Plagiarism

Plagiarism for the purposes of your paper for this course will be defined as representing any work or idea that you have not created as your own. It is especially easy when using electronic sources that allow you to cut and paste text to forget to cite a source. It is also especially easy when cutting and pasting text to forget that you have directly quoted a source.

Plagiarism includes but is not limited to:

• taking an entire paper or portions of a paper from another on-line or off-line source (even with a citation of a source this is not appropriate - a paper should represent your intellectual efforts not someone else's)
• not citing a source when you have taken an idea from an author
• not citing a source and taking an entire sentence or group of sentences from an author
• closely paraphrasing what an author said without giving credit
• following the general format that an author used in terms of breaking down a topic without citing the author.
• making up citations
• falsely using a citation that does not belong to the topic being discussed

How to avoid plagiarism

• be sure to cite a source any time you use a quotation or an idea from an author
• be sure to keep accurate records as you conduct a search of where you are getting information from. Take a minute when copying an off-line article to be sure that you have the information that you will need to cite your source. This is also especially important when using on-line material - be sure to copy down the url.
• if you cut and paste information take a second to put quotations around information so that you remember that something is a quotation. Also be sure that you record where you found the information - this will save you time in the long run.
• most of the time plagiarism comes from hurried work - the feeling that you have to get something done because it is due tomorrow. Try to plan to give yourself a week to look over and perform a final edit. This is especially true for the group projects because everyone in the group should read over the final copy and make editing suggestions.
• you will also avoid plagiarism if you try to break down ideas into your own words. If you do this then then you are not likely to copy entire sentences or groups of sentences. You still need to cite the source in the paper.
• In your final edit look for large sections of the paper that have no citations, look for writing that sounds overly technical (as if an expert in a particular field wrote something), look for technical words or phrases that have no citation, look at the list of references and make sure that the article has been used correctly.

Ok, if I do this my paper will be nothing but citations & quotations

• this is partially true, you will have a lot of citations
• one way that you work your own ideas into a paper is in the way that you organize a topic. Don't read an article and just adopt the way one author broke down a topic. Think about how you want to break down the topic into smaller parts and what you think is important that your readers understand. Discuss why you broke the topic down in the way that you did. The goal is to promote understanding on the part of the reader.
• another way of working in your own ideas is in being critical of the way other present their ideas. What information did the author leave out that you can add? What was useful about the way the author presented their topic? What was wrong with the author's perspective on a topic and what would you add?
• you will avoid a paper with citation after citation if you avoid writing a paper that is just a series of cut and pasted text from different sources that you have organized in some way. This may be a starting point but part of the way you add your own voice to a paper is thinking deeply about the issues and adding your own analysis to what others have said. Good papers require a lot of analysis and synthesis of ideas on your part.
• Avoid using lots of quotations in a paper. A quotation serves as an attention getting mechanism in a paper. With a quotation you are highlighting the fact that an issue is so important that it deserves special attention. Use quotations only when you are trying to make an important point in the paper and someone has said something so well that there is no other way to say it. If you use a quotation then be sure to cite it.
• If you only change one or two words then you should just quote the entire sentence and cite the author.
• In general you should avoid trying to rephrase what an author is saying sentence by sentence. Think about what the author is saying in an entire section and try to identify key issues and paraphrase these (along with citing the source).

How do I Cite My Sources:

• In the paper there are a lot of ways to cite your information.
• One way is to directly say - Smith (196) reported that ....
• Another way is to talk about a particular idea and then put a reference to the author or authors & the date of the article at the end of the sentence - Ex. One common cause of stress among seniors is trying to find a job upon graduation (Smith, 1995; Williams, 1997).
• You can also cite multiple authors - Ex. Several authors (Smith, 1995; Thomas, 1990, Williams, 1997) have reported that one of the leading causes of stress for seniors is trying to find a job upon graduation.
• Common styles for citing references are APA and MLA. There is also a guide for citing on-line sources available at: Electronic Sources: APA Style of Citation

The Penalty for Plagiarism:

If any section of the paper for this course is plagiarized then entire group will receive an F (0 points) for the project. Even if you did not work on the section that is plagiarized you will receive an F. All group members are responsible for reading all sections of the paper to make sure that they are consistent, well integrated, and contain correct citations. All incidents of plagiarism will be reported to the Speech Communication Department and the Student Conduct Board.

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