59b. Avoiding plagiarism
Your research paper represents your ideas in conversation with the ideas in your sources. To be fair and responsible, you must acknowledge your debt to the writers of those sources. When you acknowledge your sources, you avoid plagiarism, a form of academic dishonesty.
Three different acts are considered plagiarism: (1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, (2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and (3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words. Definitions of plagiarism may vary; it’s a good idea to find out how your school defines and addresses academic dishonesty.
Citing quotations and borrowed ideas
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR HANDBOOK
When you use exact language from a source, you need to show that it is a quotation.
Quotation marks for direct quotations: 37a
Setting off long quotations: page 573
To indicate that you are using a source’s exact phrases or sentences, you must enclose them in quotation marks unless they have been set off from the text by indenting (see 60a). To omit the quotation marks is to claim—falsely—that the language is your own. Such an omission is plagiarism even if you have cited the source.
original source
In an effort to seek the causes of this disturbing trend, experts have pointed to a range of important potential contributors to the rise in childhood obesity that are unrelated to media: a reduction in physical education classes and after-school athletic programs, an increase in the availability of sodas and snacks in public schools, the growth in the number of fast-food outlets across the country, the trend toward “super-sizing” food portions in restaurants, and the increasing number of highly processed high-calorie and high-fat grocery products.
—Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, “The Role of Media in Childhood Obesity” (2004), p. 1
plagiarism
According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2004), experts have pointed to a range of important potential contributors to the rise in childhood obesity that are unrelated to media (p. 1).
borrowed language in quotation marks
According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2004), “experts have pointed to a range of important potential contributors to the rise in childhood obesity that are unrelated to media” (p. 1).
note: Quotation marks are not used when quoted sentences are set off from the text by indenting (see 60a).
Putting summaries and paraphrases in your own words
Summaries and paraphrases are written in your own words. A summary condenses information; a paraphrase conveys the information using roughly the same number of words as in the original source. When you summarize or paraphrase, it is not enough to name the source; you must restate the source’s meaning using your own language. (See also 51c.) You commit plagiarism if you patchwrite—half-copy the author’s sentences, either by mixing the author’s phrases with your own without using quotation marks or by plugging your own synonyms into the author’s sentence structure. The following paraphrases are plagiarized—even though the source is cited—because their language and sentence structure are too close to those of the source.
original source
In an effort to seek the causes of this disturbing trend, experts have pointed to a range of important potential contributors to the rise in childhood obesity that are unrelated to media.
—Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, “The Role of Media in Childhood Obesity” (2004), p. 1
unacceptable borrowing of phrases
According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2004), experts have indicated a range of significant potential contributors to the rise in childhood obesity that are not linked to media (p. 1).
unacceptable borrowing of structure
According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2004), experts have identified a variety of key factors causing a rise in childhood obesity, factors that are not tied to media (p. 1).
To avoid plagiarizing an author’s language, resist the temptation to look at the source while you are summarizing or paraphrasing. After you have read the passage you want to paraphrase, set the source aside. Ask yourself, “What is the author’s meaning?” In your own words, state your understanding of the author’s basic point. Return to the source and check that you haven’t used the author’s language or sentence structure or misrepresented the author’s ideas. When you fully understand another writer’s meaning, you can more easily and accurately present those ideas in your own words.
acceptable paraphrase
A report by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2004) described causes other than media for the childhood obesity crisis.
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- Researched writing > Exercises: APA papers: 59–1 to 59–5