Avoiding Plagiarism and Managing Sources

BEDFORD CUSTOM TUTORIAL FOR HISTORY Avoiding Plagiarism and Managing Sources As a college student, you already know that writing essays and papers is a regular feature of academic life. History instructors, as well as professors in other fields, expect their students to read and digest sources, analyze them critically, and then express their own original interpretations (or syntheses) of the sources. You probably also already know something about plagiarism. This tutorial will not only help you to understand plagiarism but also give you valuable tips for managing and citing your sources for the work that you do in your history classes. In this tutorial, you will learn the following: The definition of plagiarism and how to avoid it How to manage your sources How to use sources appropriately How to acknowledge and cite your sources using Chicago style Avoiding Plagiarism In the world of academia, professional scholars and students alike spend a great deal of time engaging with one another s thoughts and ideas. We listen to professors lectures in classes, debate and discuss course material with classmates and friends, and read texts in which scholars convey their own thinking about particular topics. Through this process, we form our own ideas about the subjects we study. Participants in academic communities also place a high value on original thinking but recognize that every new idea is built upon a framework of intellectual dialogue and exchange. For these reasons academic writers whether they are undergraduate students, up-and-coming researchers, or prizewinning scholars must always acknowledge the people, ideas, and sources of their intellectual contributions. Failure to do so by using someone else s words or ideas without crediting them is plagiarism. Most students are aware that plagiarism can be committed on purpose. Everyone has heard about cases in which people who are short on time or 1 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 1

2 Avoiding Plagiarism and Managing Sources inspiration, and who believe they will not get caught if they copy text from their sources directly into their own writings or presentations, represent the work as their own. Similarly, students sometimes buy essays from online paper vendors or reuse essays written by other students and submit them to their professors under their own names. This type of plagiarism is not only unethical, it is extremely unwise. Most instructors gain familiarity with their students writing styles and are quick to identify passages that seem uncharacteristic or inconsistent with a student s previous work. It usually doesn t take more than a few minutes with an Internet search to find the original sources that plagiarists represented as their own work. Every semester, college and university deans and honor boards deal with many cases of blatant student plagiarism, and the penalties they invoke are almost always severe. Unintentional or accidental plagiarism is much more common but nonetheless is still quite problematic. Working with and keeping track of source material while you are preparing for a writing assignment has always been tough, and technology has made it is too easy to cut a swath of text from an online source and copy it into your paper. You may have intended to modify or acknowledge it later but then forgot what came from where or which sections of the document you need to change or cite. Even handwritten notes, taken from books or articles or recorded during interviews or conversations, can be easy to misuse if you have not carefully indicated where you have paraphrased a source and where you have quoted it directly. Neglecting to maintain a complete list of sources from the beginning of your project to the end can make it difficult to attribute or cite and acknowledge all of the words and ideas that contributed to the final product. Omitting an acknowledgement or citation of a source by accident is not as criminal as stealing someone else s work deliberately, but it is still a breach of academic ethics and, to be a successful student, you must do everything you can to avoid it. To do otherwise jeopardizes your chances of doing well not only in your college classes but in life more generally once you leave school. Managing and Citing Sources Scholars in various fields have developed systems and styles for acknowledging and citing their sources. These systems, which include the University of Chicago style (known variously as Chicago style or CMS), the Modern Language Association (MLA) style, the American Psychological Association (APA) style, and the Council of Science Editors (CBE) style, make two things possible. First, they provide consistent methods for writers in specific fields to give credit to others work. Most historians use Chicago-style citations, while humanities disciplines prefer MLA style, social scientists use APA, and scientists use CBE. Second, these systems 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 2

