| Picture this: you’re graduating from university and you’re sitting with your classmates listening to an inspirational speech given by the dean of medicine about his never-ending quest for knowledge. It’s a great speech, but something about it doesn’t sound quite right. You get the eerie feeling you’ve heard this before. You get out your smart phone and google a strange phrase that you just heard the dean use and suddenly, there’s his whole speech! You’re reading along word for word! But, here’s the catch: the speech wasn’t written by him.This is exactly what happened at the University of Alberta in 2011. You can read the full story here. The dean of medicine ended up resigning his post. |
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Clearly academic dishonesty has major consequences, but even university professors have been tempted to do it. If you have a look at this article in Wikipedia, you’ll see many famous examples of academic dishonesty. The consequences of being found guilty of academic dishonesty (or plagiarism) can vary depending on the context. You could receive a zero on an assignment, be expelled from a school, or possibly be fired (or be asked to resign) from your job.
But why? Think about why being found guilty of plagiarism can have such serious consequences. Why would the dean in the above story be asked to resign? It was just a speech. It wasn’t an academic paper. Why does it matter? Keep these questions in mind. You’ll return to them later.
What is Plagiarism?
Here’s where things get tricky. Different institutions have slightly different definitions of plagiarism:
Definition #1
The Council of Writing Program Administrators defines plagiarism as:
“In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source.”
“Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices.” Council of Writing Program Administrators. 16 Feb. 2015. <http://wpacouncil.org/positions/WPAplagiarism.pdf>.
Definition #2
“Three different acts are considered plagiarism:
failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas,
failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and
failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words” (570).
Hacker, Diana. The Bedford Handbook. 5 th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 1998.
Definition #3
The University of Toronto’s code of behavior defines plagiarism as follows:
It shall be an offence for a student knowingly:
(d) to represent as one’s own any idea or expression of an idea or work of another in any academic examination or term test or in connection with any other form of academic work, i.e. to commit plagiarism.
Wherever in the Code an offence is described as depending on “knowing”, the offence shall likewise be deemed to have been committed if the person ought reasonably to have known.
Procter, Margaret. “How Not to Plagiarize.” 16 Feb. 2015. <http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/using-sources/how-not-to-plagiarize>
These definitions are all similar but there are subtle differences between each one. In the first example, the definition uses the word “deliberately.” This might lead you to believe that if you accidentally commit an act of plagiarism by forgetting to cite a source, or if you didn’t know a source needed to be cited, you’re not guilty of plagiarism; however, the third example adds a stipulation that it’s plagiarism if the person “ought reasonably to have known.” So you’re still on the hook even if you didn’t mean to do it.
The first example also mentions the idea of common knowledge. You do not have to cite something that is common knowledge. So what constitutes common knowledge? The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University explains that something can be considered common knowledge if “you find the same information undocumented in at least five credible sources. Additionally, it might be common knowledge if you think the information you’re presenting is something your readers will already know, or something that a person could easily find in general reference sources.”
Academic Citation
One way to ensure you avoid accidental plagiarism is making sure you cite all your sources properly. Not only do you prevent unintentional plagiarism, you establish your own credibility as a responsible and ethical writer and researcher.
In English, instructors usually require students to use the Modern Language Association style guide, often simply referred to as MLA. However, different disciplines use other style guides such as APA or Chicago. Therefore, it’s not particularly helpful or necessary to memorize how to cite different sources using a specific style guide. What is useful, is knowing how to access and use a variety of different style guides.
The Most Common Style Guides
You’ll notice that there is some overlap. Ultimately, your instructor will decide which style guide he or she wants you to use so if in doubt, ask.
When to Paraphrase, Summarize, and Quote
Paraphrases, summaries, and quotations are used to support—not replace—your own ideas.
Paraphrase: restatement of a portion text in your own words using approximately the same number of words for the purpose of helping the reader understand the meaning.
Summary: a shortened version of the text in your own words for the purpose of providing the reader with the essential understanding of a source.
Quotation: a repetition of someone’s exact words for the purpose of using someone else’s words to support or illustrate your ideas, analyzing another’s writing, or to point out an element in the writing.
The following examples all come from Williams College: Citing and Documenting online student resource.
You should use a quotation when specific words, or a phrase are essential to support the point you are making.
Direct Quotation Example
Original
Buffy, a small, delicate-looking blonde of superhuman strength, relies on Giles not only for adult support and coaching, but also for the research necessary to do that for which the Vampire Slayer has been chosen.
