Defining Plagiarism
- Plagiarism is an act of academic dishonesty, which violates the UAH Code of Student Conduct and threatens the academic integrity of the University.
- The UAH Code of Student Conduct in the UAH Student Handbook, defines plagiarism as “the use of any other person’s work (such work need not be copyrighted) and the unacknowledged incorporation of that work in one’s own work offered in fulfillment of academic requirements” (93).
- Plagiarism encompasses a wide range of activities, including passing off another’s ideas as one’s own, using an outside source without crediting that source, or presenting an idea as new and original, when it really came from an existing source.
- Refer to the section on Academic Integrity to learn more why academic integrity is important and how plagiarizing threatens academic integrity.
Avoiding Plagiarism
*Here is a list of suggestions to help you avoid plagiarism.
Planning before Writing
- Writing a strong paper requires sufficient planning and revising, skills that also can help you to avoid plagiarism.
- Students often plagiarize because they wait until the last minute to write their papers and run out of time.
- Brainstorm the ideas and points that you want to make in your paper and try to come up with a tentative outline.
- Decide how you want to use your sources in your paper by “working out a balance between the ideas you have taken from other sources and your own, original ideas” (“Plagiarism Prevention”).
- Writing an outline or coming up with a thesis statement will help you to only incorporate sources that support what you are trying to say.
- If you plan, you will have time to ask you instructor questions about any confusion you have about plagiarism or the particular citation style expected in the course.
Note-taking
- To organize your research before starting to write, take thorough notes from your outside sources.
- As you read through your sources, refer to your outline or thesis to pick out research that relates to or supports your ideas.
- Write notes about the source, including how you are going to use that source and the bibliographic information.
- Taking notes gives you the opportunity to paraphrase ideas from outside sources that you do not want to quote. Then, when you begin to write your paper, you will already have your source information organized to fit into your own ideas and thoughts. Additionally, you will already have the bibliographic information on hand, so that you can immediately include in-text citations and add the source to your works cited or reference page.
Evaluating Sources
- It is especially important to evaluate Internet sources to make sure that those sources are credible and relevant to your paper.
- Make sure you know the author of the source, where their information comes from, and the publication date.
- Evaluating your sources will ensure that you only include strong sources to support your ideas.
Citing Sources
- When you come to a point that you want to incorporate an outside source, make sure to cite the source immediately!
- If you are not sure whether or not you should cite information or whether that information is common knowledge, either ask an instructor what you should do or “when in doubt, cite sources” (“Plagiarism Prevention).
- You may also want to refer to the Terminology section of this web site to refresh your memory about the definition of common knowledge.
- Check out the section on Proper Citation of Sources to ensure that you are using the correct citation guidelines.
Differentiating between Sources
- When citing sources, make sure to clearly differentiate between your ideas and information from sources.
- Clearly name the author of the source in the signal phrase of the citation or the parenthetical reference.
- If you are using more than one outside source in a row, you may want to avoid using pronouns such as “he” or “she” to identify your sources, in order to avoid confusion.
Knowing how to Paraphrase
- Paraphrasing is defined as “reproducing the exact content of the original message but in your own words” (“How to Use” 1). In other words, you put another person’s ideas into your own words.
- Paraphrasing does not mean that you simply change one or two words of the original information.
- You must think about the idea long enough to be able to summarize it in your own words.
- You may even want to read the information a couple of times and then put the source away and try to paraphrase the idea.
- Remember, that paraphrases must be cited, because you are still using another person’s idea.
- Here is are examples of properly and improperly paraphrased information
(“Plagiarism and How to Avoid It!”):
Original Wording: “Such ‘story myths’ are not told for their entertainment value. They provide answers to questions people ask about life, about society and about the world in which they live.”
Misuse of Source: Davidson explains that story myths are not for entertainment purposes rather they serve as answers to questions people ask about life, about society and about the world in which they live (10).
*Although the student does cite the information, this is not a paraphrase because he or she does not put the information into his or her own words. The student uses exact words and phrases from the original source.
Proper Paraphrase: As Davidson explains, the importance of “story myths” is in their relevance to the everyday lives of their readers (10).
*This is a proper paraphrase because the student correctly gives the author credit and puts the information into his or her own words.
*Paraphrasing is an effective way to avoid too many quotes with outside sources, which can sometimes minimize the effect of your own voice in the paper. Paraphrases usually transition very well into your own ideas.
Knowing how to Summarize
- To summarize is to “convey the main idea or argument a writer makes in your own words” (“How to Use Sources” 1).
- Writers often use summaries when they are using a theory or idea as the framework for their argument. They summarize very complex theories or ideas for their readers.
- Effective summaries clarify the main parts of the author’s message or argument, condense the author’s idea, and express the author’s key idea (“How to Use Sources” 2).
- To avoid plagiarism, make sure to provide a signal phrase at the beginning of the summary to identify whose information you are using and also provide documentation information, such as the date and page numbers, at the end of the summary.
- Here are examples of properly and improperly summarized information
(“How to Use Sources” 1): Original Wording:
The big picture is about knowledge building: each piece of reported
research adds to the collective construction of knowledge. Research
serves as the foundation on which new contributions to knowledge are
built. Without citation, there is no reliable and organized system
for knowledge building, no mortar for securing the foundation.
Misuse of Source: Walker and Taylor say that the big picture is about knowledge building (9).
*This is not a proper summary because even though the writer did acknowledge the authors of the information, he or she did summarize the information into his or her own words. The writer uses the exact words from the original material. In addition, the writer does not really capture the main idea of the authors’ information.
Proper Summary: Walker and Taylor point out that the real purpose of citation is to create a shared knowledge base (9).
*This is a good summary because it is in the writer’s own words, yet it still captures the authors’ main idea, without too many details. In addition, the writer acknowledges the source.
Knowing how to Quote
- When you cannot seem to effectively paraphrase or summarize an important idea, this usually means that the author has a unique way of expressing an idea, and it would be worthwhile for you to include that quote to support your ideas.
- When you quote a source, you copy the original wording exactly and put quotation marks at the beginning and the end of the quoted material.
- Make sure to introduce the quote with a signal phrase.
- See the section on Proper Citation of Sources for more on signal phrases.
- After the quote, provide an explanation for the quote, in terms of how it relates to the rest of the paragraph and the paper as a whole. Quotes do not speak for themselves.
Asking for Help
- If you ever have a question about plagiarism, citing sources, academic misconduct, academic integrity, or anything else, always go to a faculty member or an administrator with your questions.
- It is never worth getting accused of plagiarism, simply because you did not understand a particular citation style or whether or not an idea is common knowledge.
- You can refer to other sections in this web site, such as Terminology, Proper Citation of Sources, Academic Integrity, and Student Rights and Responsibilities.
- When in doubt, ask someone!