Managing and Citing Sources 3 permit readers to see how writers developed their thinking, assess the credibility of authors evidence, and locate sources from which they can learn more about the topic. This tutorial will use concrete examples to guide you through the steps necessary for ensuring that you will be able to use one of these styles effectively to provide full and adequate citations in your work. The four steps for carrying out responsible research, writing ethically, and citing your sources according to the guidelines of the academic community are as follows: 1. Manage sources efficiently 2. Use sources properly 3. Acknowledge sources appropriately 4. Cite sources completely and consistently Step 1: Manage Sources Efficiently If writers do not know where all the information and ideas they are using originated, it is impossible for them to cite their sources properly. For that reason, managing all your sources efficiently and keeping track of where they come from is the necessary first step in the larger process of acknowledging and crediting others work, no matter which citation style you end up using. When you were in elementary or middle school you might have conducted some of your first academic research by taking notes on index cards. This technique, which involves writing one piece of evidence a quote, a fact, an idea on each card along with the original source of that data, used to be the primary means through which researchers organized notes and managed their sources. The onslaught of new technology over the last several decades has changed all that. Now, in addition to evidence they gather from reading and taking notes on books and documents, researchers also frequently employ photocopied and electronic/digital sources. In order to juggle all of these types of sources it is important to follow some basic rules to carefully manage and organize them. identify every piece of evidence When you are doing research for an essay or paper, be sure that when you take notes, make photocopies, or collect useful material from the Internet, you note where the information came from. If you are taking notes from a book or other printed source, make sure every page contains the name of the author and its title, and that every note specifies the page from which you got your information. If you are making photocopies or scans from newspapers or periodicals, check to be certain that each copy or scan contains the data you need to find that source again, including author, title, date of publication, and page number. Similarly, if you find useful material 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 3

4 Avoiding Plagiarism and Managing Sources on the Internet, keep track of the URL (or Internet address) and the date you accessed each source. If you print your electronic sources as you find them, the hard copy will usually contain that information. If you copy a piece of text or an image to your own computer, copy the URL as well. A good rule of thumb is that, if you must copy and paste text from online sources, make it a different color so you can remember that you did not write it yourself. You can be sure to modify it in your paper and then make your own version black again. Your goal in this part of the research process is to make certain that no piece of evidence can become separated from the information about who created it and when and where it appeared. develop a system for organizing your sources As you are gathering your sources and collecting evidence for your paper, be sure to keep all your materials in one place so that you know where they all are and can locate particular pieces of information easily. If the assignment is short and the sources are sparse, this is easy, but for longer assignments requiring more research, your notes and other source material can become unwieldy. Some people keep all of their sources in file folders or three-ring notebooks. Others use a combination of paper and virtual file folders, keeping hard copies in one, and electronic copies in the other. To keep up with the growth of the Internet, many scholars have turned to electronic filing systems to manage their digital data. Zotero, which you can find online and download for free, is one such application and Evernote is another. You can add PDFs, images, audio and video files, snapshots of web pages, and other sources to your own computer as you come across them. Applications like these collect all your Internet research in one searchable library and can be incredibly useful to researchers who are using and trying to organize a substantial number of online sources. compile and maintain a working bibliography As you collect and organize your sources, create a list of every one you consult, and keep it up-to-date as your research continues. Include the complete information for every source, including author, title, place of publication, publisher, volume and/or issue number (if applicable), and, for book chapters or articles, inclusive page numbers. Keeping an up-todate running list like this will make finalizing your citations and bibliography at the end of your project much easier. Step 2: Use Sources Properly Identifying the origin of every idea and piece of evidence you collect allows you to keep track of where your information came from. But using sources 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 4

