And, you don't want your instructor to think that you got all of your information from somewhere else. But if it is unclear whether an idea in your paper really came from you, or whether you got it from somewhere else and just changed it a little, you should always cite your source.
Instead of weakening your paper and making it seem like you have fewer original ideas, this will actually strengthen your paper by:. Even if you cite sources, ambiguity in your phrasing can often disguise the real source of any given idea, causing inadvertent plagiarism.
Make sure when you mix your own ideas with those of your sources that you always clearly distinguish them. If you are discussing the ideas of more than one person, watch out for confusing pronouns. For example, imagine you are talking about Harold Bloom's discussion of James Joyce's opinion of Shakespeare, and you write: "He brilliantly portrayed the situation of a writer in society at that time.
Bloom, Joyce, or Shakespeare? Who is the "writer": Joyce, Shakespeare, or one of their characters? Always make sure to distinguish who said what, and give credit to the right person. A paraphrase is a restatement in your own words of someone else's ideas. Changing a few words of the original sentences does NOT make your writing a legitimate paraphrase. You must change both the words and the sentence structure of the original, without changing the content.
Also, you should keep in mind that paraphrased passages still require citation because the ideas came from another source, even though you are putting them in your own words. The purpose of paraphrasing is not to make it seem like you are drawing less directly from other sources or to reduce the number of quotations in your paper.
It is a common misconception among students that you need to hide the fact that you rely on other sources. Actually it is advantageous to highlight the fact that other sources support your own ideas. Such plagiarism may be accidental, but its consequences are the same as for intentional plagiarism.
People may be tempted to plagiarize for several reasons e. A responsible use of sources recognizes that identity and distinguishes clearly between what you think and what the sources think.
The end of the paper would include a bibliographical entry giving the author, the title of the source, the publisher, date of publication, etc. What is Plagiarism? Plagiarism is sometimes seen as intellectual theft —plagiarism. Accidental Plagiarism Accidental plagiarism usually occurs because we do not understand the cultural conventions of academic writing and citation.
Consequences of Plagiarizing Plagiarism in the academic world can lead to everything from failure for the course to expulsion from the college or university. Avoid Plagiarizing by Citing Sources Five basic rules exist regarding the use of information in professional and in academic writing: If we use the language of a source, we must quote it exactly, enclose it in quotation marks, and cite the source.
If we use ideas or information that are not common knowledge, we must cite the source. When in doubt, we cite the source. Doing so only enhances our readers sense of your honesty. Reasons to Avoid Intentional Plagiarism People may be tempted to plagiarize for several reasons e. But there are better reasons for not plagiarizing. If we have writing problems, identifying them early gives us plenty of opportunity to improve our skills e. We will engage with the ideas and thus deepen our critical thinking and writing skills.
We will add authority to what you write by citing sources. We will learn to question all ideas. Without struggling to understand, interpret, and argue with ideas, our own ideas never develop fully, and we will tend to see issues superficially again, a profoundly dangerous thing in any profession and in any society.
We will learn to voice our own ideas. We will avoid the penalties of plagiarism if we get caught. Procedures and methods sections of technical and scientific articles and laboratory reports provide readers with information sufficient to replicate both the method and data described in the document.
Long quotations should be formatted as block quotes. Paraphrasing does not mean just switching out a few words from a copied-and-pasted text. Scribbr Plagiarism Checker. Every time you quote or paraphrase, you must include an in-text or footnote citation clearly identifying the original author. Each citation must correspond to a full reference in the reference list or bibliography at the end of your paper.
This helps your readers locate the source for themselves if they would like to learn more. There are many different citation styles, and each one has its own rules. Your instructor may assign a particular style for you to use, or perhaps you can choose.
However, the most important thing is to apply one style consistently throughout the text. Before submitting your paper, check it carefully for errors that might constitute accidental plagiarism. Common mistakes include:. Most universities use plagiarism checkers to detect potential plagiarism. Plagiarism checkers work by scanning your document, comparing it to a database of web pages and publications, and highlighting passages that it determines are similar to other texts.
Consider using a plagiarism checker yourself before submitting your paper. Then you can follow the steps above to easily fix any instances of potential plagiarism. There are differences in accuracy and safety between plagiarism checkers. To help students choose, we conducted in-depth research comparing the performance of 9 checkers to see which performed best.
It can detect inconsistencies between your in-text citations and your reference list, as well as making sure your citations are flawlessly formatted. Use this checklist to make sure your writing is free from plagiarism. I have included an in-text citation every time I use words, ideas, or information from a source.
Every source I cited is included in my reference list or bibliography. I have consistently followed the rules of my required citation style. I have not committed self-plagiarism by reusing any part of a previous paper. I have used a reliable plagiarism checker as a final check. Are you a teacher or professor who would like to educate your students about plagiarism?
Accidental plagiarism is one of the most common examples of plagiarism. Perhaps you forgot to cite a source, or paraphrased something a bit too closely. Also consider running your work through a plagiarism checker tool prior to submission, which work by using advanced database software to scan for matches between your text and existing texts. To avoid plagiarism when summarizing an article or other source, follow these two rules:.
It can be easier than you think to commit plagiarism by accident. Some examples of plagiarism include:.
0コメント