Copyright and Plagiarism : Plagiarism

What is plagiarism?

“To steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source.”
plagiarism. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.Retrieved August 10, 2010, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarism

“Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit, i.e. an appropriate attribution or citation.” University of Nebraska Medical Center Student Handbook (Updated annually) http://net.unmc.edu/care/docs/handbook.pdf

Ignorance does not excuse plagiarim. Learn some of the myths of plagiarism.

Types of plagiarism

Blending

• Mixing words or ideas from an unacknowledged source in with your own words or ideas.
• Mixing together uncited words and ideas from several sources into a single work.
• Mixing together properly cited uses of a source with uncited uses.

Direct Plagiarism

• A phrase or passage that is copied word for word, but not quoted.

Paraphrasing

• Rephrasing another person’s work and inserting into your own work without acknowledging the original source.

Insufficient Acknowledgement

• Half crediting source; whereby you acknowledge the author’s work the first time, but continue to use the author’s words without giving additional attribution.

Detecting plagiarism

• The writing style and language are above the level at which the student usually writes

• The student uses jargon or specialized terminology that is inconsistent with the student’s level of knowledge.

• The quality of writing is inconsistent. The beginning and ending of the paper is deficient, but the rest of the paper is well written.

• The paper contains references to citations that are not included in the reference list.

• The reference list is inaccurate or incomplete.

Turnitin

Useful site for instructors and students to prevent the spread of internet plagiarism.