Documenting Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism

Transcription

1 Documenting Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism A. What is Plagiarism? Plagiarism is using the words, the ideas, or the arrangement or organization of ideas from a source without doing all of the following: indicating that the material is from a source, telling where the borrowed material comes from, providing proper, accurate documentation of the source. Examples of plagiarism Presenting as your own the ideas or writing of someone else, whether or not the source has been published. Using the sequence of ideas or pattern of organization in a source without acknowledging that source. Failing to put another person's words inside quotation marks or into block quotation format, even if the omission was not intentional. Including in your paper passages that have been rewritten by someone other than yourself. No one tutor, friend, family member, or anyone else can do extensive correction or revision of your paper for you. Someone, such as a tutor, may coach you through the revision process in order to teach you how to revise on your own, but that person must not do your work for you. Turning in as your own a paper you have bought, found, or otherwise received from anyone, with or without paying for it. Having bought a paper does not mean that you can turn it in as your own work. Turning in a paper that you have already submitted for another class without getting permission from the current instructor beforehand. North Lake College Writing Center 1 Spring 2010

2 B. What Are the Consequences of Plagiarism? According to the DCCCD Student Code of Conduct (published online in the Catalog), plagiarism is a type of scholastic dishonesty. It may result in a failing grade for the paper and/or the course and possible expulsion from school. 11. Scholastic dishonesty shall constitute a violation of these rules and regulations and is punishable as prescribed by Board policies. Scholastic dishonesty shall include, but not be limited to, cheating on a test, plagiarism, and collusion.... Plagiarism shall be defined as the appropriating, buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining by any means another s work and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of it in one s own written work.... Collusion shall be defined as the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing written work for fulfillment of course requirements.... Any student violating this policy shall be subject to disciplinary sanctions including suspension.... Repeated or aggravated violations of any provision of this code may also result in expulsion or suspension or in the imposition of such lesser penalties as are appropriate. C. Avoiding Plagiarism 1. Know what to cite Knowing what to cite as a source is not always easy, but generally anything you did not already know before you began your research should be cited. In most cases, if you had to use a source to get a piece of information, it is best to cite it. When in doubt, consult with your teacher and remember that it is better to give more citations than required than to use too few and commit plagiarism. 2. Use sources properly Use quotation marks or block quotations to indicate exact words from a source. a. Quotation marks for short quotations Enclose the exact words of another person in double quotation marks: According to Shakespeare, we live our lives acting out roles: All the world s a stage, / And all the men and women merely players (As You Like It ). In Sonnet 18, Shakespeare asks, Shall I compare thee to a summer s day? Who can argue with the proposition that all men are created equal? North Lake College Writing Center 2 Spring 2010

3 b. Block format for long quotations If a quotation is longer than 4 typed lines, it is formatted as a block quotation by indenting 1 on the left only and omitting the quotation marks. Below is an example of a block quotation, along with its introduction in the text of the paper: As the authors of The Craft of Research explain, writers must eventually move from collecting information to producing an initial draft: If you have accumulated a bushel of notes, photocopies, and summaries... it s time to think about your first draft. You may have only dim outlines of answers to your most important questions in fact, you may not yet know exactly what they are. But once you accumulate a substantial body of data, you have to start thinking about what they add up to. (Booth, Colomb, and Williams 85) c. Avoid excessive use of direct quotations In most cases, direct quotations from sources should be limited to no more than 20% of a paper. Students are generally expected to devote most of their paper to developing and supporting a thesis by explaining their own ideas and showing how material from sources connects to their discussion. Writers can also reduce the amount of direct quotation in their paper by using paraphrase or summary to convey the words and ideas from a source whenever possible. Paraphrase A paraphrase is a complete, accurate restatement of material from a source expressed in the student writer s own words. A paraphrase expresses in detail the ideas of a source without using its exact wording, sentence structures, or style. Summary A summary accurately and concisely expresses the main ideas of a source in the student writer s own words. When paraphrasing or summarizing, writers must: use both in-text citation and a works-cited page to give the author credit for his or her ideas, and carefully distinguish their own ideas from those of their sources. North Lake College Writing Center 3 Spring 2010

