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A Note on Plagiarism and Citing Sources

When you signed up for this class, you accepted Coursera’s honor code. Part of that honor code

states “My answers to homework, quizzes and exams will be my own work (except for assignments that

explicitly permit collaboration).” We would like to explain in a little more detail what this means. It

means, in short, that you should not plagiarize and that you should always cite your sources. This

applies not only to printed sources, but also to online sources like the Stanford Encyclopedia of

Philosophy and Wikipedia.

Do not plagiarize

Plagiarism is a form of fraud: it is to take someone’s words or thoughts or ideas and portray them as

your own. If a text is plagiarized, it has either been copied word for word from another source, or it has

been rewritten, but only a little bit, and without citing the source. If you wish to include a string of words,

or a sentence or two that someone else has written, you have to use quotation marks. That shows the

reader that the words are not yours, but written by someone else. You also have to tell your reader

what your source is. Similarly, if you use an argument, an idea, or information from someone else you

should tell the reader what your source is. For examples, see below.

Always cite your source!

When you use another author’s words or ideas, you have to tell your reader what the original source

is. Otherwise, the reader will think that the words or ideas are yours. The easiest way to give citation

information about your source is to put it in a footnote, but you can also do it in parentheses in the

text. The important thing is to give readers the name of the author, the book or article, the publisher or

journal title, the publishing year and date. This also goes for online sources! Here are some examples

of plagiarism and of the right way using a source.

Examples

Original Source

This is a direct quote from Peter Singer, Practical Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

2011, page 3:

Traditionally, the more important link between religion and ethics was that religion was

thought to provide a reason for doing what is right, the reason being that those who are

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virtuous will be rewarded by an eternity of bliss while the rest will roast in hell.

Wrong way (1): Word for word plagiarism

In the olden days, religion was thought to provide a reason for doing what is right, as those

who are good would be rewarded by an eternity of bliss while the rest will roast in hell.

Why is this plagiarism? Because the author has copied the idea of the sentence, its structure,

and several phrases, without using quotation marks, or citing the source.

Wrong way (2): Paraphrased plagiarism

In the olden days, religion gave people a reason for how to act right, because those who

behaved virtuously would be sent to Heaven while the rest would roast in hell.

Why is this plagiarism? Because the author has copied the idea of the sentence, its structure,

and several phrases, without using quotation marks, or citing the source.

Correct way (1): Quotation marks and footnote citation

According to Peter Singer, “traditionally, the more important link between religion and

ethics was that religion was thought to provide a reason for doing what is right, the reason

being that those who are virtuous will be rewarded by an eternity of bliss while the rest

will roast in hell.”

Why is this okay? Because the author uses quotation marks, and provides a full citation in a

footnote.

Correct way (2): Complete rewriting and parenthesis citation

Religion, as Peter Singer points out, has provided many people with an important motive for

behaving morally. Those who complied with Christian conventions, for instance, could

assume that their afterlife would be spent in Heaven (Singer 2011, 3).

Why is this okay? Because the author clearly indicates that the argument is Peter Singer’s, both

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Created Mon 10 Mar 2014 2:51 PM VET

Last Modified Thu 13 Mar 2014 9:40 AM VET

Peter Singer, Practial Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011, page 3.

by saying “as Peter Singer points out” and by including a reference at the end of the sentence.

Remember, however, that if you give the reference in a parenthesis like this, you also have to

include the full reference in a bibliography at the end of the essay. Otherwise it will be difficult for

your reader to know what you are citing.

For more information, take a look at Princeton University’s guide to academic integrity:

http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pub/integrity/pages/intro/index.htm

(http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pub/integrity/pages/intro/index.htm)

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