Plagiarism and Referencing

Plagiarism and ReferencingStudent Development Services

Writing Support CentreUCC 210

www.sds.uwo.ca/writing

Student Development ServicesWriting Support Centre

UCC 210www.sds.uwo.ca/writing

What is plagiarism?What is

plagiarism?

“Act or an instance of copying or stealing another’s words or ideas and attributing them as one’s own.”

Black’s Law Dictionary

PlagiarismPlagiarism

Two root causes:

Unaware of plagiarism

Intending to cheat

This Is PlagiarismThis Is

PlagiarismOriginal

The Vmax and Km values were determined via analysis of the Michaelis-Menten, Lineweaver-Burk and Eadie-Hofstee plots

Submission

The Vmax and Km values were calculated using the Michaelis-Menten, Lineweaver-Burk and Eadie-Hofstee equations and plots

Avoiding PlagiarismAvoiding Plagiarism

Paraphrasing

Proper citation

ParaphrasingParaphrasing

Keeping the meaning, but using different words for a text

Shows you understand, and can explain concepts

May be shorter or longer than original text

Key is to detach yourself

ParaphrasingParaphrasing

1- Read the text

2- Select the relevant points

Highlight/underline/cut and paste

3- Rewrite using synonyms

4- Change the sentence structure

4- Changing Structure

4- Changing Structure

Break up and/or join sentences

Change the order in which ideas are presented (must retain clarity though)

Use different linking words and transitions

Conform with your writing style

Proper CitationProper Citation

Acknowledging the ideas of other authors

Foundation of academia

Two aspects:

Within text

Reference list

Within TextWithin Text

Lets the reader know an idea came from somewhere else

Two methods:

Integrated into Sentence

After the Fact

Within Text: Integrated

Within Text: Integrated

Author’s finding / action becomes part of the sentence

Example:

Jenkins et al. (2001) found that milk was depleted of 13C by 2‰ relative to maternal plasma.

Tense is important

Within Text: After the FactWithin Text: After the Fact

Implies that the preceding idea comes from the cited reference

Most common in science articles

Example:

Animal tissues are usually enriched in 15N by 3 to 5‰ compared to diet (DeNiro and Epstein, 1981).

After the FactAfter the Fact

Allows multiple references within the same sentence

Examples:

Milk composition may change during lactation (Nicholas, 1991; Veloso, 2003).

The δ13C values of animal tissues and diet do not differ (DeNiro, 1978), providing information on consumed plant and tissue types (Ambrose and DeNiro, 1986).

Reference ListReference ListCollection of all references used in the text

Different than a bibliography

Allows readers to find articles you cite

Very strict format; different for most disciplines, most journals

Alphabetical order by first author’s last name

Reference ExampleReference Example

DeNiro MJ, Epstein S. 1981. Influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 45:341-351.

Final Referencing Advice

Final Referencing Advice

Don’t cite everything you read

Find the best references

To avoid plagiarism, work ahead