PLAGIARISM TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM? LET’S COME UP WITH A DEFINITION…

FORMS OF PLAGIARISM SEVERAL TYPES OF PLAGIARISM VARYING DEGREES OF SERIOUSNESS ANY KIND OF PLAGIARISM IS ACADEMIC DISHONESTY SERIOUS PLAGIARISM CAN RESULT IN ACADEMIC PROBATION OR EXPULSION FROM UNIVERSITY OR CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS.

EXAMPLE TEXT CITING COMPELLING FOSSIL EVIDENCE THAT THE PREHISTORIC SPECIES DIED SUDDENLY AND TREACHEROUSLY, PALEONTOLOGISTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY ANNOUNCED MONDAY THAT DINOSAURS WERE ALMOST CERTAINLY KILLED BY SOMEONE THEY TRUSTED. “OUR FINDINGS INDICATE THAT SOMEONE, WE DON’T KNOW WHO, SPENT AT LEAST 150 MILLION YEARS GAINING THE CONFIDENCE OF DINOSAURS BEFORE ABRUPTLY BETRAYING THEM AND TAKING THEIR LIVES NEAR THE END OF THE CRETACEOUS ERA,” SAID LEAD RESEARCHER PROFESSOR JANET BOWER, ADDING THAT DINOSAURS LIKELY HAD AN INNATELY INNOCENT AND UNSUSPECTING NATURE THAT THIS INDIVIDUAL COULD EXPLOIT TO GET WITHIN EASY STRIKING DISTANCE. "PALEONTOLOGISTS DETERMINE DINOSAURS WERE KILLED BY SOMEONE THEY TRUSTED." THE ONION. N.P., 17 NOV WEB. 26 JAN

IMPROPER CITATION FAILURE TO PROPERLY CITE A SOURCE. DINOSAURS DIED SUDDENLY, POSSIBLY AT THE HANDS OF SOMEONE THEY KNEW AND TRUSTED, ACCORDING TO PALEONTOLOGISTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY. JANET BOWER, WHO LED THE RESEARCH, SAID, “OUR FINDINGS INDICATE THAT SOMEONE, WE DON’T KNOW WHO, SPENT AT LEAST 150 MILLION YEARS GAINING THE CONFIDENCE OF DINOSAURS BEFORE ABRUPTLY BETRAYING THEM AND TAKING THEIR LIVES NEAR THE END OF THE CRETACEOUS ERA…” WHERE DID THIS INFORMATION COME FROM? IF THE WRITER DOESN’T TELL US, THIS IS PLAGIARISM.

IMPROPER CITATION: FIX IT DINOSAURS DIED SUDDENLY, POSSIBLY AT THE HANDS OF SOMEONE THEY KNEW AND TRUSTED, ACCORDING TO PALEONTOLOGISTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY. JANET BOWER, WHO LED THE RESEARCH, SAID, “OUR FINDINGS INDICATE THAT SOMEONE, WE DON’T KNOW WHO, SPENT AT LEAST 150 MILLION YEARS GAINING THE CONFIDENCE OF DINOSAURS BEFORE ABRUPTLY BETRAYING THEM AND TAKING THEIR LIVES NEAR THE END OF THE CRETACEOUS ERA…” (PALEONTOLOGISTS).

IMPROPER IDEA BORROWING FAILURE TO CITE ANOTHER’S IDEAS DINOSAURS KNEW AND TRUSTED THEIR KILLERS. INSTEAD OF A SLOW EXTINCTION, DINOSAURS DIED SUDDENLY WHEN THEY WERE BETRAYED BY SOMEONE THEY HAD KNOWN FOR 150 MILLION YEARS. THE DINOSAURS WERE MURDERED BY A FRIEND. THIS IS NOT THE WRITER’S ORIGINAL IDEA, SO S/HE CANNOT TAKE CREDIT FOR IT. IF WE DON’T GIVE CREDIT TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAD THE ORIGINAL IDEA, THIS IS PLAGIARISM.

IMPROPER IDEA BORROWING: FIX IT DINOSAURS KNEW AND TRUSTED THEIR KILLERS. INSTEAD OF A SLOW EXTINCTION, DINOSAURS DIED SUDDENLY WHEN THEY WERE BETRAYED BY SOMEONE THEY HAD KNOWN FOR 150 MILLION YEARS. THE DINOSAURS WERE MURDERED BY A FRIEND (PALEONTOLOGISTS). OR (EVEN BETTER) ACCORDING TO AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE ONION, WE NOW KNOW THAT DINOSAURS KNEW AND TRUSTED THEIR KILLERS. INSTEAD OF A SLOW EXTINCTION, DINOSAURS DIED SUDDENLY WHEN THEY WERE BETRAYED BY SOMEONE THEY HAD KNOWN FOR 150 MILLION YEARS. THE DINOSAURS WERE MURDERED BY A FRIEND (PALEONTOLOGISTS).

