1. What is Plagiarism? What is MLA Format?
And why you should care?!

2. Plagiarism

3. Definition:
Plagiarism is the act of presenting the words, ideas, images, sounds, or the creative expression of others as your own.

4. Students, If… You have probably plagiarized!
you have included the words and ideas of others in your work that you neglected to cite,
you have had help you wouldn’t want your teacher to know about,

5. Two types of plagiarism:
Intentional
Copying a friend’s work
Buying or borrowing papers
Cutting and pasting blocks of text from electronic sources without documenting
Media “borrowing”without documentation
Web publishing without permissions of creators
Unintentional
Careless paraphrasing
Poor documentation
Quoting excessively
Failure to use your own “voice”

6. (Job, big game, too much homework!)
Excuses
Everyone does it!
It’s okay if
I don’t get caught!
I was too busy to
write that paper!
(Job, big game, too much homework!)
This assignment
was BORING!
I’ve got to get
into
??? U.!
My teachers
expect
too much!
My parents
expect “A”s!

7. Rationale for academic integrity (as if it were necessary!)
Is your academic
reputation valuable
to you?
When you copy you cheat yourself. You limit your own learning.
The consequences are not worth the risks!
It is only right to give credit to authors whose ideas you use
Citing gives authority to the information you present
Citing makes it possible for your readers to locate your source
Education is not an “us vs. them” game! It’s about learning to learn!
Cheating is unethical behavior

8. Is it worth
the risk?

9. Do I have
to cite
everything?

10. Nope! Facts that are widely known, or
Information or judgments considered “common knowledge”
Do NOT have to be documented.
Hooray for
common
knowledge!

11. Examples of common knowledge
John Adams was our second president
The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941
If you see a fact in three or more sources, and you are fairly certain your readers already know this information, it is likely to be “common knowledge.”
But when in doubt, cite!

12. No need to document when:
You are discussing your own experiences, observations, or reactions
Compiling the results of original research, from science experiments, etc.
You are using common knowledge

13. original ideas without few words, I’m okay, right?
What’s the big deal?
Wrong! Paraphrasing
original ideas without
documenting
your source,
is plagiarism too!
If I change a
few words, I’m okay, right?

14. The Modern Language Association
M L A
The Modern Language Association

15. Four Major Components of MLA Format…
Formatting the paper (font, spacing, header, title, etc.)
The information presented (quotes and paraphrasing)
In-Text citation (giving each quote and paraphrase a bit of information)
Work Cited page (creating a list of sources used)

16. Formatting the paper Center your title and write in Title Case
Header: Last Name and Page number (must appear on all pages)
Header: Name, Teacher, Class, Date
Double Space, 12 font, TNR
1 inch margins

17. Information Presented: Quotes
Quotes – using someone else’s exact words in your paper. This is very useful when the original author has phrased an idea in a powerful way.
If the quote is four lines or less, you should put it in quotation marks and include it in line with the rest of your paper
If the quote is more than four lines you should put it in a separate paragraph without quotes and indent it by one inch (a.k.a. – a block quote)

18. Information Presented: Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing – including someone else’s ideas in your own words
Always cite the source with in-text documentation
Restate the information in your own words
Combine information from different sources

19. In-text Documentation
Purpose--to give immediate source information without interrupting the flow of paper or project.
The academic world takes in-text documentation seriously.
Inaccurate documentation is as serious as having no documentation at all.
Brief information in in-text documentation should match full source information in Works Cited

20. Use in-text documentation when:
You use an original idea from one of your sources, whether you quote or paraphrase it
You summarize original ideas from one of your sources
You use factual information that is not common knowledge (Cite to be safe.)
You quote directly from a source

21. How do I cite using MLA style?
Parenthetical citations are usually placed at the end of a sentence, before the period.
Cite the author's last name and the page number
In the absence of an author, cite the title and the page number
In the absence of a page number, indicate the paragraph number using this symbol - ¶
If you identify the author and title in the text, just list the page number
If there is more than three authors, you will write the first author’s last name, “et al.”, and the page number.

22. (“Plagiarism and the Web” 63) or (“Plagiarism and the Web” ¶ 1)
But, what about the Web?
When citing a Web source in-text, you are not likely to have page numbers, if you do insert them after the author’s last name or abbreviated title, if you do not, insert the paragraph symbol and number.
With an author
(Smith 4) or (Smith ¶ 1)
Without an author
(“Plagiarism and the Web” 63) or (“Plagiarism and the Web” ¶ 1)

23. Works Cited Page
The final part of MLA format is the works cited. The list should include all of the sources that were cited in the paper only!
“Works Cited” should be centered at the top of the page.
Type the list of the sources cited in your paper in alphabetical order (based on the author’s last name or the title if there is no author)
The second line of each entry should have a hanging indent

24. Sample Works Cited Page
Header: Last Name and Page Number
Center
Sample Works Cited Page
Hanging Indent