Managing and Citing Sources 5 properly as you take notes and incorporate them into your writing is another crucial component of the ethical research and writing process. For even if you can name the creator of every idea or piece of evidence you ve collected, you will not be able to cite your sources properly if you don t know which note is a quote, which note is a partial paraphrase of another author s point, and which one is paraphrased fully. Sloppy note-taking and careless integration of your sources into your writing can lead even the most well-meaning researcher down the path toward inadvertent plagiarism. Meticulous note-taking and conscientious use of your sources, on the other hand, will ensure that you avoid accidentally abusing others work. know the differences between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing The process of taking notes from and integrating sources into your paper or essay involves three methods for using text: quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. In order to avoid plagiarism, it is vital that you can distinguish among these three forms of gathering and conveying information and perform each one successfully. Imagine that you are working with Olaudah Equiano s first-person narrative of his capture in Africa and enslavement in North America in the mid-eighteenth century. The original source reads: Thus I continued to travel, sometimes by land, sometimes by water, through different countries and nations, till, at the end of six or seven months after I had been kidnapped, I arrived at the sea coast.... The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor, and waiting for its cargo. These filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror when I was carried on board. Source: Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, vol. I (London, 1789), chaps. 1, 2. Quoting information from a source consists of recording its exact words and enclosing these words within quotation marks. It is important to quote precisely and, if you change information in the quote, to indicate it. If you omit a part of the quote you must insert ellipses and if you make a slight change, such as inserting a capital letter where the original had a lowercase letter, you must place it in brackets. A quote from Equiano s work might look like this: The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea and a slave ship... waiting for its cargo. 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 5

6 Avoiding Plagiarism and Managing Sources Quotes are particularly useful for serving as evidence to support a larger point. If you were writing a paper about Africans experience of kidnapping and enslavement, for example, you might use Equiano s quote as an example to illustrate your point concretely. Paraphrasing a source consists of restating it using your own words and sentence structure. Successful paraphrasing requires that you change more than just a few words. The best way to paraphrase something is to read it, digest its meaning, and then to rewrite it in your own way. A paraphrase of Equiano s words above might look like this: After he was kidnapped from his home, Equiano was forced to travel for many months and over many miles until he reached Africa s coast where he saw the sea for the first time. Although he was amazed by the sight of the slave ship, he was horrified when crew members loaded him into the hold and he recognized what was happening to him. Paraphrases are particularly useful for recording other writers ideas and opinions. This technique is particularly helpful when you are reading secondary sources for background and context. Summarizing consists of distilling information by reiterating its main points or big ideas without details. A summary of Equiano s story might look like this: Equiano was kidnapped from his home, endured a long journey to the coast, and became filled with fear once he boarded the slave ship. Summarizing is particularly useful for conveying a lot of information in relatively few words. take clear notes to avoid patchwriting Knowing the differences between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing is important. Making sure that your notes consistently and accurately reflect which of these techniques you have used to record information is critical. Let s imagine that you have been assigned to write an essay on the Atlantic slave trade in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, evaluating its impact on Africa, Europe, and North America, using only your course materials. As you peruse the textbook looking for evidence, you come across a passage that contains an elegant summary of the slave trade s significance. It reads: By any measure the Atlantic slave trade was an enormous enterprise and enormously significant in modern world history: its geographical scope encompassed four continents, it endured over four centuries, its victims numbered in the many millions, its commercial operation was complex and 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 6

Managing and Citing Sources 7 highly competitive, and its consequences echo still in both public and private life. Source: Robert W. Strayer, Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources, 2nd ed. (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin s, 2013), 700. You recognize that this is useful information for your topic and decide to incorporate it into your notes. Maybe it s late at night and you are tired and having trouble focusing. Perhaps you are just feeling rushed to finish this last task. As a result, your notes look like this: Robert W. Strayer, Ways of the World, p. 700. The Atlantic slave trade was a huge enterprise, massively significant for modern world history. For example, it encompassed four continents, lasted 400 years, injured millions of victims, was commercially complex and competitive, and its consequences echo still in both public and private life. Your classmate also comes across this passage and, recognizing its relevance, takes her own note on the paragraph. Her notes look like this: Robert W. Strayer, Ways of the World, p. 700. The Atlantic slave trade was one of the most significant developments in early modern history. Europe, North and South America, and Africa were all vital players. Many millions of Africans were forcibly taken from Africa and relocated to the Americas. It was one of the first truly global commercial operations and it made huge profits for some slave traders, shippers, and plantation owners. Strayer writes, [I]ts consequences echo still in both public and private life. Both of you were right to recognize the value and relevance of this passage and to include it among the sources you are collecting for your paper. But while your classmate s notes have clearly paraphrased the original source (by restating it in her own words and sentence structure) and indicated exactly which part of the note is a direct quote, your notes will cause you trouble down the line. Even though your notes use many of the author s words, you included quotation marks around the only last phrase in the last sentence. If your notes look like this, you will have trouble figuring out exactly how to use the source in your paper, and exactly how to cite it. Let s see how these two types of notes might be used in the writing process and how your notes, in particular, might contribute to some of the most common types of accidental plagiarism. Now that you are both finished with your research, you and your classmate have both begun to write your papers based on the notes you have compiled. You are writing the introduction and plan to use the information from the note above. Your note, because of the way you have constructed 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 7

