Today:

Avoiding Plagiarism

This session will help you to understand:

• What plagiarism is and how to avoid it.

Stealing is Wrong

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

• People learn through imitation. How else would a baby learn to talk?

• Writers are always building on the knowledge of the thinkers who have come before them. We study literature to make us better writers.

• Scientific discoveries are never the product of one scientists’ work. Researchers build on the theories of those that came before them.

• “Sampling” another artist’s song is okay, right?

However, stealing is against the law.

What is Plagiarism?

accidental plagiarism

deliberateplagiarism

What is Plagiarism?

accidental plagiarism

Deliberateplagiarism

Forgetting to cite sources once or twice

Buying a paper online

Cutting and pasting from the Internet

Borrowing a fancy word or phrase

Changing someone’s words around before including them in my paper

Checking out the Teacher’s Guide “just to see what I’m supposed to do.”

What are the Teacher Guides for?

• Teacher Guides are for parents to use when they check your work.

• They are not for “getting ideas,” “seeing what I need to do,” checking to make sure I’m on the right track.”

• Your student OLS account should not have the links to the Teacher Guide pages or the Assessment Answers.

• Parents, lock up the Teacher Guides! Too tempting!

I have to show I have read and learned something

I have to write something new and original, to show I have my own ideas, too!

…and…

“But this will be hard!”

I have to make my writing sound formal and academic

I have to use my own words and my own voice!

…and…

“But this will be hard!”

“So what are teachers looking for?”

Teachers need evidence that the information you found went through your

brain before it hit your paper.

How Do I Avoid Plagiarism?

1. Take notes in your own words.

2.Tell the reader where you found your information.

3.Never, ever copy and paste from the internet.

4.Keep the teacher guides locked up.

Practice

Probably the most painful time of Walt's private life, was the accidental death of his mother in 1938. After the great success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt and Roy bought their parents, Elias and Flora Disney, a home close to the studios. Less than a month later Flora died of asphyxiation caused by a faulty furnace in the new home. The terrible guilt of this haunted Walt for the rest of his life. http://www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/biography/long_bio.html

Telling Where You Found Information.

• In-text citations are easy!

• Goes in parentheses after the fact or quotation

• Includes author’s last name and page number where you found the fact.

• If it is a website, you can put the web address in parentheses.

What Should I Cite?Need to Document • When you are using or referring to

somebody else’s words or ideas from a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, Web page, computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other medium

• When you use information gained through interviewing another person

• When you copy the exact words or a "unique phrase" from somewhere

• When you reprint any diagrams, illustrations, charts, and pictures

• When you use ideas that others have given you in conversations or over email

No Need to Document • When you are writing your own

experiences, your own observations, your own insights, your own thoughts, your own conclusions about a subject

• When you are using "common knowledge" — folklore, common sense observations, shared information that “everybody” knows

• When you are compiling generally accepted facts

• When you are writing up your own experimental results

Quiz Time!

1. Read the source text.

2. Read what the Lazy Linda and Honest Andy wrote.

3. Decide if the student has plagiarized or not.

4. Explain where the plagiarism occurs.

Plagiarism: Pass or Fail?

The Book Said:

The rise of industry, the growth of cities, and the expansion of the population were the three great developments of late nineteenth century American history. As new, larger, steam-powered factories became a feature of the American landscape in the East, they transformed farm hands into industrial laborers, and provided jobs for a rising tide of immigrants. With industry came urbanization, the growth of large cities (like Fall River, Massachusetts, where the Bordens lived), which became the centers of production as well as of commerce and trade.

The Student Wrote:

The increase of industry, the growth of cities, and the explosion of the population were three large factors of nineteenth century America. As steam-driven companies became more visible in the eastern part of the country, they changed farm hands into factory workers and provided jobs for the large wave of immigrants. With industry came the growth of large cities like Fall River where the Bordens lived, which turned into centers of commerce and trade as well as production.

From the book Lizzie Borden: A Case Book of Family and Crime in the 1890s by Joyce Williams et al as cited on http://www.nlc.bc.ca/library/citing/avoiding2.htm

Plagiarism: Pass or Fail?

The Book Said:

The rise of industry, the growth of cities, and the expansion of the population were the three great developments of late nineteenth century American history. As new, larger, steam-powered factories became a feature of the American landscape in the East, they transformed farm hands into industrial laborers, and provided jobs for a rising tide of immigrants. With industry came urbanization, the growth of large cities (like Fall River, Massachusetts, where the Bordens lived), which became the centers of production as well as of commerce and trade.

