What Is Plagiarism?
Many people think of plagiarism as copying another's work or borrowing someone else's original ideas. But terms like "copying" and "borrowing" can disguise the seriousness of the offense: ACCORDING TO THE MERRIAM-WEBSTER ONLINE DICTIONARY, TO "PLAGIARIZE" MEANS
In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward. ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ARE CONSIDERED PLAGIARISM: turning in someone else's work as your own copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit failing to put a quotation in quotation marks giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not Most cases of plagiarism can be avoided, however, by citing sources. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source is usually enough to prevent plagiarism. See the Citing Sources tab for more information on how to cite sources properly. All of this information and more can be found at plagiarism.org |
Plagiarism Tutorials (from Prentice-Hall)
Pull down the Jump to... menu to view tutorials. How To Avoid Plagiarism - Paraphrasing
Getting Started
1. Consult more than one source. You're much more likely to copy words if you only have one set of words to copy from. Look the answer up on three or four different sources (ex. encyclopedia, books, database, websites). 2. Jot down a few ideas. Picking from all your sources, jot down some key words and ideas that have to do with the question you're trying to answer or the subject you are researching. 3. Close down your sources. Hide your browser window, or close your books. Get that original material out of your sight. You're on your own now, working from your notes and your brain. 4. Think about what you have learned and what information you want to use/share with your audience. If you can't do this, or are still confused by the material, ask for help or find a different source that you can understand. 5. Write your thoughts down. You should include information from your research, but in your own words. Tips:
1. Never cut and paste and think you're done. It's worth saying again and again. You may feel you can drop something onto your paper and then rewrite it, but shuffling words around is not the same thing as paraphrasing. 2. Take notes of facts and basic information, but don't write sentences down word for word. 3. Don't leave researching to the last minute. The more time you can put between looking at the original material and writing about it, the less likely you are to remember exact words and phrases -- or to be so desperate that copying seems like the only option. 4. The very first thing to do before you write a word is to understand what you're writing about. If you can't do that, ask an adult for help. |