Plagiarism (Accidental Plagiarism, Paraphrase vs. Summary, In-Text vs. Reference Pages)

Many colleges and universities have strict penalties for plagiarism. Which is NOT a justification for harsh penalties?

(C) Being academically honest reduces opportunities for professional advancement.

How are paraphrasing and summarizing similar?

(D) Both are examples of using one's own words to express another person's ideas.

A student cannot find his notes from interviewing a source, so he re-creates what he thinks the source said and quotes him in his research paper. Evaluate this action in terms of plagiarism.

It is intentional plagiarism as he gives a direct quote instead of paraphrasing him.

Why is listing a source in the bibliography but not indicating where the source is discussed in the body of a paper considered unintended plagiarism?

It presents the source's ideas as the student's ideas. EXPLANATION If a source was used to develop the writer's ideas, the paper should include those ideas and attribute them to the author. In this case, the student did not intentionally attempt to omit information to misrepresent his/her argument or deceive readers. The student just failed to distinguish which ideas were his/her own and which came from the source.

Why does unintentional plagiarism hurt a student even if he or she is not caught?

It prevents development of one's own ideas.

A college professor recommends that students freewrite their first draft of a research paper without looking at their notes or sources, and then review their notes to add direct quotes and identify missing information. What is the main advantage of this strategy?

It promotes expressing ideas in one's own words.

Two students are discussing the case of a colleague who pitched Roman's unique business plan to a company and won a contract to implement the business plan. Roman says, "It was my plan, but he did the work to pitch the plan. I never would have thought of that." Mark says, "It's still dishonest. It was your plan, not his." Whose argument is correct?

Mark's, because Roman is now denied the chance to present his plan and receive a contract to implement it.

Lee and Cheyenne are discussing the correct way to quote an author who quotes another author in her work. Lee insists it is necessary to find the original work in which the quote appeared and cite that. Cheyenne argues that it sufficient to quote only the author who used the quote. Who is correct?

Neither. All quotes must cite the publication where they are found and attribute the original source. EXPLANATION It is not necessary to track down the original source in which a quote first appeared, but that source needs to be attributed. Thus, the correct technique would be to cite the source where the quote appeared and to attribute it to its original source.

A college professor recommends that students freewrite their first draft of a research paper without looking at their notes or sources, and then review their notes to add direct quotes and identify missing information. What is the main disadvantage of this strategy?

Students may not attribute ideas to their sources. EXPLANATION For most students, freewriting and then reviewing their notes is a quicker process than using their notes as they write. As with any writing strategy, a student needs to double-check information for accuracy against the sources used. The main disadvantage is that a student may have synthesized the material so fully that he or she fails to recognize what information needs to be attributed to its source.

The author of a journal article has an extensive bibliography, but never cites any of the works in the body of the article. Which is NOT an example of intentional plagiarism?

The author has poor organizational skills and failed to delete sources in her research log when she created her bibliography.

Which is the most common way colleges check for plagiarism?

They run student papers through plagiarism-detection software.

A student likes a title from one of his sources and decides to use the same title for his research paper. Is this plagiarism?

Yes, he is passing off another person's work as his own.

A student uses a quote from a book that is in the public domain and does not cite it. Is this plagiarism?

Yes, it is passing off another's ideas as one's own.

A student is researching residents' concerns about noise from a nearby airport. Most of the people she interviewed reported an increase in noise from the new flight patterns and significant negative effects as a result. As she is wrapping up her research, she discovers a noise exposure map published by the Federal Aviation Administration that shows levels of noise exposure for this area. All of the people she interviewed live in areas with low levels of noise exposure. Does she need to include this information in her paper?

Yes, omitting it would misrepresent key information.

Which is the best method to document bibliographic information from online sources?

copy and paste the information in a word-processing document or a spreadsheet EXPLANATION All of these methods can be used to record bibliographic information, but the best method is to create an electronic file as you do your research. Copying and pasting bibliographic information from the website into a Word or Excel file allows you to compile an electronic file that you can then use to create your bibliography without the need to consult difficult copy or retype the information.

Which is NOT an example of academic dishonesty?

omitting the publisher's location for a source in your bibliography

Which is an example of plagiarism?

taking a paragraph from a primary source and putting it in a term paper without attribution

When does a writer's use of copyrighted material become plagiarism?

when the writer does not cite or credit a source's words or ideas