PLAGIARISMWhat It Is, Why It's Bad, and How To Avoid It

By Vicky Ludas Orlofsky

What is Plagiarism?

The uncredited copying of another person's words or ideas.

Plagiarism = theft.

How much have you really learned if

you’re just copying someone else?

Plagiarism: An Example

Original text: "The unicorn, one of the most fabulous of all hybrid creatures, has appealed to the imagination as much as the dragon, from the early days of civilization to our own time. Not as old as the dragon, its features are not as ugly or repulsive. ... Its most significant attributes include, first of all, the single horn, which is frequently spiralled, the speed of its action, its solitary habits and the colors ascribed to its body and horn. Like the dragon it is ambivalent in character: it can be very gentle and bestow a number of benefits; it can also be the most ferocious of adversaries."

Suhr, E.G. (1964, Summer). An interpretation of the unicorn. Folklore 75(2), 91-109.

Image from: http://thinkprettythoughts.com/sto

rage/Unicorn.JPG?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=

1286026372497

Copying Without Quoting

Plagiarized: The unicorn is as much a part of cultural history as the dragon, but its features are not as ugly or repulsive. Though its physical characteristics remain relatively stable, the single horn being the most obvious, it is ambivalent in character; it can be very gentle or it can be ferocious.

How to Fix It

Fixed: The unicorn is as much a part of cultural history as the dragon, but Suhr (1964) notes that "its features are not as ugly or repulsive" (91). Though its physical characteristics remain relatively stable, the single horn being the most obvious, "it is ambivalent in character; it can be very gentle or it can be ferocious" (Suhr 1964, 91).

Back to the Unicorn

Original text: "The unicorn, one of the most fabulous of all hybrid creatures, has appealed to the imagination as much as the dragon, from the early days of civilization to our own time. Not as old as the dragon, its features are not as ugly or repulsive. ... Its most significant attributes include, first of all, the single horn, which is frequently spiralled, the speed of its action, its solitary habits and the colors ascribed to its body and horn. Like the dragon it is ambivalent in character: it can be very gentle and bestow a number of benefits; it can also be the most ferocious of adversaries."

Suhr, E.G. (1964, Summer). An interpretation of the unicorn. Folklore 75(2), 91-109.

Image from: http://thinkprettythoughts.com/sto

rage/Unicorn.JPG?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=

1286026372497

Copying Ideas or Organization

Plagiarized: The unicorn, a wondrous beast, has been as fascinating as the dragon, from ancient times to the present. Though the idea of the unicorn is younger than that of the dragon, it is much more appealing in looks, especially the single horn, which is usually a spiral. Similar to dragons, it can be either friend or foe.

How to Fix It

Fixed: Suhr describes how the mythical unicorn has been as fascinating to people as the dragon since it was first devised. Though the idea of the unicorn is younger than that of the dragon, he notes that it has been seen as much more appealing in looks, especially the single, usually spiral horn. He also cites the unicorn's ambivalence, similar to that of the dragon, in that it can be either friend or foe (Suhr 1964, 91).

Consequences

• Mild Written warning

• Severe Immediate interim suspension, suspension, expulsion, or revocation of a degree

Don’t Let This Be You!2006: Kaavya Viswanathan, Harvard sophomore, 2-book deal from

Little, Brown

“an act of literary identity theft”(Steve Ross, quoted in Zhou 2006b)

Sloppy Firsts (2001), page 7: "Bridget is my age and lives across the street. For the first twelve years of my life, these qualifications were all I needed in a best friend. But that was before Bridget's braces came off and her boyfriend Burke got on, before Hope and I met in our seventh grade Honors classes” (quoted in Zhou 2006a).

Opal Mehta (2006), page 14: "Priscilla was my age and lived two blocks away. For the first fifteen years of my life, those were the only qualifications I needed in a best friend. … But that was before freshman year, when Priscilla's glasses came off, and the first in a long string of boyfriends got on” (quoted in Zhou 2006a).

Plagiarized!

Self-Test

Ask yourself:

Am I deliberately recalling any particular source of information as

I write this paper?

Am I consulting any source as I write this paper?

(Pratt Institute Student Handbook 2012, 137)

How to Avoid ItCite it!• Put quotation marks around exact wording with the author,

year, and page number in parentheses: “My cat is furry” (Smith 1999, 23).

• Paraphrase ideas while attributing them to their original author, and include the year in parentheses: Smith (1999) said his cat was furry.

• Include everything you read or were influenced by in the list of references: Smith, M. (1999). My cat. Journal of Feline Felicities 43(2), 19-34.

Chunk it!

• "As a general rule, you should not have more than two or three direct quotes per page of writing, and these quotes should be less than four lines of text each." (Plagiarism and the internet, Strayer University 2012)

• Do a block quotation for long quotations more than 40 words, but these should be minimal!

• Anything more than that should be summarized and paraphrased, and the original source cited.

Use Turnitin!

ReferencesPratt Institute (2012). Student Handbook 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2012

from http://www.pratt.edu/uploads/5445_student_handbook_2012.pdf.

Strayer University (n.d.). Consequences of plagiarism. Retrieved 20 October 2012 from https://icampus.strayer.edu/lrc/plagiarism/consequences.

Strayer University (n.d.). Plagiarism. Retrieved 20 October 2012 from https://icampus.strayer.edu/lrc/plagiarism.

Suhr, E.G. (1964, Summer). An interpretation of the unicorn. Folklore 75(2), 91-109.

Zhou, D. (2006, April 23). Examples of similar passages between Viswanathan’s book and McCafferty’s two novels. Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 22 October 2012 from http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/4/23/examples-of-similar-passages-between-viswanathans/.

Zhou, D. (2006, April 26). Publisher rejects Soph’s apology. Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 22 October 2012 from http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/4/26/publisher-rejects-sophs-apology-the-publisher/.