According to the World Book Encyclopedia (2007, 505), “plagiarism, pronounced PLAY juh rihz uhm, is the act of presenting another person’s literary, artistic, or musical work as one’s own. For example, a student who copies from a reference book has committed plagiarism. A work need not be identical to the original to be plagiarism. But it must be so similar that it has obviously been copied.”
An important aspect of research is discovering new information about a topic and incorporating this new information into student work. Regardless of the source of this information, students need to learn how to give credit to the ideas and works of others. Failure to give credit is considered plagiarism.
It is especially important to avoid plagiarism when doing research on the Internet. It is very easy to copy, cut, and paste text, pictures, audio and video clips when surfing, and forget to note the sources. Students need to be aware that it is extremely important to keep track of all sources and properly cite the works and ideas of others in a bibliography or works cited page.
The following strategies will help students determine when credit is to be given:
1. Determine whether or not information is common knowledge. This includes facts that are likely to be known by a lot of people and can usually be found undocumented in several general sources. For example, consider the statement:
John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1960.
This is considered common knowledge, or generally known information. You do not need to document this information.
However, you do need to cite the source for facts that are not generally known, or for ideas that interpret facts. For example:
Kennedy’s ability to diffuse the Cuban Missile Crisis is considered by many to be his most important act as president (Microsoft Encarta, 1999).
This is an example of an interpretation of facts and you do need to document this information and give credit in your bibliography.
2. The skill that will be used most often in using someone else’s words or ideas is paraphrasing or summarizing. Although you are using your own words to paraphrase, you may still need to give credit to the source of your information.
Write your paraphrase and summary without looking at the original text, so that you are relying on your memory and writing in your own words. Begin your summary with a statement giving credit to your source, such as: According to John Dewey…
Then check your version against the original to make sure that your summary is accurate and that you haven’t mistakenly borrowed an exact phrase.
3. If you use any unique words or phrases that you cannot, or do not want to change, put those words inside of quotation marks and give credit to your source. For example:
According to Bill Gates (1996, 152), the Internet “will open up undreamed of artistic and scientific opportunities to a new generation of geniuses—and to everybody else, too.”
In this case, Gates’ exact words have been used and enclosed within quotes, and the date of the quote appears after his name in parentheses, as does the page number for this quote. When quoting directly, or even indirectly (using a paraphrase instead of a direct quote), make sure to mention the person’s name near the quote, either at the beginning, middle or end. Include the publication date inside of parentheses and include the page number if using an exact quote from a book.
When a longer quotation of three or more lines is to be included, the following rules for blocked quotations apply: The quoted passage is set apart in a separate paragraph with a double space before the quoted section. Indent the entire passage containing the long quote by using the tab button from the left margin. The quoted passage is single-spaced and does not need to be enclosed in quotation marks, since the single spacing is a substitute for quotation marks (Teachers usually require that the rest of the paper be double-spaced). For example:
Writing a complicated research paper can, at times, be frustrating for many
students. Towards the end of the project, some students are often rushed and
don’t take the time to edit their final work. In her A+ Guide to Writing
Research and Term Papers (Scholastic, 1981,72-73), Louise Colligan warns:
At this point, you may even be tempted to simply recopy your rough draft as it stands and hope for the best. Try to resist this urge to wrap up the project quickly. The editing and polishing you do at this point will make the difference between a mediocre paper and a first-rate one.
4. When researching, note-taking, and downloading information, make sure to mark everything that is someone else’s words with quotation marks. Keep track of all your sources at the time of use, so that you avoid having to backtrack later and find a URL, or source not mentioned. When you copy or reprint any diagrams, pictures, charts, or multimedia, you must document the source.
5. When in doubt about whether or not to cite a source, it is always better to be safe and avoid plagiarizing. When it doubt, document your source!
Here's a great online tutorial that helps illustrate clearly cases of plagiarism. It was created by a college library in Canada, but is easy to understand:
Vaughan Memorial Library-Tutorials-Plagiarism