8 Avoiding Plagiarism and Managing Sources it, leads you to think that you have already paraphrased the author s ideas and quoted him directly only at the end. Proceeding according to those assumptions, you write a paragraph that looks like this: Beginning in the late fifteenth century, the Columbian exchange created new linkages between the world s continents. Among the developments that occurred in the centuries after Columbus s voyages was the tremendous growth of the Atlantic slave trade, which was a huge enterprise and massively significant for modern world history. The slave trade across the Atlantic encompassed four continents, lasted 400 years, injured millions of victims, and was commercially complex and competitive. Its consequences echo still in both public and private life. 1 1. Robert W. Strayer, Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources, 2nd ed. (Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013), 700. You have done what writing instructor Rebecca Moore Howard calls patchwriting. Despite your good intentions and the inclusion of some of your own words in this paragraph, the patchwriting and lack of clarity in your notes has led you to use too many of the author s words. You placed quotation marks around the sentence you knew was a direct quote and included an in-text citation for that quote, but because you failed to credit his work for the paragraph as a whole, which were his ideas, your paragraph constitutes plagiarism. Your classmate, on the other hand, used her carefully paraphrased and clear notes to write this paragraph: The Atlantic slave trade was one of many important commercial developments in early modern history, but it differed from the other commercial enterprises that emerged in this period because it was built upon the buying and selling of human beings. According to the historian Robert Strayer, it was one of the first truly global commercial operations and it made huge profits for some slave traders, shippers, and plantation owners. Because it led to the forcible relocation of many millions of Africans to the Americas, Strayer suggests, [I]ts consequences echo still in both public and private life. 1 1. Robert W. Strayer, Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources, 2nd ed. (Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013), 700. This paragraph does not plagiarize and is acceptable because, although it communicates the author s ideas, it does not borrow his language. This writer also makes clear that the textbook was the source of her statements about the significance of the Atlantic slave trade by including both a direct reference to the author and an in-text citation for the work. In this case, careful paraphrasing and clear notes account for the difference between a paragraph that commits plagiarism through inadequate paraphrase and 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 8

Managing and Citing Sources 9 inadequate citation, and one that complies with the standards for academic integrity. Step 3: Acknowledge Sources Appropriately So now you know why it is important to cite the work of others when you use it in your work, and how use sources properly, but if your work is based on sources, does that mean you have to cite every single thing you include in your paper? That is not a silly or simple question. It can be tricky to figure out exactly when you need to cite a source, and when you don t. If you encounter a case in which you really do not know, it is better to err on the side of too much citation than too little. But there are some general rules about what types of information require citation or acknowledgment and what types do not. The basics are as follows: INFORMATION THAT DOES NOT NEED CITATION OR ATTRIBUTION Widely accepted facts and common knowledge. Widely accepted facts and common knowledge are things that most people who will read you work can be expected to know. These do not require citations precisely because most people already know them and cannot point to a source of their knowledge. Widely accepted facts are pieces of information that can be easily found and verified in numerous sources, such as the Allies defeated the Axis powers in World War II or Mahatma Gandhi was a leader of the struggle for India s independence. Examples of common knowledge include the following: southern regions have warmer climates than northern regions, the earth revolves around the sun, Christopher Columbus initially believed he landed in India in 1492. Your own ideas. Ideas that you develop on your own in the course of your writing do not require citation because they are yours. If, for example, you are writing an essay that compares two sources, your own analysis of their similarities and differences is your own intellectual contribution. If you develop an idea that you also come across in other sources, however, it is not solely yours and should be cited. If you are not sure, it is better to cite than not to cite. INFORMATION THAT NEEDS CITATION OR ATTRIBUTION Quotations of another person s words (written or spoken). Any time you use another person s words in your paper you must include a citation. Always quote your source precisely and accurately, be sure 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 9

