This document discusses the ethical use of information and avoiding plagiarism when writing research papers. It defines plagiarism as using others' ideas or work without citing sources. The document provides guidance on taking notes, summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting information from sources. It also explains how to properly cite sources using MLA format, including citing books, websites, encyclopedias, journal articles, and more. Students are assigned to find sources on a topic and create a Works Cited page using MLA style.

1. ETHICAL USE OF INFORMATION Learning to Use and Create References LV Rogers Secondary School, Nelson, BC 09/2008

2. Right or wrong? A person in your gym class fails to close his or her locker properly. You help yourself to their scientific calculator because you can’t afford one and they were stupid enough not to lock their locker.

3. Right or wrong? You find a pair of Bomber sweats in the weight room. Someone took yours last year, so you take this pair. Now you’re even.

4. Right or wrong? You get an essay back from a teacher, and you’ve got a good mark. Someone in the class who hasn’t done theirs yet asks you for it. You let them have it because you don’t want to look like a geek, and anyway, you’re not the one who is cheating.

5. Right or wrong? You are researching a project on World War I. You get lots of information from the online encyclopedia and the Internet. You cut and paste it into a great essay, complete with photographs. You do not say where you got your information from, because you want the teacher to think they were all your ideas.

6. Stealing is wrong Whether you take an object, an idea or someone’s work.

7. Plagiarism is theft Plagiarism is using the ideas and writings of others and representing them as your own. Taking the work, skills and ideas of another person and pretending they are your own is intellectual theft. It is wrong. Fortunately, there are ways of doing research that will allow you to avoid committing plagiarism.

9. Why do people plagiarize? Not knowing any better Pressure/ competition Lack of confidence Work perceived as too hard Lack of consequences Boredom/ lack of interest/ laziness Arrogance

10. Avoiding plagiarism Taking good notes and keeping track of your sources will help you avoid plagiarism. Here are three ways to use the information you find while you’re researching: Summarizing. Paraphrasing. Quoting directly.

11. Summarizing Like paraphrase, a summary records information in different words but much more briefly You write a general statement of the author’s content or position Be sure each page has a heading and reference to the source you used for your parenthetical reference and bibliography YOU STILL NEED TO CITE YOUR SOURCE!

12. Paraphrasing Translates all of the content into different words Helps you understand the material Records the author’s reasoning and details This is time consuming so be sure the information you paraphrase is relevant YOU STILL NEED TO CITE THIS AS A SOURCE!

13. Direct Quotations Records the source’s exact words Use only when the author’s wording makes a point extraordinarily vivid, concise or imaginative Too much can be time consuming, awkward, and interfere with your really understanding the material

14. Steps to taking good notes As you examine each source, make separate note s of each fact , point of view or quotation you might want to use in your essay . Be sure to use a method that best suits your style but be above all be ORGANIZED in how you keep your notes

15. Note taking Examples Your package includes some examples of note taking forms Use any model you feel comfortable with or create your own Your teachers may ask you to hand these in with your essays

16. Document everything Be sure to identify the source of the information on the note taking worksheet . Include the author's name, book title, web site , magazine name, article title , page number, etc. to identify the source of the information.

17. Creating a Reference List Tip: Record your sources as you go! Mr. Yasinchuk has sheets to help with this.

18. Books Author’s name, last name first. Use initials only for first and middle name. Follow by a period and a space. Date of publication in brackets, followed by a period and a space. Title of book in italics followed by a period and a space. City, colon, name of publisher, period.

19. How it looks… Gough, B. (1997). First across the continent: Sir Alexander MacKenzie. Toronto: McLellan & Stewart.

20. Encyclopedia Author of article (see end of article). Year in brackets period space. Title of article period space. In name of encyclopedia (in italics) no punctuation Volume and page number in brackets, period space. City: publisher.

21. How it looks… Stevens, C. F. (2000). Nervous system. In World Book Encyclopedia (Vol. 14, pp. 132- 136). Chicago: World Book Inc.

22. Websites Author’s name, period, space. (Omit if there is no author given.) Date of site creation in brackets, followed by a period, space. Title of page in italics, period, space. Retrieved (date) from (url) no period

23. How it looks… Schrock, K. (1995, June 1). Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators. Retrieved December 11, 2004, from http://school.discovery.com/schrock_guid e/ GVU’s 8 th www user survey. (n.d.). Retrieved August 8, 2005, from http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_ surveys/survey=1997-10/

24. Tip The less reference information you can find on a website, the less reliable its other information tends to be.

25. Databases (Infotrac) Author’s name, period, space. (Omit if there is no author given.) Date article written in brackets period space. Title of article period space. Name of journal in italics comma volume number in italics comma page number period. Retrieved (date) from (name of database) period.

26. How it looks… Siegel, M. K. (Nov 28, 2005). Afraid of the Bird Flu? The Worse Virus Is Fear: A pandemic that isn't even here is driving my patients crazy. Fortune, 152, 61. Retrieved November 28, 2005, from InfoTrac database.

27. Putting References Together Sort references in alphabetical order. Use a “hanging indent” – that is, indent the second and any subsequent lines. Copy the title exactly.

28. How it looks… Gough, B. (1997). First across the continent: Sir Alexander MacKenzie. Toronto: McLellan & Stewart. GVU’s 8 th www user survey. (n.d.). Retrieved August 8, 2000, from http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey=1997-10/ Schrock, K. (1995, June 1). Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators. Retrieved December 11, 2003, from http:// school.discovery.com/schrockguide / Siegel, M. K. (Nov 28, 2005). Afraid of the Bird Flu? The Worse Virus Is Fear: A pandemic that isn't even here is driving my patients crazy. Fortune, 152, 61. Retrieved November 28, 2005, from InfoTrac database. Stevens, C. F. (2000). Nervous system. In World Book Encyclopedia (Vol. 14, pp. 132-136). Chicago: World Book Inc.

29. Where to Get More Information As you can see, there are special formats for each type of source: magazines, newspaper articles, films, personal conversations, etc. Your librarian has sheets on how to prepare a good reference list no matter what sources you use.

30. Good luck with your next research paper!

31. References Misser, E. (n.d.). How to use sources and avoid plagiarism. Retrieved December 9, 2003, from http://www.wlu.ca/writing/handouts/usesources.htm Preate, S. (2002). Internet plagiarism. Presentation at the Cortland Jr. Sr. High School Professional Development Day, Syracuse, New York.

32. Your Assignment Choose a topic and locate TWO electronic sources; and Locate TWO non-electronic sources Create a completed Works Cited page using MLA style Save it and email it to me (in the subject line type your name/Works Cited Assignment) at [email_address]