The Student Wrote:

The increase of industry, the growth of cities, and the explosion of the population were three large factors of nineteenth century America. As steam-driven companies became more visible in the eastern part of the country, they changed farm hands into factory workers and provided jobs for the large wave of immigrants. With industry came the growth of large cities like Fall River where the Bordens lived, which turned into centers of commerce and trade as well as production.

FSloppy paraphrase: Linda just changed a few words. The sentences are not her own.

Plagiarism: Pass or Fail?

The Book Said:

The rise of industry, the growth of cities, and the expansion of the population were the three great developments of late nineteenth century American history. As new, larger, steam-powered factories became a feature of the American landscape in the East, they transformed farm hands into industrial laborers, and provided jobs for a rising tide of immigrants. With industry came urbanization, the growth of large cities (like Fall River, Massachusetts, where the Bordens lived), which became the centers of production as well as of commerce and trade.

The Student Wrote:

Fall River, where the Borden family lived, was typical of northeastern industrial cities of the nineteenth century. Steam-powered production had shifted labor from agriculture to manufacturing, and as immigrants arrived in the US, they found work in these new factories. As a result, populations grew, and large urban areas arose. Fall River was one of these manufacturing and commercial centers (Williams et al. 1).

Plagiarism: Pass or Fail?

The Book Said:

The rise of industry, the growth of cities, and the expansion of the population were the three great developments of late nineteenth century American history. As new, larger, steam-powered factories became a feature of the American landscape in the East, they transformed farm hands into industrial laborers, and provided jobs for a rising tide of immigrants. With industry came urbanization, the growth of large cities (like Fall River, Massachusetts, where the Bordens lived), which became the centers of production as well as of commerce and trade.

The Student Wrote:

Fall River, where the Borden family lived, was typical of northeastern industrial cities of the nineteenth century. Steam-powered production had shifted labor from agriculture to manufacturing, and as immigrants arrived in the US, they found work in these new factories. As a result, populations grew, and large urban areas arose. Fall River was one of these manufacturing and commercial centers (Williams et al. 1).

Andy took notes in his own words, then wrote sentences from his notes. Most important, he cited his source.

Plagiarism: Pass or Fail?

The Book Said:

John Brown was born into a deeply religious family in Torrington, Connecticut, in 1800. Led by a father who was vehemently opposed to slavery, the family moved to northern Ohio when John was five, to a district that would become known for its antislavery views.

The Student Wrote: John Brown grew up listening to his father say that slavery was very wrong. As a child, he lived in northern Ohio, where many abolitionists were speaking out, not just his father.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1550.html

Plagiarism: Pass or Fail?

The Book Said:

John Brown was born into a deeply religious family in Torrington, Connecticut, in 1800. Led by a father who was vehemently opposed to slavery, the family moved to northern Ohio when John was five, to a district that would become known for its antislavery views.

The Student Wrote: John Brown grew up listening to his father say that slavery was very wrong. As a child, he lived in northern Ohio, where many abolitionists were speaking out, not just his father.

Andy did a good job paraphrasing.

Plagiarism: Pass or Fail?

The Book Said:

She's a lovely lady who's turning 55 this year, but doesn't look a day over 20. She's an enduring icon of romance and enchantment. And she speaks to the dreamer in us all. She's Cinderella, possibly the best-loved of Disney's screen princesses.

The Student Wrote:

The screen princess Cinderella turns 55 this year!

http://www.justdisney.com/

Plagiarism: Pass or Fail?

The Book Said:

She's a lovely lady who's turning 55 this year, but doesn't look a day over 20. She's an enduring icon of romance and enchantment. And she speaks to the dreamer in us all. She's Cinderella, possibly the best-loved of Disney's screen princesses.

The Student Wrote:

The screen princessscreen princess Cinderella turns 55 this year!

FFlunktown! Linda lifted a unique phrase without giving the original author credit.

Plagiarizing Has Consequences.

Blair Hornstine was a Moorestown, NJ high school senior who won admission to Harvard University in 2003.

During her high school career, she had published several articles in "Static," the teen section of the local paper, The Courier-Post. When it came to light that she had plagiarized in some of her articles, Harvard decided to withdraw the offer of admission.

http://www.nbc10.com/news/2326344/detail.html

Plagiarizing Has Consequences.

Jayson Blair was a reporter for The New York Times from 1998 to 2003.

He stole phrases and facts from other journalist’s articles. He also just made up parts of some articles. When the plagiarism was discovered, he was fired. The scandal led to the resignation of executive editor and the managing editor of the paper.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/06/05/nytimes.resigns/

Exit Ticket