FORGERY TURNING IN ANOTHER PERSON’S WORK AS YOUR OWN. CITING COMPELLING FOSSIL EVIDENCE THAT THE PREHISTORIC SPECIES DIED SUDDENLY AND TREACHEROUSLY, PALEONTOLOGISTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY ANNOUNCED MONDAY THAT DINOSAURS WERE ALMOST CERTAINLY KILLED BY SOMEONE THEY TRUSTED. SOMEONE, WE DON’T KNOW WHO, SPENT AT LEAST 150 MILLION YEARS GAINING THE CONFIDENCE OF DINOSAURS BEFORE ABRUPTLY BETRAYING THEM AND TAKING THEIR LIVES NEAR THE END OF THE CRETACEOUS ERA. DINOSAURS LIKELY HAD AN INNATELY INNOCENT AND UNSUSPECTING NATURE THAT THIS INDIVIDUAL COULD EXPLOIT TO GET WITHIN EASY STRIKING DISTANCE. THE WRITER REMOVED A FEW WORDS AND PASSED THIS INFORMATION OFF AS HER/HIS OWN. WHEN WE STEAL SOMEONE’S WORDS, THIS IS THE WORST KIND OF PLAGIARISM.

FORGERY: THE FIX DON’T TAKE WORDS DIRECTLY FROM A SOURCE UNLESS YOU QUOTE THEM AND CITE THEM. THIS IS THE EASIEST FORM OF PLAGIARISM TO AVOID. THIS IS ALSO THE EASIEST FORM OF PLAGIARISM TO DETECT. IT TAKES THE AVERAGE TEACHER 3.4 SECONDS TO SPOT PLAGIARISM, AND FEWER THAN TWO MINUTES TO FIND THE SOURCE MATERIAL.

WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES? IMPROPER CITATION FIVE (5) POINTS WILL BE DEDUCTED FOR EACH IMPROPER CITATION. IMPROPER IDEA BORROWING TEN (10) POINTS WILL BE DEDUCTED FOR EACH IDEA THAT IS IMPROPERLY BORROWED. FORGERY YOU WILL HAVE TO WRITE AN ENTIRELY NEW PAPER ON A TOPIC I ASSIGN, 30 POINTS WILL BE DEDUCTED FROM THE FINAL GRADE OF THE REWRITTEN PAPER, AND WE WILL HAVE A CONFERENCE WITH YOUR PARENT/GUARDIAN.

HOW TO ADD QUOTES THE CORRECT WAY TO USE PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS

WHAT IS A PARENTHETICAL CITATION? WHEN YOU QUOTE OR PARAPHRASE SOMEONE ELSE’S IDEA, YOU NEED TO GIVE THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR CREDIT. YOU LET THE READER KNOW WHICH SOURCE THE WORDS OR IDEAS CAME FROM BY USING A PARENTHETICAL CITATION. THE PARENTHETICAL CITATION REFERS YOUR READER TO THE WORKS CITED PAGE, WHERE S/HE CAN FIND OUT EXACTLY WHERE THE INFORMATION CAME FROM.

MLA FORMAT PUT THE FIRST WORD OF THE WORKS CITED ENTRY IN PARENTHESIS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE QUOTE AND JUST BEFORE THE PERIOD TO THE SENTENCE. “CITING COMPELLING FOSSIL EVIDENCE THAT THE PREHISTORIC SPECIES DIED SUDDENLY AND TREACHEROUSLY, PALEONTOLOGISTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY ANNOUNCED…THAT DINOSAURS WERE ALMOST CERTAINLY KILLED BY SOMEONE THEY TRUSTED” (PALEONTOLOGISTS). EVEN BETTER: AFTER THEY FOUND FOSSILS THAT PROVED DINOSAURS DIED QUICKLY AND VIOLENTLY, PALEONTOLOGISTS SAID, “DINOSAURS WERE ALMOST CERTAINLY KILLED BY SOMEONE THEY TRUSTED” (PALEONTOLOGISTS).

EFFECTIVE QUOTES PART OF A SENTENCE, NOT AN ENTIRE SENTENCE OR PARAGRAPH. NEVER A PARAGRAPH. SUPPORT YOUR IDEAS, NOT STATE THEM FOR YOU. NO MORE THAN ONE PER PARAGRAPH. PROPERLY CITED

BLOCK QUOTES IF THE QUOTE YOU ARE USING IS MORE THAN THREE LINES LONG, YOU MUST USE A BLOCK QUOTE. INDENT THE ENTIRE QUOTE TEN SPACES, DO NOT USE QUOTATION MARKS, AND PLACE THE PARENTHETICAL CITATION AT THE END OF THE LAST LINE. USE ONLY IF YOU HAVE TO; BLOCK QUOTES ARE WEAK. MORE THAN ONE BLOCK QUOTE IN AN ESSAY WILL HAVE A DETRIMENTAL EFFECT ON YOUR GRADE.

PARAPHRASING WHEN YOU SUMMARIZE SOMEONE ELSE’S WORDS OR RESEARCH IN YOUR OWN WORDS (BUT THE IDEAS ARE NOT YOUR OWN), YOU MUST CITE THIS. RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, BELIEVE THAT DINOSAURS BECAME EXTINCT BECAUSE SOMEONE THEY KNEW KILLED THEM. THESE INDIVIDUALS MUST HAVE EARNED THEIR TRUST OVER TIME, THEN SUDDENLY MURDERED THEM (PALEONTOLOGISTS).

“BUT EVERYTHING IS SOMEONE ELSE’S IDEA!” THE FACT MAY BELONG TO SOMEONE ELSE, BUT YOUR RESPONSE TO IT IS YOUR OWN. THE MAJORITY OF YOUR PAPER SHOULD BE TELLING YOUR READER WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE INFORMATION. WHEN IN DOUBT, CITE THE INFORMATION.

WORKS CITED PAGE GOES AT THE END A LIST OF THE SOURCES YOU ACTUALLY USED IN THE PAPER MLA SOURCE CITATIONS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER NO ANNOTATIONS