10 Avoiding Plagiarism and Managing Sources to place direct quotations within quotation marks, and include a citation at the end of the quote. For example: The economic, social, cultural, and political changes that came with the Industrial Revolution have had a tremendous impact on the earth. As a result of these shifts, the earth has changed significantly over the last few decades and scientists have begun to pay attention. According to one historian, By the end of the twentieth century, a worldwide scientific consensus had emerged that the vastly increased burning of fossil fuels... had begun to warm the atmosphere significantly. 1 1. Robert W. Strayer, Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources, 2nd ed. (Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013), 1165. Another person s ideas, opinions, or theories. It is common in academic writing to paraphrase or summarize others ideas, opinions, and theories. Every time you do this in a paper you must cite your source. For example: The Atlantic slave trade, which began in 1518 with the first shipment of Africans to the Americas, was one of many important commercial developments in early modern history. 1 It was a foundational element of the international credit and trade networks that developed in the period from 1600 1800. 2 1. John P. McKay et al., A History of Western Society, 11th ed. (Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2014), 453. 2. Mintz, S., & McNeil, S., The Slave Trade s Significance, Digital History (2013). Accessed June 17, 2015, from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu//disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=447. Facts that are not common knowledge. When you present facts that are not widely accepted or part of common knowledge, you must provide a citation in order to give credit to the source and to show the reader that your information is verifiable and reliable. For example: Olaudah Equiano was born in Nigeria around 1745 and kidnapped and sold into the Atlantic slave trade in approximately 1756. 1 1. Robert W. Strayer, Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources, 2nd ed. (Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013), 700. or Environmentalism began in the nineteenth century as Romantic poets in Europe and England denounced the early impact of industrialization. 1 1. Robert W. Strayer, Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources, 2nd ed. (Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013), 1165. 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 10

Managing and Citing Sources 11 Statistics, graphs, drawings, and photographs. Unless you have calculated them from your own raw data or created them yourself, quantitative data such as statistics and visual sources and information such as graphs, drawings, photographs are created by others and require citations. Any information you use from a graph, chart, or illustration must also be cited. For example: 2,000,000 Number of slaves imported from Africa per 25-year period 1,750,000 1,500,000 1,250,000 1,000,000 750,000 500,000 250,000 0 1501 1525 1526 1550 1551 1575 1576 1600 1601 1625 1626 1650 1651 1675 1676 1700 1701 1725 1726 1750 1751 1775 1776 1800 1801 1825 1826 1850 1851 1866 Source: Robert W. Strayer and Eric W. Nelson, Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources, 3rd ed. (Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2016), 627. or The Atlantic slave trade reached its peak between 1776 and 1800, during which time more than 2,000,000 Africans were taken from Africa and sold in the Americas. 1 1. Transatlantic Slave Trade Database, accessed June 17, 2015, http://www.slavevoyages.org /tast/assessment/estimates.faces. Information created by groups or organizations. Like material or information created by individual authors, information created by groups or organizations must also be cited when you quote or borrow from it in your work. For example: According to the United Nations, which celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2015, its Charter and... unique international character give it the tools to take action on the issues confronting humanity in the 21st century, such as peace and security, climate change, sustainable development, human rights, disarmament, terrorism, humanitarian and health emergencies, gender equality, governance, food production, and more. 1 1. United Nations Web site, accessed June 18, 2015, http://www.un.org/en/sections/about -un/overview/index.html. 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 11

