INSTRUCTOR: JAMI (SALAS) ALLEN CM107 UNIT 5 SEMINAR

REVIEW Any questions from units 1-4? What TEMPTATIONS are you facing as a writer? How can you avoid them? Why is reliable research information helpful to writers?

Unit 5 Prepare for Unit 6 Project by selecting a topic and creating a thesis as well as a research plan. Search the Internet for the strongest most reliable electronic sources available. Use electronic sources appropriately and avoid plagiarism.

Research on the Internet It may seem quicker and easier than library research, but is it? And is it BETTER? With billions of sources available, how do you know Internet sources are reliable and strong? What are the dangers of Internet research? Are certain sources to be avoided?  Wikipedia? Ask.com? Dictionary.com? Are the authors identified and reputable? Are sources cited? Is information up to date? Will your reader be persuaded by your information?

RELIABLE SOURCES A simple rule of thumb is to remember that if your audience is not impressed by the source, if the audience has ANY question about the validity of the source, if the audience is given the impression that you have taken the quickest and easiest route, it’s not a good idea to use the source. The STRONGEST, BEST, MOST RELIABLE sources should be used, and sometimes this takes time and work.

Google.com vs. Googlescholar.com Google.com is a search engine that ranks sources by popularity. Does popularity mean reliability? Notice the number of.com sources that show up through any google.com search Compare that to googlescholar.com, a search engine that searches for academic sources.  Searching e-books and peer-reviewed articles is easy through this search engine.  IF a source is not accessible here because you are asked to pay a viewing fee, do not panic.  Do not pay the fee.  Simply copy the title and author and search google.com for the same source. That does not mean reliable sources are not available on the internet through google.com. It just takes more detective work. You have to sift through millions of sources. Don’t pick the first source you see. Look for articles that are REPUBLISHED on the internet. Reputable journals like The New England Journal of Medicine post on the internet. Reputable groups like the CDC post on the internet. The federal government posts information on the internet. Education groups post information on the internet. However, millions of blogs and commercial sites also post information, and they may be subjective and unreliable. Company web sites, for example, exist to SELL a product. Are they always reliable?

PRACTICE Find a RELIABLE internet source on YOUR FINAL PROJECT topic using googlescholar.com. Then find another reliable internet source through google.com (or your favorite search engine). Tell us the name of this source and why you chose it. Why do you consider that source reliable? What sources would you avoid? Are your classmates’ chosen sources actually reliable?

HOW TO CITE INTERNET SOURCES APA does not cite just by web address. Just as with any source, if the internet source has an author, it must be cited by the author and publication date: IN TEXT (Brown, 2012). REFERENCES page citation: Brown, J. (2012). How to manage employees. Retrieved from IF no author is listed, cite by the title of the page or document you are using: IN TEXT: (The dangers of alcohol, 2011). REFERENCES page citation: The dangers of alcohol. (2011). Alcoholics Anonymous. Retrieved from

YOUR TURN Find one reliable internet source on the topic you are writing on for your FINAL PROJECT. Practice citing that source. Give both an IN TEXT citation and a REFERENCES page citation.

PLAGIARISM Which of these is true?  Reusing one of your own papers is not considered plagiarism.  As long as you include a reference page at the end of your paper, you are safe.  It is ok to use someone else’s work as long as you replace a few of the words and change the sentence around a bit.  A source is plagiarized only if you forget to use quotation marks.  Plagiarism counts only if it is intentional.  “I didn’t mean to” is an acceptable excuse for plagiarism.

ANSWER That’s right. NONE of them is true. In each case, the writer could face a problem with plagiarism. WHY?  Reusing one of your own papers is not considered plagiarism. EACH PAPER MUST BE ORIGINAL FOR EACH ASSIGNMENT AND COURSE.  As long as you include a reference page at the end of your paper, you are safe. YOU MUST INDICATE WHERE YOU HAVE USED SOURCES WITHIN PARAGRAPHS, using an IN TEXT CITATION to show where you have used them.  It is ok to use someone else’s work as long as you replace a few of the words and change the sentence around a bit. YOU ARE STILL BORROWING FROM A SOURCE  A source is plagiarized only if you forget to use quotation marks. IF YOU USE EXACT WORDS, you must use quotes and include a citation. If you PARAPHRASE, you must still use an in text citation.  Plagiarism counts only if it is intentional. Not knowing what plagiarism is or not intending to would still not excuse plagiarism.  “I didn’t mean to” is NOT an acceptable excuse for plagiarism.

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM then? The KU Provost’s Office has this to say: “Plagiarism refers to academic dishonesty that can be intentional or unintentional. This can be the result of attempting to recycle your own work from another course or semester, inaccurately citing the work of someone else, failing to give credit to someone else for his or her ideas or writing, failing to summarize or paraphrase a quote in your own words, or anything else that falsely represents any part of your work. In short, be honest with your reader and yourself. Know when and how to use APA formatting and be sure that it is accurately implemented.”

