a quick tutorial for students on how to avoid plagiarism in their school assignments

1. PLAGIARISM
What is it and how to avoid it in your writing

2. WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?
• Plagiarism according to Merriam-Webster is “the act of
using another person's words or ideas without giving
credit to that person”
• Plagiarism occurs when SOMEONE takes SOMETHING
that someone else created/said and passes it off as
his/her own
• Plagiarism in a paper can also occur when citations
aren’t written correctly.

3. WHEN DO I HAVE TO CITE?
Citation Needed
• When the idea is not yours
• When you have kept the
wording from a source
intact (or very nearly intact)
• When you see it attributed
to a certain individual/group
• When there is dispute over
a fact/idea
Citation Not Needed
• If it is something that is
considered common
knowledge
• When the idea is your own
• When there is a general
consensus on the idea

4. DECIDE FOR YOURSELF
•Watch the video and decide whether or not this is
a case of plagiarism. The video of Michelle
Obama is from 2008 and the video of Melania
Trump is from 2016.
•http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/07/19/m
elania-trump-michelle-obama-speech-similarities-
side-by-side-sots.cnn

5. EXAMPLE OF WHEN TO CITE
Citation Needed
• A fifteen year long study
in Ireland concluded that
the implementation of
breed-specific legislation
actually caused an
increase in dog bites.
Ó Súilleabháin, Páraic (April 2015). "Human hospitalisations due to
dog bites in Ireland, 1998-2013: Implications for current breed
specific legislation". The Veterinary Journal. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
Why?
• A specific study is being
referenced. Most people
do not know this study.
Because this is new
knowledge that the writer
learned from doing
research, this information
must be cited.

6. EXAMPLE OF NO
CITATION NEEDED
No Citation Needed
• Breed-specific legislation,
also known as BSL, is type of
law which allows cities or
countries to prevent
ownership (ban) of certain
types of animals within the
city limits.
Why?
• This sentence defines what
breed specific legislation is.
Definitions do not typically
need to be cited as they are
considered general
knowledge. An exception
would be if this said
“According to __________,
breed-specific legislation is…”

7. IF I CITE EVERYTHING, DOES THAT
MEAN I DIDN’T PLAGIARIZE?
• NO. If you copy a paper from a website (or book, or your friend),
and you just put at the bottom “from __________” then you have still
plagiarized because
• You didn’t cite correctly
• You need to make it original – put your OWN words, thoughts,
and conclusions in
THE POINT OF DOING THE RESEARCH AND THE PROJECT IS TO
LEARN SOMETHING. PROVE TO YOUR TEACHER (AND YOURSELF)
THAT YOU’VE LEARNED THE MATERIAL.

8. SO WHAT IF I PLAGIARIZE?
• Good question – let’s look at some examples:
• Sam Smith’s song “Stay With Me” unintentionally plagiarized Tom Petty and the
Heartbreakers “I Won’t Back Down” (same music, different key and tempo). The
Heartbreakers now share co-writing credit on the song AND earn a portion from
all future sales
• Kaavya Viswanathan who had a contract with Dreamworks to turn one of her
books into a movie AND had a two book deal with her publisher. She was
discovered of having plagiarized Megan McCafferty, Meg Cabot, and Salman
Rushdie. She lost the book deal AND the $500K movie deal AND all her books
were recalled.

9. PRACTICE: DOES IT NEED TO BE
CITED?
• California’s breed specific legislation is aimed at ferrets who are
considered to be a “menace to agriculture” in the state.
• Max Factor, the makeup mogul, created the look of Pete the Pup in
the Our Gang/Little Rascals serials by giving the dog the complete
ring around his eye.
• Nemo and his father, Marlin, are clownfish which live in salt water.

10. ANSWERS
• Sentence 1: Yes, it should be cited. The quotes around “menace to agriculture”
tells the reader that this phrase was taken from somewhere; in this case it is from
the 2012 L.A. Time’s article titled “California ferret activists push to overturn ban
on ownership” (from Jan 2, 2012)
• Sentence 2: Yes, unless you are writing for someone who is a HUGE Little Rascals
fan (which is unlikely), this will be new information to them. Wikipedia.
(2015). Pete the pup. Retrieved on June 22, 2016 from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_the_Pup)
• Sentence 3: No, most people should know that Marlin and Nemo are clownfish,
especially since it’s mentioned in the movie a couple of times.

11. WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO AVOID
PLAGIARIZING?
• Read the information.
• Look away from the screen (or book or paper)
• Explain to someone what you just read OR write it in your own
words.
• Remember, if it’s information that you’ve taken from somewhere
(a fact OR a reason for an argument) then it needs to be cited.
Your thoughts/explanation/elaboration though don’t need to be
cited BECAUSE IT’S YOURS.