Avoiding Plagiarism

   
 

Read this excerpt from The World Book

About 338,000 women served in the armed forces. At home, automobile plants and other factories were converted into defense plants where airplanes, ships, weapons, and other war supplies were made. The country had a shortage of civilian men, and so thousands of women worked in the defense plants. With a combination of humor and admiration, people called the women defense workers Rosie the Riveter. Even children took part in the war effort. Boys and girls collected used tin cans, old tires, and other "junk" that could be recycled and used for war supplies.

Handlin, Oscar. "United States, History of the." World Book Online Reference Center. 2006. Arundel Library. Aug. 29, 2006. <http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar576000>.

   
 

The two paragraphs below are examples of plagiarism from The World Book article above.

Paragraph 1

About 338,000 women participated in the armed forces. In the U.S., automobile plants and other factories were changed into defense plants where planes, battleships, tanks, and other war supplies were made. Thousands of women worked in the defense plants because there was a shortage of civilian men. People called the women defense workers " Rosie the Riveter." Even children took part in the war effort. Boys and girls gathered used tin cans, used tires, and other "junk" that could be recycled and used for war supplies.

Paragraph 1 is blatant and willful plagiarism. The student in this case, cut and pasted the article from the World Book Online, then changed some words, rearranged the structure of a sentence, and deleted a few phrases. The student does not cite the original source for fear that he will be discovered.

Paragraph 2

Women were important to the war effort in many ways. Almost 350,000 women were soldiers in the armed forces. On the home front there were not enough men to work in factories so lots of women labored in defense plants. These workers were admiringly known as Rosie the Riveter. Children helped out in the fight too. They gathered scrap materials that could be remade into war supplies.

Works Cited: Handlin, Oscar. "United States, History of the." World Book Online Reference Center. 2006. Arundel Library. Aug. 29, 2006. <http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar576000>.

While there are more differences between the original text and paragraph 2, the structure, language and ideas are very similar to the original. This student took notes but they were too close to the original and in the same order. When it was time to write the research paper the student relied on his notes, and paragraph 2 would still be considered plagiarism as the content is not well paraphrased or composed originally. However, the student of paragraph 2 did a great job of citing his source.

   
 

Hints to avoid plaigirism

  • When you are taking notes, make sure that you copy all original passages in quotation marks.
  • Paraphrase by really putting ideas into your own words; go beyond changing a few words. Recognize that paraphrasing of unique ideas and facts also requires citation.
  • As you write, return to the text and check your paraphrase against the original source to make sure you haven’t unintentionally copied.
  • Use graphic organizers to restructure your facts and ideas.
  • Use your own voice to put a new twist on old information.
  • When in doubt, cite!

What is Common Knowledge?

  • You don’t have to cite everything. Facts or ideas referred to as “common knowledge” do not have to be cited.
  • Common knowledge includes facts that are found in many sources, facts that you assume many people know. A rule of thumb is that if you find a fact in three or more sources, it may be considered common knowledge.
  • An example of common knowledge is that John Adams married Abigail Smith.
   
 

Resources

Plagiarism vs. Documentation
:http://mciu.org/~spjvweb/plagdoc.html

Avoiding Plagiarism: A Guide for Students
http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/plagiarism/students/

   
 

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