PlagiarismWhy we’re watching you…

A Writing Center Presentation

Definitions of Plagiarism• The act of appropriating the literary

composition of another author, or excerpts, ideas, or passages therefrom, and passing the material off as one's own creation.

• Copying someone else's work and then passing it off as one's own.

• A form of cheating by means of the unacknowledged, literal reproduction of ideas and material of other persons in the guise of new and original work.

• The theft of ideas or of written passages or works, where these are passed off as one’s own work without acknowledgement of their true origin.

• Failure to give the source of a quotation or paraphrase in which the language, thoughts, or ideas of another person are used as one's own.

Why is Everyone so Concerned?

Plagiarism is EASY! With the use of the Internet in classrooms, work offices and homes, nothing is protected. Wrong. Everything you write is inherently protected as your personally copyrighted material. If you create the original, it’s yours.

Unfortunately, the world isn’t as nice as we’d like it to be and plagiarism is running rampant. “Copy and paste” is simpler than creating an original.

Look at the Data…

• A study by The Center for Academic Integrity found that almost 80% of college students admit to cheating at least once.

• According to a survey by the Psychological Record 36% of undergraduates have admitted to plagiarizing written material.

• A poll conducted by US News and World Reports found that 90% of students believe that cheaters are either never caught or have never been appropriately disciplined.

• A national survey published in Education Week found that 54% of students admitted to plagiarizing from the Internet.

Exploring the Temptation

Instructors tend to offer seemingly contradictory information…

Show you’ve done the research

Write somethingoriginal

Improve yourEnglish by mimicking

what you hearand read

Use your ownwords to express

your thoughts

BUT…

BUT…

Riding the FenceThe following might be considered plagiarism

Common KnowledgeIf something is common knowledge then you

don’t have to cite the information…but how do you know if it’s common knowledge?

The Common Knowledge ChecklistIs the same information also mentioned

without citations in at least 5 other sources?

Is it information your readers will already know?

Could the information be easily found in a general reference?

Resources

• Plagiarism.org• Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue Uni

versity• Georgetown University Honor Code

Check out the following resources on Plagiarism for additional information:

Videos

• http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/how-to-avoid-plagiarism-when-to-cite-sources.html

• http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/how-to-use-reference-material-in-your-writing.html

Still Unsure?

Go to the

Writing Center!

For additional information, contact Kim James, Director

of the Writing Resource Center (

jamesk@rowancabarrus.edu

)