Avoiding Plagiarism
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is taking someone else’s words or ideas without giving that person proper credit. Four common forms of plagiarism include
- the “copy and paste” method of copying someone else’s exact words without using quotation marks around those words, with or without identifying the author
- the same method as above except using quotation marks but giving no author
- the method of rewording an author’s ideas but not giving the author credit.
- taking or stealing someone else's ideas in any form
How can you avoid plagiarism?
You can avoid plagiarism by putting quotation marks around copied words and by citing your sources, both on quoted information and reworded information. This means giving credit within the paper to the author and including some form of a bibliography in the paper, too. Many handbooks are available that provide instructions on citing sources. Some popular ones include the MLA Handbook, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA handbook), and A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Turabian handbook). These guides offer different formats for citing within the paper itself and for the bibliography. In essence, these are an exercise in following a format—using periods and commas, spacing correctly, putting information in a certain order, etc. I cannot stress enough how important each mark and its placement are! Therefore, writing this paper will be more like a grammar exercise than a creative writing assignment.
In college, make sure to check with your professor to see which form is expected to be used in each course.
What form are we using?
English uses the MLA Handbook. I have adapted the essential parts of it for this class. Instead of having you buy the handbook or look online for the form, I have created the following as a brief description of how to cite your sources.
How do you write the bibliography?
In MLA form, you include only those works you actually used in your paper on a labeled page. This page is known as the Works Cited page and is a separate page from the paper itself with the words Works Cited (not underlined on your paper) centered at the top. Here are some common features you should try to find when citing electronic sources in MLA style. Always include as much information as is available/applicable:
· Author and/or editor names (if available)
· Name of the article or web page—in quotes (if you have to click on a subheading to access your information, the name of the subheading—may not have this)
· Name of entire web site—italicized or underlined (original site before you had to click on a subheading to access your information, if applicable)
· Date of version, revision, or posting (if available)
· Publisher information (if available)
· Date you accessed the material
· Electronic address, printed between carets (<, >) on separate line (essential!).
Books and magazines require a different format. Please see me if you use one. The following examples should be helpful. Use them as a guide for your own entries. The first one includes an author. By the way, the first entry is my source for this handout.
Stolley, Karl. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The OWL at Purdue. 10 May 2006. Purdue University Writing Lab. 15 May 2006. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/>.
If the information does not have an author, move the quoted web page name to the margin.
"Caret." Cambridge Dictionary Online. 28 April 2006. 15 May 2006. <http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ >.
If you quote an entire web site that has no author listed instead of just one page, your entry will look like this:
Design Observer. 25 Apr. 2006. 15 May 2006. <http://www.designobserver.com/>.
Your Works Cited page should list all five sources in alphabetical order by the first word. It should be stapled to the back of your paper. Be careful to write all information, punctuation, and spacing exactly as noted above to receive full credit!
What is the difference in the above two entries?
The one starting with “Caret” is one web page of an entire web site. This means you went to a site and had to click on a subheading of that site to get to your page. The one starting with Design is an entire web site. If your information is on one page only, that page becomes a web site.
Can any Internet site help with Works Cited?
Yes! One good Internet site is Easybib.com. You can insert your information, click, and your information is formatted for you. Please double check to make sure the format is correct.
How do you cite a source?
MLA citations, called parenthetical citations, are easy. After you give the quoted or reworded material, just give the first part of your Works Cited entry in parentheses. This could be an author’s last name, the web page with quotation marks, or the web site with italics. The period for the whole sentence goes after the parentheses. For example, if I were writing a paper on how to cite sources, entries for the above would look like this:
“Make sure the URL points to the exact page you are referring to” (Stolley). The information should also include the appropriate marks (“Caret”). The date should be the most recent publication (Design Observer).
If you used a book or periodical as a source, you would include the page number at the end, for instance (Stolley 127) if this source had been a book or magazine. If two or more entries begin with the same word(s) and are punctuated the same, write the words until they vary. For instance, if you had two sources named “American Pie: Song Lyrics,” you would need to include the date or address to differentiate them. If two entries have the same words but one entry is italicized and another uses quotation marks, indicate the difference by the punctuation in your citations.
Again, be careful in citing your sources. You want to receive full credit for all your hard work!