Post on 01-Aug-2020
Preventing Plagiarism in a Digital World
Monday, October 24 @ 7 pm ET
Presenter – Amy Sexton
Kaplan University Writing Center
Please click here to view this recorded workshop:
http://khe2.adobeconnect.com/p9dj8fuwvq9/
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Learning Outcomes
At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to…
1) Identify how to best conduct academic research via the internet.
2) Define common knowledge.
3) Learn how to avoid plagiarism.
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What is your research process?
Poll 1: How do you conduct research online?
A. Google or other search engine
B. KU Library
C. A combination of KU Library and a search engine
Poll 2: How do you record the research that you find?
A. I write down/type out the research that I find while I’m writing the assignment.
B. I copy and paste the research into my assignment while I’m writing the
assignment.
C. I compile research in a separate place and then review it when I am ready to
write my draft?
D. Other
Poll 3: Do you record bibliographic information (information that you will need for
citing and referencing the research you use in your paper) while you are
researching, or after you have incorporated research material into your writing?
A. I record bibliographic information during the research process.
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B. I record bibliographic information once I incorporate research material in the
assignment.
C. Other _____
We will discuss best practices for recording, compiling, and incorporating research in
your writing momentarily.
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First, let’s look at all of the changes that technology has brought about in the last
25-30 years. Pen and paper, handwritten letters, cameras that required film that had
to be processed, typewriters and word processors. Who remembers using these
tools to communicate, learn, share, and write? Those tools evolved into laptops,
tablets, Google glasses, digital cameras, and smart phones. Technology continues
to evolve with social media, the internet of things, selfie sticks, 3-D printing, and
increasing opportunities for connecting, including connecting people and devices,
as well as transferring and using knowledge. While the internet is a terrific place to
find research material, it can be a bit difficult to figure out exactly what does and
does not need to be cited and how. This workshop will help you learn how to do so
correctly.
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Technology has also drastically changed the ways that students engage in the
research process. What is research? Research means to search for the best and
brightest ideas, analyze them, and then synthesize them to come up with a new,
brighter, and better idea.
Consider, how research today differs from research before the internet. Before we
had reliable, almost universal access to the internet, many of us relied on libraries to
conduct research. I remember hours spent in college libraries, flipping through the
card catalogs, pulling out cards for promising sources, retrieving books and journals
from library shelves, carrying them to a table or desk, then poring through them,
meticulously recording notes that may be relevant to my research and/or paying to
photocopy journal articles. In a digital world, writers often do not physically
possess the texts that they borrow information from. They often use the same
browser that they use to access social media and like and share posts, pictures,
and memes to conduct the research that they complete. As students, you may be
used to assignments in grade school that asked you to copy information from an
encyclopedia, or the digital equivalent, Wikipedia, and regurgitating the material in
the form of a book report. Many students are used to completing assignments by
going online, entering keywords from the assignment, writing or typing what they
find, and then submit what they have found But learning does not occur just by
finding answers through simple Google searches and sites like Answers.com.
Learning much more than just being able to find answers. It’s about being able to
figure out what you think about a topic, not finding out what others think about the
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topic.
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In fact, the most common types of plagiarism can easily be completed via the
internet through copying and pasting. In a 2010 study, Turnitin categorized
unoriginal content found in assignments submitted to its database. They found that
these were the three most common ways that writers used unoriginal content in
their writing:
1. Clone – Student submits someone else’s work verbatim and claims it as his
or her own
2. CTRL + C – Although student may change some language, much of the
writing is from one source with few changes
3. Mashup – The student’s work combines uncited materials from several
different sources
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Furthermore, changing views of ownership, originality and authorship, as well as
different ways of acquiring information may be linked to increased plagiarism among
students accustomed to finding and sharing information in a digital culture. Trip
Gabriel (2010), a New York Times reporter who spoke to a number of educators
and students at colleges across the US, suggests that digital natives, those
students who have mostly only known easy and dependable internet access, may
not take plagiarism as seriously as past generations. Students may see information
accessed via the internet as belonging to all and free for the taking – without
attribution (Gabriel, 2010). Students share memes, retweet tweets, and even
download music, all without crediting the original source, so it may seem logical to
share information accessed via the internet. As Turnitin (2010) noted, “today’s
digital culture has blurred the lines of originality and authorship.”
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The internet is a “mutual brain that we can all tap”. Anonymous student (as cited in
Gallant, 2014).
Do you agree with this statement? It seems that some students do agree with this
sentiment.
The digital age has also meant a rethinking of what constitutes common knowledge
and a need for educators to rethink how they talk to students about it. Dr. Tricia
Gallant tells of a student who described his belief that the internet is a “mutual brain
that we can all tap”, suggesting that, if information is found on the internet,
especially through communal sources like Wikipedia, then no attribution or citation
is necessary. Sometimes students may believe that common knowledge is anything
that can be found on the internet. Let’s take a look at what “common knowledge”
really means.
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There seem to be serious misconceptions about what constitutes common
knowledge. Some people may believe that if an internet source has no author
listed, then there is no need to cite it, or if it is a collaborative source like Wikipedia,
then it is common knowledge. Additionally, educators often define common
knowledge as something that can be verified via five different sources. This
definition could cause students to believe that if they find the information in five or
more places, then it is common knowledge and it does not have to be cited (Gallant,
2014). I can locate a lot of different facts and statistics in various places on the
internet, but that does not make it common knowledge. Basically, if you need to
look something up via the internet, then it most likely needs to be cited.
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So how can you avoid plagiarizing in your assignments? First, it may be helpful to
develop your skills in these key focus areas: time-management, reading, note-
taking, paraphrasing, and information literacy. Fortunately, the Writing Center offers
resources to help with all of these. Simply click on the box to see a helpful KUWC
resource for each of these areas.
