell, 1998).