Quote in Paper (MLA)
According to DeCandido, Buffy “relies on Giles not only for adult support and coaching, but also for the research necessary to do that for which the Vampire Slayer has been chosen” (44).
The full citation that would appear in the Works Cited page would be:
DeCandido, Graceanne A. “Bibliographic Good vs. Evil in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”American Libraries Sept. 1999: 44-47. Print.
The student chose a direct quotation because the student felt the author’s exact words were important to convey the main idea. Notice how the student seamlessly weaves the quotation into his own text. He begins the sentence and uses the quotation to end it. Notice too how the student does not include the author’s last name in the parenthetical citation because he used it when introducing the quotation.
Summaries are helpful when you want to condense a large amount of information. You still need to put it in your own words. Focus on the details that help support your point and omit the ones that don’t.
Summary Example
Original
Buffy, a small, delicate-looking blonde of superhuman strength, relies on Giles not only for adult support and coaching, but also for the research necessary to do that for which the Vampire Slayer has been chosen. In the third season, Giles was officially relieved from his Watcher duties, but he ignores that and continues as Buffy’s trainer, confidant, and father-figure.
Summary in Paper (MLA)
To help her fulfill her Slayer duties, Buffy can always turn to Giles (DeCandido 44).
The full citation that would appear in the Works Cited page would be:
DeCandido, Graceanne A. “Bibliographic Good vs. Evil in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”American Libraries Sept. 1999: 44-47. Print.
In this case, the facts were important in terms of supporting the point the student was making, but the exact words were not, and he just wanted to include the most important facts. Notice how the student includes some of the details in his summary but ignores others. He is focusing on the details that help support his point.
Paraphrasing is a good idea when all of the ideas are important, but you don’t want to use a quotation and you want the language to sound like the rest of your essay. Paraphrasing can be tricky because you want to ensure that you capture all the key ideas, while still sounding like yourself. A good tip is to read the passage, cover it up, and then try to write the paraphrase in your own words without looking at it. Don’t just use a thesaurus to look up synonyms. It’s also important that you don’t change the meaning from what the author originally wrote. When you paraphrase, sometimes you need to use more words than the author because you need to explain complex concepts and ideas in a more understandable way.
Paraphrase Example
Original
In the third season, Giles was officially relieved from his Watcher duties, but he ignores that and continues as Buffy’s trainer, confidant, and father-figure.
Paraphrase in Paper (MLA)
Despite his termination by the Watcher’s Council in season three, Giles persists to teach and counsel Buffy while playing a “father-figure” role (DeCandido 44)
The full citation that would appear in the Works Cited page would be:
DeCandido, Graceanne A. “Bibliographic Good vs. Evil in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”American Libraries Sept. 1999: 44-47. Print.
Notice how the words, phrases, and even sentence structure are different from the original while still maintaining the original meaning. The student has put the words “father-figure” in quotation marks because it is a specific term used in the original, but even if he hadn’t used that quotation, he still would have needed the citation because the ideas are not his own.
External Video
Watch this video explaining the difference between a summary, paraphrase, and direct quotation.
What does it mean to “cite” a source?
When you cite a source, you are giving credit to the person who created that source. Ideally, you want to make sure that the person reading your work can find the exact same source you used. In fact, sometimes the reader may want to know more, and actually find the source to read more about the area of research. This requires you to provide quite a bit of detailed information in a standardized format so that whenever anyone reads your work, or when you read theirs, there is a clear way of recognizing when others’ work is cited. Now, you don’t want that information to distract your reader from the points you’re trying to make so you usually cite your source in two ways:
- In the body of your paper, immediately after the quotation or idea you borrowed, using a shorter form of a citation. In English, you will usually use a parenthetical citation.
- At the end of your paper on a new page, using a longer, more detailed citation. In English, this is usually in a Works Cited page
When should you cite a source?
Any time you are using a quotation, fact, idea, or phrase that you didn’t come up with yourself, and that isn’t common knowledge, cite it.
Resources
- Purdue Online Writing Lab’s Is It Plagiarism Yet?
- The University of Toronto’s How Not to Plagiarize
- William’s College’s Citing and Documenting guide.
Citation Tools
There are a number of tools available online to help you cite your sources correctly; however, you will still need to refer to a style guide to confirm that the tool cited your source using the proper style.
Resources
- Bibme
- Citation Machine
- EasyBib is free for MLA formatting but you have to pay to use other style guides.