12 Avoiding Plagiarism and Managing Sources Information from class lectures or discussions. If your writing incorporates facts or ideas that you heard about from class lectures or discussions, these elements are not your own and must be cited. It is acceptable to acknowledge these types of material in your running text. For example: According to Professor Mary Jones s lecture on April 15, 2015, economic globalization was a long-term process that began early in human history. It increased in scope and intensity after 1500 as a new global network anchored in Europe took shape and industrialization further spurred economic contact between regions. or As John Smith noted in a class discussion on economic globalization on April 15, 2015, the growth of the aeronautics in the twentieth century accelerated the pace of international trade. Helpful suggestions from readers. Because college students are integral parts of the academic community, their work usually incorporates suggestions and feedback from numerous sources, including friends, classmates, and instructors. It is important to acknowledge this type of feedback in your paper, though it is not necessary to cite every suggestion you receive. Instead, include a brief acknowledgments paragraph at the end of your paper that lists and thanks those people who guided and influenced your work. For example: I would like to thank the following people who read and offered feedback on this essay: Professor Mary Jones, my classmate John Smith, my brother Sean Brown, and my roommate, Mike Lee. Step 4: Cite Sources Completely and Consistently The final step in the process of fully acknowledging all of the facts and ideas that go into your work is to cite your sources completely and consistently. Because historians and others writing about history use a rich variety of sources they have adopted the guidelines known as the Chicago style (CMS), which uses footnotes or endnotes in the text. These citations follow the model used thus far in the tutorial s examples. The citations are indicated by superscript numbers within the text that refer to a note with a corresponding number either at the foot of the page (footnote) or at the end of the paper (endnote). Other humanities and social science disciplines favor the MLA s or APA s styles of in-text citations that list sources within parentheses at the end of a sentence. Sometimes even history instructors prefer this format for short papers that use relatively few sources because they make the origins of information more immediately 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 12

Managing and Citing Sources 13 apparent to the reader. If you are unsure about what style of citations your instructor prefers you should definitely consult with him or her. Whichever format you use, do so consistently throughout your paper. Some word processing software, such as recent versions of Microsoft Word, include applications for managing citations in several common formats, including Chicago style. If you are writing something that uses a large number of sources, it is probably worthwhile to invest some time in using such a tool, if you have access to one. Written work that makes use of the Chicago style should contain footnotes or endnotes throughout and a full bibliography, including all the works you have consulted, at the end. The first time you cite a source you should provide the full publication information for that source so that your readers can locate it if they choose to do so. Subsequent citations for the same source require only the author s name, an abbreviated version of the title if you have used more than one source by that author, and page number. Your bibliography should be alphabetical by the author s last name. A quick guide to Chicago style citations can be found online at http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Books One author or editor First footnote/endnote: David Brion Davis, Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 73. Subsequent note: Davis, Inhuman Bondage, 73. Bibliography: Davis, David Brion. Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Two or more authors or editors First footnote/endnote: Christine Daniels and Michael V. Kennedy, eds., Negotiated Empires: Centers and Peripheries in the Americas, 1500 1820 (New York: Routledge, 2002), 13. Subsequent note: Daniels and Kennedy, Negotiated Empires, 21. Bibliography: Daniels, Christine, and Michael V. Kennedy, eds. Negotiated Empires: Centers and Peripheries in the Americas, 1500 1820. New York: Routledge, 2002. Edited volume with an author First footnote/endnote: Muhammad A. Dandamaev, Slavery in Babylonia: From Nabopolassar to Alexander the Great (626 331 BC), ed. Victoria A. Powell (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1984), 345 68. 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 13

