1. UNDERSTANDING &
AVOIDING
PLAGIARISM

2. What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is the act of presenting the words, ideas, images,
sounds, or other creative expression of others as your own. If
you have
• included, copied, or downloaded the words and ideas of others
into your work and neglected to distinguish them from your
own ideas and words and cite them,
• turned in someone else’s work under your name,
• had help you wouldn’t want your teacher to know about,
• you have probably plagiarized!

3. Plagiarism is not just copying words,
it is also…
• using another author’s sentence and paragraph structure
for your work, even if you change some of the words
• copying images from the internet and using them in your
work without citing them
• using anything but common knowledge in your work
without citing it
• failing to use quotation marks when you do copy, even if
the material is cited
• Real World Examples of Plagiarism

5. Avoid Plagiarism:
Always Cite Your Sources
• A source can be many different things: an image, a book,
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a website, a song, a database, an interview, a video, a
magazine, etc.
As soon as you decide to use a source, record the citation
information
For each source, you will generally be including
information about the author(s)/contributor(s), title(s),
publishers, dates, and medium (web or print).
For each source, create one bibliography/works cited
entry
Use a program such as NoodleTools to make it easier to
keep track of your sources.

6. Avoid Plagiarism:
Take Good Research Notes
• Take notes using a variety of methods: summary, paraphrase,
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and quotation.
Develop a consistent method to connect a note to its citation
information.
Write key words or topics to describe your notes. This is best
done after writing the notes.
Record only information that seems important for your purpose.
Be accurate: double check facts, statistics, spelling of names and
key words, and quotations.
Enclose direct quotations in quotation marks and include the
speaker's name, if the speaker is not the author of the work.
Use brackets [ ] to change or add words to a quotation or ellipsis
(...) to leave words out of a quotation.
Write page numbers for print sources

7. Avoid plagiarism:
Summary, paraphrase, quotation
• Summary—concise notes and information put in
own words; contains only main points and ideas;
much shorter than original source.
• Paraphrase—notes written in own words in more
detail than a summary. Using bullet points, short
phrases, and lists can be helpful in paraphrasing.
Note: copying words and phrases and just changing
or leaving some words out is not paraphrasing.
• Quotation—word for word notes from original
source; enclose in quotation marks. Use sparingly.

8. Summary
Main ideas only, much shorter than original, in own words
Tip: Use the title to help focus on the main ideas
Summary of article:
Original
article
• Words: 590
• Chars:
2996
The public
cost of lowwage jobs
Words: 130
Chars: 644
The authors discuss their report entitled "Fast Food, Poverty
Wages: The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the Fast-Food
Industry." This report shows how low-wage jobs in the fast
food industry causes workers to rely on government
assistance in order to survive. They found that the fast-food
industry tends to pay poverty level wages and offer very few
benefits, which is not enough for people to pay for basic
needs like food, health care, and rent. The fast food industry
is able to keep wages low by relying on government
assistance. Taxpayers are financing these public assistance
programs at almost $7 billion dollars a year. The authors
recommend that wages in fast food and other lowwage industries increase in order to both help the overall
economy and allow the workers to have the ability to take
care of themselves

9. Quotation
copy exactly, enclose in quotation marks, use sparingly
Original text―It doesn’t make sense that workers like
Snider who prepare and serve food to
millions of Americans each day can’t afford
three meals a day for their own families.‖
Reason to quote: it illustrates the authors’
opinion in an interesting and effective way,
contains irony.

10. Paraphrase or Plagiarism?
Original - Words: 63 Chars: 299
• After two years working at a
St. Louis Wendy’s, Alisha
Snider still cannot afford
basics like rent, food,
clothes and daycare for her
three daughters.
• The 26-year-old earns only
$7.50 an hour and works
just 20 hours a week. So
how does Alisha make ends
meet? She puts her kids in a
taxpayer-funded daycare
program and uses $398 a
month in food stamps to
feed them.
(#1)
Notes - Words: 64 Chars: 284
• Alisha Snider, a 26-year-old
mother of three in St.
Louis, has worked for two
years at a Wendy's. She
works 20 hours a week and
only makes $7.50 an hour.
• This low pay and light
schedule does not allow her
enough money to pay for all
the necessities, so she uses
a government-funded
daycare and receives $398
a month in food stamps in
order to get by.

11. Paraphrase or Plagiarism?
Original - Words: 104 Chars: 527
• This problem is not going away. A
recent analysis by the National
Employment Law Project shows lowwage jobs account for nearly three
out of five jobs generated since the
end of the recession. The Economic
Policy Institute expects nearly 30
percent of American workers to be
employed in low-wage jobs in 2020,
the same as 2010.
• As long as pay remains low, these
jobs will generate public costs. The
fast-food industry is a major
contributor to the growth of the lowwage economy, forcing more and
more workers onto public assistance
programs, which means taxpayers
will be footing an even heftier bill if
we don’t improve those jobs.
(#2)
Notes - Words: 102 Chars: 499
• A recent analysis by the National
Employment Law Project found that
low-wage jobs make up almost
three out of five jobs created since
the end of the recession. The
Economic Policy Institute thinks that
almost 30% of workers in America
will be employed in low-wage jobs
in 2020, which is the same as 2010.
• If pay remains low, the low-wage
jobs will create public costs. The
fast food industry is a main
contributor to the problem of the
low-wage economy, pushing more
workers onto public
assistance. This means taxpayers
will be footing an even bigger bill if
we don't do something to improve

12. Paraphrase or Plagiarism?
Original - Words: 44 Chars: 239
• Fast-food jobs pay so little
that 52 percent of the
families of front-line fast
food workers – versus 25
percent of the overall
workforce – need to rely on
public assistance programs,
costing taxpayers nearly $7
billion a year. The cost is
highest in California at $717
million each year.
(#3)
Notes - Words: 41 Chars: 234
• Fast-food jobs pay very little
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compared to other industries
52% of fast-food workers’
families use public
assistance programs
Only 25% of all workers use
these programs
$7 billion a year in taxes is
spent on this assistance
California spends the most
at $717 million annually

13. Paraphrase or Plagiarism?
Original - Words: 40 Chars: 223
• The median wage for a
front-line fast-food worker is
$8.69 an hour, and the
median number of hours
worked per week is just 30.
Benefits are rare, with only
13 percent of workers
receiving employer-provided
health insurance, compared
to 59 percent of workers
overall.
(#4)
Notes - Words: 26 Chars: 149
• median wage front-line
fast-food worker $8.69 an
hour
• median number of hours
worked per week 30
• Benefits rare
• only 13% of these
workers receive health
insurance, compared to
59% of all workers

14. Image sources
Slide one: http://ewp.rpi.edu/hartford/library/images/plagiarist.gif
Slide two: http://classguides.lib.uconn.edu/content.php?pid=50827&sid=386249