PlagiarismMostly from Research Papers by Coyle and Law

Plagiary: A thief in literature; one who steals the thoughts or writings of another.

--A Dictionary of the English Language

Definition

Plagiarism is using another person’s language or ideas without acknowledgment.

It is a serious act of dishonesty, for which you can be expelled from the College.

Student Handbook

Intentional/Unintentional

Stealing whole papers, using papers from various files, copying a paper from the internet, buying a paper from a research service are intentional attempts to deceive.

Sometimes people plagiarize unintentionally; they for get to cite a source, use quotation marks, or paraphrase too closely.

How to paraphrase without plagiarizing

Make sure you use your own words; if you’re quoting, use quotation marks.

If you combine your words with words in the source, put the source’s words in quotation marks

Cite the source before you begin to paraphrase.

An Example

Paraphrasing

Recasting a passage into your own words Usually used with short passages Implies a thorough understanding of the passage

to be paraphrased Works by substituting your words for those of the

source; get out your thesaurus; brush up on synonyms

No need to structure your text like the original. Work for smooth, comprehensive, cohesive style.

Let’s Practice

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