Plagarism

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An integral part of written communication is the free exchange of words and ideas. Using the words and ideas of others is unavoidable and even encouraged. A research paper, for example, uses others’ words and ideas to support important claims or create accurate descriptions. However, using words and ideas without giving proper credit is plagiarism.

 

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is avoided by properly documenting sources. This generally requires linking sources used in your paper to footnotes, endnotes, or a works cited lists, according to a specific documentation style. In particular, it is important to properly document another person’s words and properly document another person’s ideas.

Note: For more information on specific styles of documentation, see the handouts on APA, MLA, Turabian, and CSE style. For further information, see other citation resources.

Documenting words

When using another person’s words, expressions, sentences, or paragraphs, quote the borrowed content. This is accomplished through the use of quotation marks or proper indentation, depending on length and documentation style. In addition, the source of the quoted material must be properly documented, including the specific page number(s) if possible.

Documenting ideas

Most college students are aware that reproducing another person’s words without proper quotation and documentation is plagiarism. A less understood form of plagiarism, however, is using another person’s ideas as if they were one’s own. This often occurs when a student paraphrases or summarizes another source improperly, or without documentation.

Paraphrasing

An important mode of written communication is paraphrasing: accurately stating another person’s ideas in your own words. When paraphrasing, you do not need to document the words—they are yours. You do, however, need to document the idea; it is not yours. Failure to do so is plagiarism. This is illustrated in the example below, which gives an original quote, followed by one improper and one proper paraphrase:

Original quote, from the BYU academic honesty policy: “Cheating is a form of dishonesty where a student attempts to give the appearance of a level of knowledge or skill that the student has not obtained.”
Improper paraphrase: Cheating is a kind of dishonesty in which a student attempts to give an appearance of a certain level of knowledge or skill that the student has not actually obtained.

This example plagiarizes in two ways. First, the idea is not documented. Even if the words are the author’s own, the idea must be documented. Second, the idea is not adequately restructured into the author’s own words. Instead, a few words are merely changed, omitted, or added. This practice is tempting because it is easier than legitimate paraphrasing, it looks more original than quoted material, and it is difficult to detect. It is plagiarism, however, because it gives a false impression of originality and fails to give credit where it is due.

Proper paraphrase: According to the BYU academic honesty policy, cheating is a dishonest act in which students attempt to portray greater knowledge or ability than they actually have (p. 2).

This revision fixes both problems discussed above. First, it provides proper documentation, including a specific page number. Second, it does more than modify a few words. The wording is somewhat similar, but it is clearly reframed into the author’s own words, and communicates the same idea.

Summarizing

When done properly, summarizing is an effective way of using another person’s research concisely and avoiding plagiarism. Unlike paraphrasing, summarizing requires condensing information—restructuring another person’s idea into fewer words. Like paraphrasing, however, the words must be your own and the idea must be documented. Some students do not understand that using summarized information without documentation is plagiarism.

 

Using Common Knowledge

Many words and ideas used in academic papers are “common knowledge”: they are so commonplace that they do not belong to anyone and, therefore, do not need to be documented. Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether a fact or idea is common knowledge. Here are a few tips that might help:

If an idea is found in general reference materials, it is probably common knowledge. For example, virtually any general encyclopedia will say that George Washington was born in Westmoreland Co., Virginia, on Feb. 22, 1732. As you “get into less commonly known details,” however, you “enter the realm of research and the need to document” (Troyka 556). For example, it is not common knowledge that Washington was actually born on Feb. 11, but after the 1752 institution of the Gregorian calendar, the date was corrected to Feb. 22. (Library of Congress, “Today in History: Feb. 22.” <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb22.html>)

Common knowledge in one subject or discipline might not be common knowledge in another. As students become more familiar with subjects and disciplines of interest, they discover what is considered common knowledge as well as develop an intuitive sense for detecting such.

If uncertain, play it safe: document it!

 

Consequences of Plagiarism

In all cases, plagiarism has negative consequences (see Gibaldi, 2.2). Specific consequences depend on whether the student is caught and whether the plagiarism is intentional or substantial. Minor unintentional plagiarism may affect a student’s grade, but it alone is probably not grounds for failing a class or receiving disciplinary action. Intentional or substantial plagiarism, however, may be grounds for failing an assignment or class, receiving disciplinary action, and being suspended or dismissed from the university.

 

Bibliography:

Brigham Young University. “Academic Honesty.” Church Educational System Honor Code. 29 July 2005 <http://campuslife.byu.edu/honorcode/honor_code.htm>. Note: The page number (p. 2) used in the “proper paraphrase” example is artificial. It was added in order to emphasize the importance of providing page numbers.

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2003.

Troyka, Lynn Quitman. Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1993.

Dennis Wendt, Jr., summer 2005