14 Avoiding Plagiarism and Managing Sources Subsequent note: Dandamaev, Slavery in Babylonia, 352. Bibliography: Dandamaev, Muhammad A. Slavery in Babylonia: From Nabopolassar to Alexander the Great (626 331 BC). Edited by Victoria A. Powell. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1984. Book chapter First footnote/endnote: Stanley L. Engerman, Labor Incentives and Manumission in Ancient Greek Slavery, in Essays in Economic Theory, Growth, and Labor Markets: A Festschrift in Honor of E. Drandakis, ed. George Bitros and Yannis Katsoulacos (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2002), 213 17. Subsequent note: Engerman, Labor Incentives and Manumission, 215. Bibliography: Engerman, Stanley L. Labor Incentives and Manumission in Ancient Greek Slavery. In Essays in Economic Theory, Growth, and Labor Markets: A Festschrift in Honor of E. Drandakis. Edited by George Bitros and Yannis Katsoulacos. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2002. Periodicals Broad-circulation magazines First footnote/endnote: Louise Historian, The Ugly Legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Time, October 17, 1974, 56. Subsequent note: Historian, The Ugly Legacy, 57. Bibliography: Historian, Louise. The Ugly Legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Time. October 17, 1974. Newspaper articles First footnote/endnote: Joseph P. Edgar, The Horror of the Slave Market, Boston Gazette, July 14, 1856. Subsequent note: Edgar, The Horror of the Slave Market. Bibliography: Edgar, Joseph P. The Horror of the Slave Market. Boston Gazette, July 14, 1856. Scholarly journal articles First footnote/endnote: Alden T. Vaughan and Virginia Mason Vaughan, Before Othello: Elizabethan Representations of Sub-Saharan Africans, William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd ser., 54 (January 1997): 19 44. Subsequent note: Vaughan and Vaughan, Before Othello, 26. Bibliography: Vaughan, Alden T., and Virginia Mason Vaughan. Before Othello: Elizabethan Representations of Sub-Saharan Africans. William and Mary Quarterly 3rd ser., no. 54 (1997): 19 44. 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 14

Conclusion 15 Internet sources One document or image First footnote/endnote: Official Report on the Trials of Sundry Negroes charged with an Attempt to Raise an Insurrection in the State of South Carolina in 1822. Slaves and the Courts, 1740 1860, Library of Congress, Document ID rbcmisc lst0101 urn:hdl:loc.rbc/rbcmisc.lst0101, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/rbcmisc.lst0101. Subsequent note: Official Report on the Trials of Sundry Negroes, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/rbcmisc.lst0101. Bibliography: Official Report on the Trials of Sundry Negroes charged with an Attempt to Raise an Insurrection in the State of South Carolina in 1822. Slaves and the Courts, 1740 1860, Library of Congress, Document ID rbcmisc lst0101 urn:hdl:loc.rbc/rbcmisc.lst0101, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/rbcmisc.lst0101. Entire Web site First footnote/endnote: Steven Mintz and Sara McNeil, Digital History, http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu//disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=447. Subsequent note: Digital History, http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu//disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=447. Bibliography: Mintz, Steven, and Sara McNeil. Digital History. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/. Tables, graphs, charts Footnote/endnote: Adapted from Transatlantic Slave Trade Database, accessed June 17, 2015, http://www.slavevoyages.org /tast/assessment/estimates.faces. Bibliography: There is no need to cite a particular chart, graph, or table in your bibliography. Instead, you should cite the book, periodical, or Web site that published it originally, following the style guidelines for that type of source. Conclusion Every piece of academic work, whether it is produced by a professional scholar, a graduate student, or an undergraduate, builds on research produced by others. And while everyone knows that it is unacceptable to copy other peoples work, the differences between using sources appropriately and abusing them through inadequate paraphrase and/or insufficient 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 15

16 Avoiding Plagiarism and Managing Sources acknowledgment is not as obvious. Now that you have read this tutorial, however, you should have a good grasp on the methods you need to use to avoid plagiarism and the academic community s conventions for citing your sources fully and properly. By following these guidelines you will be able to write effective essays and research papers that incorporate and build on existing scholarship while also maintaining clear boundaries between your own words and ideas and those that other scholars and students created. 216781_01_AvoidingPlagiarism_6.5x9.125_r1jh.indd 16