Avoid Plagiarism--Cite Appropriately
According to the George Mason University Honor Code, plagiarism is defined as follows:
“1. Presenting as one’s own the words, the work, or the opinions
of someone else without proper acknowledgment.
2. Borrowing the sequence of ideas, the arrangement of material, or the
pattern of thought of someone else without proper acknowledgment.”
In summary, plagiarism is including someone else’s work or ideas in your own work without acknowledging their contribution. (For more information on plagiarism, see the Spring 2002 Newsletter of Writing Across the Curriculum - pdf)
According to Swales and Feak (1994), “plagiarism is best defined as a deliberate activity--as the conscious copying from the work of others. The concept of plagiarism has become an integral part of North American and Western European academic cultures. It is based on a number of assumptions that may not hold true in all cultures. One is a rather romantic assumption that the writer is an original, individual, creative artist. Another is that original ideas and expressions are the acknowledged property of their creators (as is the case with a patent for an invention). Yet another is that it is a sign of disrespect--rather than respect--to copy without acknowledgment from the works of published authorities” (p. 125).
(Swales, J. M. and Feak, C. B. (1994). Academic Writing for Graduate Students: A Course For Nonnative Speakers of English. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.)
You can make note of others’ ideas using citations--and in the nursing and health science curriculum, using the specific citation style designed by the American Psychological Association (APA)
Quoting vs. Paraphrasing
You have two different options for referring to others’ ideas in your own work. The first, quotation, occurs when you use the exact words of the original source with quotation marks around the other author’s words. (If you fail to include the quotation marks, you are plagiarizing.)
For example, in Diana Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference, she gives the following example of a direct quotation, using the author’s name in the signal phrase, and citing the page number:
According to Hart (1996), some primatologists “wondered if apes had learned Language, with a capital L” (p. 109).
The second form of citation, paraphrasing, occurs when you describe the idea of the original source using your own words. If you use similar words or sentence structure as the original author, even if you cite the source, you are still plagiarizing.
A handout available in the GMU Writing Center suggests some tips for paraphrasing. First, “read the original, make sure you understand it, lay it aside, and then write it down in your own words, imagining that you are explaining it to someone who will read your paper. If you are having trouble putting it in your own words, then you probably don’t understand it well enough to write about it. When you are finished, cite the author according to the style you are using.”
For example, Hacker offers the following original source, plagiarized citation, and acceptable paraphrase:
Original source:
The park [Caspers Wilderness Park] was closed to minors in 1992 after the family of a girl severely mauled there in 1986 won a suit against the county. The award of $2.1 million for the mountain lion attack on Laura Small, who was 5 at the time, was later reduced to $1.5 million.
--Reyes and Messina, “More Warning Signs,” p. B1
Plagiarized, unacceptable borrowing:
Reyes and Messina (1991) report that Caspers Wilderness Park was closed to children in 1992 after the family of a girl brutally mauled there in 1986 sued the county. The family was ultimately awarded $1.5 million for the mountain lion assault on Laura Small, who was 5 at the time.
Acceptable Paraphrase:
In 1992, officials banned minors from Caspers Wilderness Park. Reyes and Messina (1991) explain that park officials took this measure after a mountain lion attack on a child led to a lawsuit. The child, five-year-old Laura Small, had been severely mauled by a lion in 1986, and her parents sued the county. Eventually, they received an award of $1.5 million.
Some other tips for avoiding plagiarism, from Swales, J. M. and Feak, C. B. (1994). Academic Writing for Graduate Students: A Course For Nonnative Speakers of English. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press:
“1. Always try to use your own words, except for technical terms.
2. Include enough support and detail so that the presentation is clear.
3. Do not try to paraphrase specialized vocabulary or technical terms.
4. Include nothing more than what is contained in the original. (Do not
include your own comments or evaluation.)
5. Make sure the summary reads smoothly. Use enough transition devices
and supporting detail. You do not want a collection of sentences that
do not flow” (p. 114).
For more detailed information on APA style, consult the official Publication Manual of the APA, or these links. Always check with your professor if you have questions about how to handle a particular citation.
In-text citations occur during the paper itself. According to Diana Hacker’s Pocket Style Manual, “in-text citations provide at least the author’s last name and the date of publication. For direct quotations, a page number is given as well.” The point of an in-text citation is to direct your reader to the reference page to get the entire citation, if they wish to consult the original source.
An example, from Hacker: Better measurements of sophistication in computer use could be obtained through more thorough testing (Blili et al., 1996).
On the final page of your paper, the “References” page presents a list of all sources you used for the paper, in alphabetical order by author’s last name. Here are some basic formats for the references page, all taken from Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference:
A book:
Tapscott, D. (1998). Growing up digital. New
York: McGraw-Hill.
A corporate author:
Bank of Boston. (1997). Banking by remote
control. Boston: Author.
An article in a magazine:
Kadrey, R. (1998, March). Carbon copy: Meet the
first human clone. Wired, 6, 146-150, 180,
220.
An article in a daily newspaper:
Haney, D. Q. (1998, February 20). Finding eats at
mystery of appetite. The Oregonian, pp. A1,
A17.
An article in a journal paginated by volume:
McLoyd, V. C. (1998). Socioeconomic
disadvantage and child development. American
Psychologist, 53, 185-204.
An article in a journal paginated by issue:
Roberts, P. (1998). The new food anxiety.
Psychology Today, 31(2), 30-38, 74.