Plagiarism: Don’t Do It!

An interactive guide to understanding and avoiding plagiarism

What’s this all about? What’s the big deal?

This presentation is designed to provide the most basic information about avoiding plagiarism.

It might not necessarily help you write a great research paper.

But it will assist you in presenting your research sources accurately.

What do you think constitutes plagiarism?

Did you learn about plagiarism in high school?

Take a few moments to organize your thoughts and memories.

Discuss your examples with your group.

We’ll wait.

PLAGIARISM:CSB/SJU Policy States that Plagiarism is the act of appropriating and using the

ideas, writings, or other expressions of another as one’s own without giving proper credit to the originator of the work.

In its most egregious form, plagiarism is an act of willful dishonesty intended to deceive the audience.

Even when the plagiarism is due simply to careless, ignorant, or inadequate citations, it still disrespects the work of its original author or creator.

Name as many examples of things that might be plagiarized as you can.

Did you come up with any of the following?

Copyrighted Material Written works, printed or electronic,

including books, articles, journals Speeches, either live, recorded, or in print

form Data in any format Illustrations including art, charts, tables, and

graphs Media including audio and video Musical compositions

Plagiarism may encompass portions of a work or an entire work.

Be informed! Know the plagiarism policy!

http://www.csbsju.edu/catalog/2007_2009/programs/rights/002.htm

Your instructor will email to you all web sites included in this presentation.

Why is Plagiarism wrong?

What’s wrong with plagiarism? Why the big deal?

Take a few moments to make a list of reasons why plagiarism might be wrong.

Share them with your group. We’ll wait.

Did any of these reasons make your list?

Plagiarism is stealing Plagiarism is cheating Plagiarism is disrespectful of the ideas of

others Plagiarism is sloppy academic work Plagiarism displays a lack of original thought Plagiarism does not lead to learning Plagiarism displays a lack of academic

integrity

Dishonesty! The CSB/SJU Plagiarism Policy States

“Plagiarism is an act of dishonesty that violates the mission and spirit of the educational enterprise at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University.”

What does this mean to you? Take a few moments to discuss this with

your group. We’ll wait.

What should happen to you if What should happen to you if you plagiarize? you plagiarize?

Take a few moments to list some Take a few moments to list some consequences. consequences.

Share them with your group. Share them with your group. We’ll wait.We’ll wait.

The Price of Plagiarism$$$

For first-time offenders the price of plagiarism varies with the severity of the theft from…

Correction of the assignment to Failure of the assignment to Failure of the course!

Repeat Plagiarists

Repeat offenders face the possibility of Suspension (removal from school for

the semester with the possibility of returning)

Expulsion (removal from school without the possibility of return)

Be informed! Know the plagiarism policy!

http://www.csbsju.edu/catalog/2007_2009/programs/rights/002.htm

The Art and Science of Avoiding Plagiarism: Part One--Citation

Citation is the process of letting your reader know if the content you use was written by you or by someone else.

Proper citation is the key to avoiding plagiarism.

The CSB/SJU Library maintains a site to help you cite!

http://www.csbsju.edu/library/help/citing.htm When in doubt: Cite!

Style--Style---Style---Style

There are many styles or formats of citation available which are often discipline-specific.

Your professor will probably suggest or require a specific style guide to use in this class.

Style Guides

Several popular and readily available examples of style guides include the following:

MLA: Modern Language Association (Humanities)

APA: American Psychological Association (sciences & social sciences)

Kate Turabian

Chicago Manual of Style

Multiple-Use Handbooks

Standard English handbooks usually provide information about several styles. The Bedford Handbook, for example, includes citation procedures for disciplines from A to Z (well—from Biology to Social Work anyway).

The following are examples of multi-purpose manuals

The Bedford Handbook

Little, Brown

Simon & Schuster

Allyn and Bacon

CSB/SJU Library

The CSB/SJU Library maintains a web page devoted to citation styles which may be found at

http://www.csbsju.edu/library/help/citing.htm

An Easy Assignment

An electronic source to assist you may be found at the CSB/SJU library citation reference site: http://www.csbsju.edu/library/help/refworks.htm

Sign up for a RefWorks account while you are there.

Complete the RefWorks tutorial. You’ll be glad you did!

Time to try this out!

The next slide contains some original source material followed by several examples of citation styles.

Feel free to go back to the original example if you need to.

Here is a quote—it’s a little long, but let’s try it anyway:

“Coldplay didn't seem destined for bigness. Their 2000 debut, Parachutes, was full of drizzly but pretty rock ballads that were almost memorable enough to prevent American listeners from confusing the band with Travis. Of course, that album also included a huge, soaring song called ‘Yellow,’ which may well be inspiring a drunken singalong in your local bar as you read this.”

The Source of this Material:

This quote, a review of a new CD recording, comes from the June 7 edition of Rolling Stone Magazine, written by Kelefa Sanneh and found on the Rolling Stone web site at http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/7372421/review/7373521?utm_source=Rhapsody&utm_medium=CDreview

Here is the first paragraph cited in MLA style:

“Coldplay didn't seem destined for bigness. Their 2000 debut, Parachutes, was full of drizzly but pretty rock ballads that were almost memorable enough to prevent American listeners from confusing the band with Travis. Of course, that album also included a huge, soaring song called ‘Yellow,’ which may well be inspiring a drunken singalong in your local bar as you read this.”

