Plagiarism:

1. Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Avoid It

2. What is Plagiarism? According to the Oxford English Dictionary Online: 1. The action or practice of taking someone else's work, idea, etc., and passing it off as one's own; literary theft.

3. WVU’s Definition of Plagiarism The following definitions are from the West Virginia University Undergraduate Catalog. Plagiarism : material that has been knowingly obtained or copied in whole or in part, from the work of others. . ., including (but not limited to) another individual's academic composition.

4. WVU’s Definition of Cheating Cheating: doing academic work for another student, or providing one's own work for another student to copy and submit as his/ her own. Scholastic dishonesty involves misrepresenting as your own work any part of work done by another.

5. WVU’s Penalty for Plagiarism and Cheating • Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses. • Clear cases can result in an F for the course and appropriate academic discipline. • Improper or incomplete citation can be considered plagiarism

6. Citation and Plagiarism • Plagiarism is not only representing someone else's writing as your own, but it is also failing to provide appropriate internal documentation. • When you don't provide the appropriate documentation, you are representing someone else's ideas, research, thoughts, etc. as your own.

7. How to Avoid Plagiarism Whenever you use someone else's thoughts or ideas (even if you put these thoughts or ideas in your own words) or want to directly quote an author, you must provide internal documentation to avoid plagiarism.

8. When to cite? You must provide internal documentation when you • summarize or paraphrase someone else's thoughts or ideas • include information which is not common knowledge • directly quote someone else's words

9. Direct Quotes Direct Quotes: • To use the exact wording found in a source. • Only directly quote an author if s/he has expressed an idea in particularly memorable language.

10. Summary Summary: • To describe another's argument in your own words. • Summaries are about 1/3 to 1/2 the length of the original.

11. Paraphrase Paraphrase: • To put another's thoughts or ideas into your own words.

12. Dishonest Paraphrase: Original text: To attract environmentally conscious buyers, manufacturers are designing new, green products and packaging, altering production processes and using sustainable materials. • Paraphrase: • To draw in environmentally conscious consumers, manufacturers are creating new, green products and packaging, changing production processes and using sustainable resources (Weeks 1).

13. Better Paraphrase: Original text: To attract socially conscious buyers, manufacturers are designing new, green products and packaging, altering production processes and using sustainable materials. • Paraphrase: • Some businesses are using more environmentally friendly raw materials and are calling attention to their green manufacturing practices to market their products to buyers who care about the environment (Weeks 1).

14. Common Knowledge A fact that “everyone” knows. • George Washington was the first President of the United States. • William Shakespeare wrote many plays and sonnets. • Regular coffee has caffeine.

15. Not So Common Knowledge • George Washington’s beliefs about religion and slavery • William Shakespeare’s use of Greek mythology in his plays. • The effect of caffeine on the human body

16. How to cite? In MLA: • You need the author’s last name and page number, for example, (Smith 36). • If you don’t have the author’s name, use the first two or three words of the article or book title, for example, (“Evidence Mounts . . .” 36).

17. How should a citation look? Required documentation information is placed within parenthesis at the end of the sentence. • The author’s name may be within the sentence or within the parenthesis. • The page number is always placed in parenthesis at the end of the sentence.

18. MLA Citation Examples According to a noted cat breeder, only people who have a lot of patience should adopt or buy a Siamese cat (Smithers 36). Janice Smithers, breeder of several champion cats, argues that "[t]he Siamese cat is the best choice for people who have a lot of patience" (36).

19. Internal Citation or Not ? Including a sentence in your paper about the high sugar content in candy.

20. Internal Citation or Not ? Summarizing Jane Austen’s biography, information you found on a website.

21. Internal Citation or Not ? Putting an author’s ideas about one of the causes of the French Revolution in your own words.

22. Internal Citation or Not ? Directly quoting words from President Bush’s State of the Union speech.