Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined by TCC as the "inclusion of someone else's words, ideas or data as one's own work."  1 

Deliberate plagiarism occurs when a student purchases a paper, turns in a friend's paper, or takes an entire article from a magazine or web site and adds a new  paragraph or two but claims the work as her own.

Accidental plagiarism happens when a writer does not understand when or how to cite her sources.  We  hope to help you steer clear of accidental plagiarism with the following advice and examples. 

It is acceptable to use someone else's ideas by quoting, paraphrasing or summarizing as long as you give credit.  Here are some rules regarding those techniques:

• Cite every piece of information that is not:

• Even if very specific details, figures, and statistics are "common knowledge" (repeated in many sources), you should still cite them
• Use quotation marks every time you use another author's words. (For longer quotes, indent the whole quotation.) 
• At the beginning of the first sentence in which you quote, paraphrase, or summarize, make it clear that what comes next is someone else's idea: 

        According to Duchin, 
        Cho claims... 
        In her 2007 study, Endicott proved... 

• At the end of the last sentence containing quoted, paraphrased, or summarized material, insert a parenthetical citation to show where the material came from: 

       Finkel asserts that many people's significant learning did not take place because someone told them something, but because they had a chance to learn through doing or discussing (Finkel 7).

•  If you use a paraphrase or direct quotation, it is important to place the reference at the very end of all the material cited; otherwise any quoted, paraphrased, or summarized material that comes after the reference may appear to the reader to be your own idea.

EXAMPLES

Suppose you want to use materials from the following passage for your history paper on the "Great Awakening."

The Awakening also produced consequences of greatest significance in the shaping of American religion.  It created a new religious style, revivalism, that became a permanent, powerful, and distinctive feature of American religion.  It launched the interdenominational Evangelical movement, whose churches have continued to dominate American Protestantism numerically and geographically ever since.  It determined the agenda for a century of American Protestant theology.  The Awakening also altered basic institutions of colonial society, families and governments as well as churches (Marini 775). 

Marini, Stephen A.  "The Great Awakening." Encyclopedia of the American Religious Experience, vol. 2.  New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988.
 

Acceptable:  direct quotation

Marini claims that the Great Awakening "...created a new religious style, revivalism, that became a permanent, powerful and distinctive feature of American religion" (775).

Acceptable: paraphrase 

Marini claims that many important movements sprang from the Great Awakening, including revivalism, which is a unique aspect of religion in America. It also started the practice of Evangelicalism--still a strong force within many Protestant denominations, and shaped the Protestant church agenda for the next one hundred years.  The Great Awakening even caused changes to the general structure of families, government and society (775).

Unacceptable:  (The following is not really a paraphrase because it changes the order of the passage and uses too many of the author's own words and phrases. Last, but not least, there is no reference to the original work)

The Great Awakening altered the basic institutions of colonial society, including families and governments as well as churches.  It created revivalism, the Evangelical movement, and the agenda for Protestant theology-all powerful and distinctive features of American religion.

Here is another example--a passage from Newsweek magazine on the issue of global warming.

You might assume that "global warming" means what it says, involving nothing more complex than a rise in the world's temperature. But notice the penguins. Over the last several months, hundreds of Magellanic penguins have been washing ashore near Rio de Janeiro, 2,000 miles north of their usual haunts. The wayward birds may be signs of a massive climate shift in the South Atlantic: warming may have altered ocean circulation so as to nudge the cold-water currents (which the penguins follow for chow) thousands of miles off course. As it happens, one of the greatest worries about global warming is that it will shift Atlantic Ocean currents that warm northern Europe. If that happens, temperatures could plunge 20 degrees in 10 years. Lost penguins, warn some scientists, may be harbingers of such catastrophes--which the benign-sounding "global warming" doesn't even hint at.

Begley, Sharon. "The Mercury's Rising: A warmer world doesn't sound so bad. Until you learn that it may, paradoxically, bring an ice age." Newsweek, Dec 4, 2000: 52.
 

Acceptable:  direct quotation

Begley writes that "one of the greatest worries about global warming is that it will shift Atlantic Ocean currents that warm northern Europe" (52). 

Acceptable: paraphrase 

Begley's article mentions that displaced Magellanic penguins found near Rio de Janeiro might indicate that South Atlantic ocean currents have changed. This is significant because South Atlantic currents are responsible for maintaining northern European countries' temperatures at their current levels (52).

Unacceptable: (Whole sentences and phrases are taken from the original and simply moved around--this is unacceptable even with the citation)

One of the greatest worries about global warming is that it will shift Atlantic Ocean currents that warm northern Europe. If that happens, temperatures could plunge 20 degrees in 10 years. Over the last several months, hundreds of Magellanic penguins have been washing ashore near Rio de Janeiro, 2,000 miles north of their usual homes. The birds may be signs of a massive climate shift in the South Atlantic: warming may have altered ocean circulation so as to nudge the cold-water currents (which the penguins follow for chow) thousands of miles off course. Lost penguins, warn some scientists, may be harbingers of such catastrophes (Begley 52).

A paraphrase accurately states all the relevant information from a passage in your own words and phrasing, without any additional comments or elaborations.  A good paraphrase should restate all of the main points of the passage in the same order and in about the same number of words.
Back to text

Original research would include activities like: conducting laboratory tests or surveys; examining primary source documents such as diaries or letters. Back to text

1.  Tacoma Community College.  Administrative Procedure for Academic Dishonesty.

_{Last updated August 8, 2008}