2018

Plagiarism and
how to avoid it

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 Plagiarism. Definition and
1 Examples

How to avoid plagiarism and

2 careless sourcing
CONTENT
3 Paraphrasing

4 Intellectual dishonesty

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1
Plagiarism. Definition
and Example

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 Plagiarism occurs when a writer
deliberately uses someone else’s
language, ideas, or other original
(not common-knowledge) material
without acknowledging its source.

Example:

Smith comes to realize that practitioners of any given faith do not from the time
immemorial come to appreciate as religion until they have developed a degree of
cultural self-regard, causing them to see their collective spiritual practices and beliefs
as in some way significantly different from the other. (highlighted parts were directly
lifted off Wikipedia)
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 How to avoid
2 plagiarism and
careless sourcing

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 One must be able to Read and digest the
think when one source material prior
writes, and thinking to writing.
is not borne out of
laziness.

Use the sources to Make sure it is done

support originally only to support an
developed ideas but argument or an idea
not to make them the and don’t forget to
main content of the cite sources.
paper.
Use the downtime to
formulate the outline of a
particular article to be able
to grasp the information,
references, researches, and
additional things needed to
come up with an article
efficiently.
Starting a writing
assignment a few days or
a few hours till deadline
will only tense you up.
Pressure is the enemy of
creativity. And a tense
writer is a dead writer.
3 Paraphrasing

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Original Text:

“However, its [television] growth was halted by the outbreak of the Second World
War, and it was not until the 1950s that development started again” (Steinberg,
2007, p. 9)

Paraphrased Version:

Television resumed its development in the 1950s after the Second World War
hampered its growth (Steinberg, 2007).

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● Paraphrasing is not merely changing the order of the words.

Original Text:

“However, its [television] growth was halted by the outbreak of the Second World
War, and it was not until the 1950s that development started again” (Steinberg,
2007, p. 9)
Paraphrased Version:

It was not until the 1950s that development started again after its growth was
halted by the outbreak of the Second World War.

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● Paraphrasing is not merely changing some of the words

Original Text:

“However, its [television] growth was halted by the outbreak of the Second World
War, and it was not until the 1950s that development started again” (Steinberg,
2007, p. 9)
Paraphrased Version:

However, its evolution was stopped by the occurrence of the Second World War,
and it was not until the 1950s that progress started again.

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● If source material cannot be paraphrased, use quotation marks with proper
in-text citation.

Instead of:

One carries out planning, budgeting, administrative control and reporting within
the framework of this program structure.

Do this:

One carries out “planning, budgeting, administrative control and reporting within
the framework of this program structure” (Rosenberg, n.d., p. 9).

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4 Intellectual dishonesty

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 listing unused sources is
plagiarizing called padding the
published material, bibliography. (Purdue
class assignments, University)
or lab reports

including sources in a padding items of a

bibliography or reference list bibliography
that you have not used in the &
preparation of your paper. fabricating data
 WHAT TO CITE:

Words or ideas Information gained Newspaper, song, TV

presented in a
magazine, book,
computer program,
letter, advertisement, or
any other medium
through interviewing or program, movie, web
conversing with page, copied exact
another person, face to words, or a unique
face, over the phone, or phrase
in writing
 WHAT TO CITE:

Reprinted diagrams, Electronically available

illustrations, charts, media, including
pictures, or other visual images, audio, video, or
materials other media
 WHAT NOT TO CITE ANYMORE:

Personal experiences, Results obtained Own artwork, digital

own observations and through lab or field photographs, video,
insights, own thoughts, experiments audio, etc.
and own conclusions
about a subject
 WHAT NOT TO CITE ANYMORE:

"Common knowledge," Generally-accepted

things like folklore, facts, e.g., in the field of
common sense composition studies,
observations, myths, "writing is a process" is
urban legends, and a generally-accepted
historical events (but not fact.
historical documents)
THANKS

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