4 Examples of summary and paraphrase Original Text Despite that Platonic ideal of unadorned truth, knowledge is never just discovered, presented, and accepted. New ideas are always created and then shaped by writers who anticipate the needs, beliefs, and objections of their readers. By imagining themselves in a conversation with them, wondering what they think, what they must understand, writers discover better what they themselves can think. (171) Source: Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research. Chicago: U Chicago P, Print. Acceptable Paraphrase Although most people value simple statements of truth, writers cannot expect to come up with new ideas entirely on their own and then have readers take whatever they say to be true or correct (Booth, Colomb, and Williams 171). In order to create any new idea, a writer must consider what the reader needs to know in order to understand the idea, what the reader presently accepts as true, and how the reader will oppose the idea. Writers who explore readers thoughts and viewpoints through imaginary dialog actually improve their own thinking process (171). Acceptable Summary two examples Writers who explore readers thoughts and viewpoints through imaginary dialog actually improve their own thinking process (Booth, Colomb, and Williams 171). According to Booth, Colomb, and Williams, writers who explore readers thoughts and viewpoints through imaginary dialog actually improve their own thinking process (171). Acceptable Combination of Paraphrase and Summary According to Booth, Colomb, and Williams, writers cannot expect to come up with new ideas entirely on their own and then have readers take whatever they say to be true or correct. That is to say, writers cannot create, much less communicate, new ideas without carrying on an imaginary dialog with their readers (171). Acceptable Combination of Quotation, Paraphrase, and Summary Booth, Colomb, and Williams remind writers that knowledge is never just discovered, presented, and accepted (171). They go on to explain that a writer can neither create nor transmit any new idea without considering what the reader needs to know, what the reader presently accepts as true, and how the reader will oppose the idea. In fact, writers who North Lake College Writing Center 4 Spring 2010

5 explore readers thoughts and viewpoints through imaginary dialog actually improve their own thinking process (171). Acceptable Use of Quotation Within Paraphrases or Summaries In fact, writers who explore readers thoughts and viewpoints through imaginary dialog discover better what they themselves can think (171). Avoid these improper uses of sources Writers who change some words within a quotation or simply rearrange sentence parts have committed plagiarism. Original: When conducting research, students should carefully record where they have gotten information. Plagiarized: Plagiarized: When writing a research paper, students should be careful to record where the information comes from. Students should carefully record where they have gotten information when conducting research. D. The MLA Works-Cited Page and In-Text Parenthetical Citations Although there are many styles for citing and documenting sources, MLA style is most commonly used in classes at North Lake College. Nevertheless, your teacher may want you to follow a different style. If you have questions about how to cite sources for a researched paper, discuss your concerns with your instructor. Writing Center tutors can also help you understand how to use and cite sources. The Works-Cited Page The works-cited page lists all sources used in a paper and provides the reader with complete bibliographic information for every source. Therefore, it is the key to understanding the paper s in-text parenthetical citations. Every source from which information, ideas, exact words, or a pattern of organization has been taken must appear on the final works-cited page. Also, no source that has not been used can be placed on the works-cited page. The writer should record complete, accurate bibliographic information for every potential source at the time it is consulted because it may not be possible to locate North Lake College Writing Center 5 Spring 2010

