What is Plagiarism and Why is it Important?

In school, we are continually engaged with other people's ideas: we read them in texts, hear them in lecture, discuss them in class, and incorporate them into our own writing. As a result, it is very important that we give credit where it is due. Plagiarism is using others' ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information.

How Can Students Avoid Plagiarism?

To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you use another person's idea, opinion, or theory; any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings--any pieces of information--that are not common knowledge; quotations of another person's actual spoken or written words or paraphrases of another person's spoken or written words.

1. How to Recognize Unacceptable and Acceptable Paraphrases

Here's the ORIGINAL text, from page 1 of Lizzie Borden: A Case Book of Family and Crime in the 1890s by Joyce Williams et al.:

Here's an UNACCEPTABLE paraphrase that is plagiarism:

What makes this passage plagiarism? The preceding passage is considered plagiarism for two reasons:

•The writer has only changed around a few words and phrases or the order of the original's sentences.

•The writer has failed to cite a source for any of the ideas or facts.

If you do either or both of these things, you are plagiarizing.

NOTE: This paragraph is also problematic because it changes the sense of several sentences (for example, "steam-driven companies" in sentence two misses the original's emphasis on factories).

Here's an ACCEPTABLE paraphrase:

Why is this passage acceptable? This is acceptable paraphrasing because:

•The writer accurately relays the information in the original.

•The writer uses her own words.

•The writer lets her reader know the source of her information.

Here's an example of quotation and paraphrase used together, which is also ACCEPTABLE:

Why is this passage acceptable? This is acceptable paraphrasing because:

•The writer recorded the information in the original passage accurately.

•The writer gave credit for the ideas in this passage.

•The writer indicated which part is taken directly from her source by putting the passage in quotation marks and citing the page number.

2. Strategies for Avoiding Plagiarism

1. Put in quotations everything that comes directly from the text, especially when taking notes.

2. Paraphrase, but be sure you are not just rearranging or replacing a few words. Instead, read over what you want to paraphrase carefully; cover up the text with your hand, or close the text so you can't see any of it (and so aren't tempted to use the text as a "guide"). Write out the idea in your own words without peeking.

3. Check your paraphrase against the original text to be sure you have not accidentally used the same phrases or words and to be sure that the information is accurate.

3. Terms You Need to Know (or "What is Common Knowledge?")

Common knowledge includes facts that can be found in numerous places and are likely to be known by a lot of people.

Example: John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States in 1960.

This is generally known information. You do not need to document this fact. However, you must document facts that are not generally known and ideas that interpret facts.

 

Example: According the American Family Leave Coalition's new book, Family Issues and Congress, President Bush's relationship with Congress has hindered family leave legislation (6).

The idea that "Bush's relationship with Congress has hindered family leave legislation" is not a fact but an interpretation; consequently, you need to cite your source.

Quotation: using someone's words. When you quote, place the passage you are using in quotation marks and document the source according to a standard documentation style.

The following example uses the Modern Language Association's style:

Example: According to Peter S. Pritchard in USA Today, "Public schools need reform but they're irreplaceable in teaching all the nation's young" (14).

Paraphrase: using someone's ideas, but putting them in your own words. This is probably the skill you will use most when incorporating sources into your writing. Although you use your own words to paraphrase, you must still acknowledge the source of the information.