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Secondly, as we mentioned at the beginning of this presentation, how you conduct
research is key. In fact, an important part of the research process and one that
should occur at the very beginning is careful note-taking with citation in mind. As
soon as you start researching a topic you will write about—whether you are
Googling general background information or conducting academic research in the
library—jot down the bibliographic or citation information you will need for your
composition. Write down that information in the same order needed for citation: the
author, the year it was published, the title, and the publication or access information
according to the source type. If it’s a website, for example, you’ll need the web
address. If it’s an article in an online journal, you’ll need the journal title, volume,
issue, and page numbers. If it’s a book, include the chapter title and page numbers.
It’s better to have more information than you’ll need rather than not enough.
Also, if you copy and paste or write down any excerpts from a source word-for-
word, put quotation marks around them. I cannot emphasize this step strongly
enough because adding quotation marks as soon as you note the quote will help
prevent any accidental plagiarism if you use that content in your writing.
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Next, always be sure that you are paraphrasing effectively enough. You may have
been taught that paraphrasing means to put something into your own words. While
this is partly true, effective paraphrasing is more complex. In fact, unintentional
plagiarism often occurs when writers don’t paraphrase adequately. Paraphrasing is
a skill you have to develop with practice. To paraphrase, you take something
another author wrote and rewrite it in your own style taking your own audience into
consideration. This involves interpreting what the other author meant so you can
express the same idea in your own words. Paraphrasing can seem like a word for
word translation of an original quote, but just replacing the words with synonyms is
not enough; in fact, that is plagiarism. You have to use your own sentence structure
too. Paraphrasing is about interacting with meaning. You must understand what the
original means in order to paraphrase effectively. If you focus on language first
instead of meaning, you’re making your job harder. Please also note that your
paraphrase will usually be longer than the original since you had to unpack the
original wording to get to its meaning.
In academic writing, paraphrasing is more common than quoting and more
important because it shows your understanding of what you’ve read. It takes critical
thinking to paraphrase. Since you are still borrowing someone’s idea, however, you
have to let your readers know where the ideas came from through citation.
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Next, always cite the sources that you use in your papers. This chart provides a
source use overview. As you can see, paraphrased and/or summarized, as well as
directly quoted material should be properly cited.
Paraphrased or Summarized
What this Means
Rather than using the source word-for-word, you have borrowed the author’s ideas
while placing them in your own words.
Required Info
The citation must include the last name of the author and year of publication only.
Examples
(Feazel, 2000).
(Johnson & Torrey, 1999).
(Taylor, n.d.).
Direct Quote
What this Means
The author’s ideas are borrowed ‘as is.’ The passage is used word-for-word or
nearly word-for-word.
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Required Info
The citation must include the last name of the author, year of publication, and page or
paragraph number only.
Examples
(Coller & Morrish, 1998, p. 12).
(Ragsdale, 2002, para. 3).
(McKinstry, n.d., p. 11).
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While in-text citation is essential, it’s only half of the APA two-part citation style.
Each source cited in text requires a corresponding reference citation. In-text
citations go in the body of the composition; full reference citations go at the end of
the document on a references list. A reference citation must begin with the same
word found in the corresponding in-text citation (usually the author’s last name or
sponsoring organization’s name). Because sources vary in type, there are different
forms for those types. See a short demonstration here.
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Citation Resources in the Writing Center
I recommend two resources to every academic writer: Basic Citation Guidelines and
Common Citations in APA Format. These resources cover all the basics of how to
quote, paraphrase, and summarize, how to cite, and how to format APA citations.
Citation Resources:
Basic Citation Guidelines
Common Citations in Format: APA, 6th Edition
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We also offer video tutorials, resources, and podcasts, workshops that emphasize
avoiding plagiarism. You can attend live workshops or view the archived
recordings. We often help students cite correctly and paraphrase effectively in our
live tutorial sessions. While we are not a plagiarism detection service, we can often
discern possible problems with plagiarism when we read students’ papers and offer
feedback.
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References
Gabriel, T. (2010, Aug. 1). Plagiarism lines blur for students in a digital age. The
New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/education/02cheat.html?_r=0
Gallant, T.B. (2014). The accidental plagiarist: The myths, the truths, and what it all
means for teaching & learning [Webcast]. Retrieved from
http://go.turnitin.com/l/45292/2014-06-18/3kb5
Turnitin. (2010). Instructor’s insights into the 10 types of plagiarism [White paper].
Retrieved from
http://storage.pardot.com/45292/6694/Turnitin_WhitePaper_PlagiarismSpectr
um.pdf
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For more writing support, connect with the KUWC’s new public webpage. You can
actually Google and find this page. This is also a great way for you to stay
connected to the KUWC through our blog and Twitter. Many of our resources are
here as well.
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Come visit the Academic Support Center. We can be found under the My
Studies tab, then under Academic Support Center.
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On the main Academic Support Center page, you will see the links to each
center’s services and resources. Please update the text below to reflect your
center’s services.
For the Writing Center, these include Live Tutoring, Paper Review Service,
the Writing Reference Library, Citation Guidelines, Workshops, English
Language Learner, and Fundamental writing help. Notice, you can access
the Kaplan Guide to Successful Writing on the right hand side in both print
and audio form.
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Contact Information
Amy Sexton, Tutor, Workshops
Write us at kuwc@kaplan.edu! Or your center’s e-mail address:
Workshops are recorded and recording links, with an accompanying PowerPoint, are posted on the Writing Center Workshops page after the workshop.
Additional Kaplan University Writing Center Resources
Introductory Video
Survey Link
Writing Center
©2016 Kaplan University Writing Center
Connect with the Academic Support Centers.
ASC Blog @KaplanASC on Twitter
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