6 the source again. Any source for which the writer does not have complete information cannot be used in the paper. Creating a working works-cited page of potential sources during the research stage will make it easy to accurately cite source material as it is incorporated into the paper. To avoid accidental plagiarism, writers should create an in-text parenthetical citation each time a source is used in drafting the paper. If a citation contains errors or is omitted, the writer has committed plagiarism. Once the paper is completed, the writer can produce the final works-cited page by deleting any source on the "working" works-cited page not used in the final draft. Although the works-cited page is an essential part of a researched paper, it is not usually included in the paper's word or page count. A works-cited page in Modern Language Association (MLA) format must include specific information about each source in a specific order. Each works-cited entry must contain specific information about the source, including its author, title, publisher or sponsor, and date of publication or posting. This information must be given in a specific order and punctuated according to MLA guidelines. Here are sample entries for some common types of sources: A book with a single author Didion, Joan. Salvador. New York: Simon and Schuster, Print. Last name, First name. Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Year Published. Print. An article in a magazine or periodical that is published monthly Mays, Jim. "Making the Grade." Campus April 2002: Print. Last, First. "Title of Article." Magazine Name Month & year: page numbers for article. Print. An article in a scholarly journal Trenin, Dmitri. "Russia Leaves the West." Foreign Affairs 85.4 (2006) Print. Last, First. "Title of Article." Name of Journal. Volume.Issue (year) page numbers. Print. An entire web site The Mississippi Writers Page. University of Mississippi English Department, 9 July Web. 15 Sept Name of Web Site. Name of Sponsor, Date updated. Web. Date of access. North Lake College Writing Center 6 Spring 2010

7 Consult these sources for more information about MLA citation format: Little, Brown Handbook, 11 ed., Chapters 46 and 47. Older editions are not up to date for MLA. Little, Brown Handbook, 11 ed., website for sample papers with examples: The North Lake Writing Center, located in room K305. The North Lake Writing Center s NLC OWL Community in ecampus. The Purdue OWL at In-text Citation of Sources Within a Researched Paper MLA guidelines require that writers credit their sources of information within the text of their researched papers. According to MLA guidelines, when information from a source is used, it must be cited in the text of the paper usually within parentheses. If a source has an author, begin with his or her last name. Sources without authors are cited by their titles. For a print source (a book or an article in a newspaper or magazine) or a PDF file, place the page number after the author's name or (if there is no author) the title. Here are a few examples of parenthetical in-text citations: A source with an author "exact words of author" According to one poet, Wayne's smile is "a horizon of teeth/ the credits reel over" (Erdrich 42). [Author's Last Name (no comma) page #.] A source without an author paraphrase of an idea from a source Some vets recommend a daily dose of baby aspirin for arthritic cats and dogs ("Ask a Vet" 12). ["Title of Article" (no comma) page #] An electronic source, such as a database or web page summary of material from source Since its creation, Moore's law has proven accurate (Forsythe) [Author's Last Name.] North Lake College Writing Center 7 Spring 2010

8 When some of the required information is incorporated into the text of the paper, it does not need to be repeated in the parenthetical citation: According to an anonymous article called Ask a Vet, a daily dose of baby aspirin is recommended for arthritic cats and dogs (12). (Since the name of the article is given in the text of the paper, it does not need to be repeated in the parenthetical citation.) According to Forsythe, since its creation, Moore's law has proven accurate. (Since the author is named in the text of the paper and the electronic source does not have page numbers, no parenthetical citation is needed.) How can writers avoid even the suspicion of plagiarism? 1. Never include in your own paper a passage, an identifiable phrase, or an idea copied from someone else's work without acknowledging and documenting the source. 2. Never use exactly the same sequence of ideas or organization of argument found in a source without acknowledging the source. 3. Always put an author's exact words inside quotation marks or in a block quotation. 4. Always cite the source of any summary or paraphrase. Not only exact words but also ideas need to be credited. 5. Never simply substitute synonyms for a few words in the source or move a few words or phrases around in the original sentence. 6. Never include in your paper sections that have been written or rewritten by a friend or a tutor. Your paper must be your own work. 7. Never turn in as your own a paper that you have bought, found, or received from any source. 8. If your writing assignment is not a research project, try to brainstorm for ideas on your own without going to the Internet or other sources for inspiration. North Lake College Writing Center 8 Spring 2010