What are the consequences of plagiarizing? When you present yourself in writing, your image and reputation are part of what you present. You want your audience to believe and trust you. Plagiarism costs you that trust and belief. It also has consequences that are more concrete. According to the KU Provost’s Office, “Charges of academic dishonesty brought against a student shall be made in writing by the instructor to the Provost's Office. The Provost's Office maintains a database of plagiarism offenses and a file of all plagiarism charges. When an offense has been committed, the Provost's Office sends the student a copy of the plagiarism policy and a letter of the action taken, and informs the Academic Department Chair, the Academic Advisor, and the course instructor of any plagiarism charges. Academic dishonesty is a serious offense and may result in the following sanctions: 1st offense: Failure of the assignment in which the action occurred. 2nd offense: Failure of the class in which the action occurred. 3rd offense: Expulsion or permanent dismissal from the University.”

PLAGIARISM EXERCISE Take a look at the ORIGINAL source: Because children are the future investors of capitalism, this forces advertisement to work hard in order to remain one step ahead of the competitor and the consumer. Recognizing that brand loyalty and consumer habits are formed when children are young, advertisers spend 100s of billions of dollars a year worldwide encouraging, persuading, and manipulating people into a consumer lifestyle that has devastating consequences for the environment through its extravagance and wastefulness.

Plagiarism Exercise, 2 What if this is how a writer uses that source? Children being the future investors of capitalism force advertisement to work hard in order to remain one step ahead of it’s competitor and the consumer. Recognizing that brand loyalty and consumer habits are formed when children are young, advertisers spend 100s of billions of dollars a year worldwide encouraging, persuading, and manipulating people into a consumer lifestyle that has devastating consequences for the environment through its extravagance and wastefulness. (beder.uow.edu.au).

Plagiarism Exercise, 3 Unfortunately, this is plagiarism, not because the citation is incorrect (APA does not cite by web address) but because the writer presents the information as being in HIS OWN WORDS, when in fact almost all of the paragraph is lifted word for word from the source. The source is not used or cited appropriately.

Plagiarism Exercise, 4 Here’s another ORIGINAL source: ORIGINAL: “One of the most damaging consequences of media’s images of women and men is that these images encourage us to perceive normal bodies and normal physical functions as problems. It’s understandable to wish we weighed a little more or less, had better developed muscles, and never had pimples or cramps. What is neither reasonable nor healthy, however, is to regard healthy, functional bodies as abnormal and unacceptable. Yet this is precisely the negative self-image cultivated by media portrayals of women and men.” Source: Author Julia T. Wood. Title: Our Body, Our Image: How the Media Hurts Our Sense of Self. Publishers: New York: Longman, (THIS IS NOT AN APA CITATION)

Plagiarism Exercise, 5 Would this be plagiarism if this were a paragraph in a paper AND the author cited the source in the References page? A damaging consequence of media’s images of women and men is that these images encourage us to think of normal bodies and normal physical functions as problems. It’s totally understandable to wish we weighed a little more or less, had bigger muscles, and never had pimples or cramps. What is neither reasonable nor healthy, however, is to think of healthy, functional bodies as abnormal and unacceptable. But this is precisely the negative self-image cultivated by media portrayals of women and men.

Plagiarism Exercise, 6 What about THIS version? A damaging consequence of media’s images of women and men is that these images encourage us to think of normal bodies and normal physical functions as problems. It’s totally understandable to wish we weighed a little more or less, had bigger muscles, and never had pimples or cramps. What is neither reasonable nor healthy, however, is to think of healthy, functional bodies as abnormal and unacceptable. But this is precisely the negative self-image cultivated by media portrayals of women and men (Wood)

Plagiarism Exercise, 7 What about this version? A damaging consequence of media’s images of women and men is that these images encourage us to think of normal bodies and normal physical functions as problems. As Julia T. Wood points out, “It’s understandable to wish we weighed a little more or less, had better developed muscles, and never had pimples or cramps“ (300). What is neither reasonable nor healthy, however, is to think of healthy, functional bodies as abnormal and unacceptable. But this is “precisely the negative self-image cultivated by media portrayals of women and men” (Wood 300).

Plagiarism Exercise, 8 What about this version? A casual glance at any fashion magazine makes the point—we need to weigh less, have clearer skin, larger breasts if we are women, and more hair if we are men. As Julia T. Wood points out, media images “encourage us to perceive normal bodies and normal physical functions as problems” (1998, p. 300). This media- generated perception--that our perfectly normal bodies must be altered to be acceptable--is changing how we perceive our own bodies and negatively impacting our society (Wood, 1998).