Writing Skills CCC “What is Plagiarism?

” and Questions

In order to write an effective research paper, students must be able to validate their own
argument, idea, or proposal with evidence gathered by other experts in the related field. To do this,
students must first be able to identify the different types of sources and how to cite them correctly. This
skill is crucial to avoid plagiarism which can lead to an instant failing grade and, in most cases, dismissal
from the academic institution.

What is Plagiarism?

According to the “Harvard Guide to Using Sources” provided by Harvard university,

“In academic writing, it is considered plagiarism to draw any idea or any language from someone else without
adequately crediting that source in your paper. It doesn't matter whether the source is a published author, another student, a
Web site without clear authorship, a Web site that sells academic papers, or any other person: Taking credit for anyone else's
work is stealing, and it is unacceptable in all academic situations, whether you do it intentionally or by accident” 1

How can you avoid plagiarizing somebody else’s work? You have to know when a citation is
necessary. The writer’s handbook website offers an excellent guide,
Specific words and phrases

If you use an author's specific word or words, you must place those words within quotation marks and you must credit the
source.

Information and Ideas

Even if you use your own words, if you obtained the information or ideas you are presenting from a source, you must document
the source.

Information: If a piece of information isn't common knowledge (see below), you need to provide a source.

Ideas: An author's ideas may include not only points made and conclusions drawn, but, for instance, a specific method or
theory, the arrangement of material, or a list of steps in a process or characteristics of a medical condition. If a source provided
any of these, you need to acknowledge the source.

Common Knowledge?

You do not need to cite a source for material considered common knowledge:

General common knowledge is factual information considered to be in the public domain, such as birth and death dates of
well-known figures, and generally accepted dates of military, political, literary, and other historical events. In general, factual
information contained in multiple standard reference works can usually be considered to be in the public domain.

Field-specific common knowledge is "common" only within a particular field or specialty. It may include facts, theories, or
methods that are familiar to readers within that discipline. For instance, you may not need to cite a reference to Piaget's
developmental stages in a paper for an education class or give a source for your description of a commonly used method in a
biology report—but you must be sure that this information is so widely known within that field that it will be shared by your
readers.2

1
http://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k70847&pageid=icb.page342054
2
http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_plagiarism.html
Writing Skills CCC “What is Plagiarism?” and Questions

If in doubt, be cautious and cite the source. And in the case of both general and field-specific common knowledge, if you use
the exact words of the reference source, you must use quotation marks and credit the source.

Knowing what kind of source you are using is an important first step to citing your source.

Here are some examples of the most common sources and their MLA citation formats. Keep in
mind however, that these are only a few different examples; there are many different sources
and formats.

Book Citation Format:

Author. Book title. City of Publication: Publisher, year of publication. Medium of publication

(Print for books).

Periodical Article Format:

Author. "Title of Article." Title of Periodical volume # and issue # for scholarly journals (date of
publication in parentheses for scholarly journals): page numbers. Method of publication ("Print"
if it is a paper periodical).

Full-text Periodical Articles from an Electronic Database:

Author. "Article Title." Journal Title. Publication information (see examples above; if the article
has no pagination, use n. pag.). Title of database (italicized). Method of publication ("Web" for
an article from an online database). Date of access (day, month, year). 3

Keep in mind that Wikipedia is not a valid source. While it can be useful when looking up quick
information, most of what Wikipedia provides can be edited by anybody, making it both unreliable and
misleading.

Questions

 Why is Plagiarism taken so seriously within academic institutions?

 When should you cite a source for your project?
 When is it ok not to cite information?
 Critical Thinking question: Explain why it is important to enforce the prevention of plagiarism. If
plagiarism was not strictly forbidden, what would happen?

3
http://www.library.okstate.edu/guides/style/mla.htm