PLAGIARISM LESSONThis was a 5-7 minute lesson conducted in classrooms after the Marauder 5 student created presentation. Its purpose was to review and check for understanding. It also allowed for students to discuss any confusion and

ask questions.

(condensed and adapted from the Mt. Lebanon School District: full lesson can be found on the MMHS website)

PLAGIARISM• Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone

else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.

IS THIS PLAGIARISM?

Jack has an English paper due tomorrow. He read the book and paid attention during class, but he has no idea what to write about.

Jack logs onto the Internet “just to get some ideas about topics for his paper.”

He finds a great idea and begins writing his paper using the topic he found. He is very careful to avoid copying any text or words from the Internet article he found.

Did Jack plagiarize?

JILL’S SITUATION

During history class, Jill is asked to find some background on Fidel Castro’s rise to power.

Jill does a Google search and arrives at Wikipedia’s

article on Fidel Castro. Without using quotation marks, Jill cuts and pastes several sentences from Wikipedia into her assignment.

Did Jill plagiarize?

PLAGIARISM IN OUR CLASS

What does it look like?

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO CITE?ALL STUDENTS RECEIVED HARD-COPY HANDOUT

UNDERSTAND?

TEST CASE ONEWHAT DO YOU THINK?

Daniel isn’t sure if he needs to cite the source of the information below. He found the fact online. “Abraham Lincoln was our 16th president.”

What do you think? What should Daniel do?

NO CITATION NEEDED

Daniel does not need to cite the source or quote the information because it is general knowledge.

Abraham Lincoln’s status as the 16th President of the US is a fact that is verifiable in many places. Therefore, Daniel can use the information without citation.

TEST CASE TWO

In her paper on Affirmative Action, Amanda found one source that explained that Affirmative Action “evens the field of play by forcing equality among all players.”

In her paper, Amanda uses the phrase “forcing equality” but she puts all the other parts of the source into her own words.

What should Amanda do?

CITATION IS NEEDED

Amanda needs to cite the source of the paraphrase because the idea belongs to the source.

Further, because Amanda uses the unique phrase “forcing equality,” she must include that phrase in quotation marks, indicating that it is a direct quotation from the source.

TEST CASE THREE

Kendra found a very helpful article in an online database. She very carefully made sure that she rewrote the content of the article using her own personal style; she changed the author’s syntax and organization so that it fit seamlessly into her paper. What should Kendra do?

CITATION IS NEEDED

Kendra paraphrases the source’s idea and content. She must give credit to the source.

For more information on plagiarism, see the Purdue OWL websiteOr always ask your teacher before you submit.