In MLA, the citation looks like this: Kelefa, Sanneh.  Rev. “X & Y” by Coldplay.  Rolling Stone 7 June

2005.  12 July 2005. <http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/7372421/review/7373521?utm_source=Rhapsody&utm_medium=CDreview>.

Here it is in APA style:

“Coldplay didn't seem destined for bigness. Their 2000 debut, Parachutes, was full of drizzly but pretty rock ballads that were almost memorable enough to prevent American listeners from confusing the band with Travis. Of course, that album also included a huge, soaring song called ‘Yellow,’ which may well be inspiring a drunken singalong in your local bar as you read this.”

An APA citation looks like this: Kelefa, S.  (2005, June 7).  Coldplay: X & Y  [Review of the

CD].  Retrieved July 12, 2005, from http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/7372421/review/7373521?utm_source=Rhapsody&utm_medium=CDreview

The Art and Science of Avoiding Plagiarism: Part Two--Paraphrase

Paraphrase: The art of restating in your own words the words of another.

Always remember that when you paraphrase, the original source of the Paraphrase must still be cited!

Here’s the first paragraph again. Read it carefully.

“Coldplay didn't seem destined for bigness. Their 2000 debut, Parachutes, was full of drizzly but pretty rock ballads that were almost memorable enough to prevent American listeners from confusing the band with Travis. Of course, that album also included a huge, soaring song called ‘Yellow,’ which may well be inspiring a drunken

singalong in your local bar as you read this.”

A Paraphrase Might Look Like This:

When Coldplay first arrived on the music scene, it seemed they were just another band; popular but nothing special. Their first album was a collection of typical post-alternative pabulum surrounding a single selection, Yellow, which has inspired many a drunken rendition with the juke box late into the evening.

A Chicago citation looks like this: Kelefa, S.  (2005, June 7).  Coldplay: X & Y  [Review of the

CD].  Retrieved July 12, 2005, from http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/7372421/review/7373521?utm_source=Rhapsody&utm_medium=CDreview

What do You Think? Was it a Good Paraphrase or Bad?

Did the paraphrase retain the spirit and meaning of the quote?

Did the paraphrase contain any exact words or phrases from the original?

Note that the content still required a citation!

Why is this a bad paraphrase?(Feel free to read the original again)

British rock band, Coldplay, did not seem destined for greatness. Parachutes, their 2000 debut recording, was full of pretty rock ballads which hardly kept American fans from confusing the band with another British rock band. Parachutes also included a song called Yellow which has inspired drunken sing-alongs in many bars since its release.

It is a bad paraphrase because

It’s

Plagiarism!

Why is it Plagiarism?

“Destined for greatness” “Pretty rock ballads” “Inspired drunken sing-alongs” “Kept American listeners from

confusing. . .” And. . .It is not cited!!!

Let’s Try Again

Here is the second paragraph from the same article: “’Yellow’ was a smash, but what came next was even

smashier. In 2002, Coldplay released A Rush of Blood to the Head, which perfectly captured the heady feeling of a small band acting big. The band's sad-sack frontman, Chris Martin, transformed himself with so much swagger and so many hooks that even 50 Cent had to pay tribute, turning Martin's ambivalent lyric into a greasy boast: ‘God gave me style, God gave me grace.’ The rest of the band supplied Martin with propulsive rhythms, giving their newly pushy leader something to pull against, and the songs were even better; the band had mastered the art of writing graceful ballads that were both deceptively simple and fiendishly hard to dislodge from the human brain.”

Here is a Paraphrase of the Paragraph:

Coldplay released A Rush of Blood to the Head in 2002 which nicely captured the heady feeling of a small band acting large. The rest of the band behind sad-sack, swaggering front man Chris Martin, supplies propulsive rhythms which give their pushy leader something against which to pull. The band has mastered the art of writing ballads that are graceful and are both deceptively simple and difficult to dislodge from the mind.

Still Plagiarism? Absolutely!

This paraphrase is plagiarism because: The order of the text is altered--but

with no new material added. The attempt at paraphrasing is poor as

it uses simple synonyms rather than restatement.

It shows signs of patch writing (a cut and paste job with no new material).

Be Informed!

Know the plagiarism policy! http://www.csbsju.edu/catalog/

2007_2009/programs/rights/002.htm

Another Assignment:(You knew there would be one)

Visit the following web site, view the material, and complete the “You be the judge” quiz at the end of the presentation (which we included with permission from Ramona Islam, author and creator of the web page).

http://www.fairfield.edu/media/flash/library/lib_plagicourt.swf

Did you Catch All of That?

This presentation is available on the CSB/SJU Library web site, the Writing Center web site, and in the First Year Symposium public folder.

Review of Assignments:

Complete the “You be the judge” quiz in the court of plagiarism.

Explore the CSB/SJU library site. Set up a RefWorks account.

Be Informed!!

(You know the rest!)