What is plagiarism?
The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd Edition) defines plagiarism as “the wrongful appropriation or purloining, and publication as one's own, of the ideas, or the expression of the ideas (literary, artistic, musical, mechanical, etc.) of another.” In other words, plagiarism is the result of dishonest, lazy scholarship. When you express the words and/or ideas of someone else as though they were your own words and/or ideas, you are violating a code of ethics in academia known as intellectual integrity. In every accredited college or university, including the University of Arkansas at Monticello, plagiarism carries stiff penalties for both students and faculty. For students it can mean failing a class, regardless of previous merit, or possibly even expulsion from school for academic dishonesty.
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What are examples of plagiarism?
There are a number of ways that a student can plagiarize the work of someone else. The examples below represent the most common instances of plagiarism.
Explicit Plagiarism
Explicit plagiarism means just what it says. When you copy word for word (or “cut and paste” as the case may be) the body of someone else’s writing, in whole or in part, and then claim it as your own homework assignment or publication, you have plagiarized.
| ORIGINAL SOURCE |
PLAGIARISM EXAMPLE |
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In its tactics and makeup, it [the NAACP] represented not simply the experience and outlook of blacks but those of a larger American liberalism. |
In its methods, the NAACP represented not only the experience and outlook of blacks but also those of a larger American liberalism. |
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Alonzo Hamby, Liberalism and Its Challengers: From F.D.R. to Bush. 2nd Ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992 [1985]), 140.
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Very little has been changed from the original source and the student neither quotes the original source nor gives citation. |
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Stringing Quotes
Quotes should be used sparingly (see Quotation to support a point). Some students feel that if they use lots and lots of quotes and site them appropriately, they can save time having to come up with their own words and still be honest. Wrong. Don’t do it. It is still plagiarism because you have actually just taken the work of others, chopped it up, and strung it all back together with your name on it. In fact, with citations, this type of plagiarism might be called ‘confessed plagiarism.’
| ORIGINAL SOURCE |
PLAGIARISM EXAMPLE |
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Modern neuroscience has shown that there is no user. "The soul" is, in fact, the information-processing activity of the brain. New imaging techniques have tied every thought and emotion to neural activity. And any change to the brain--from strokes, drugs, electricity or surgery--will literally change your mind. |
Science demonstrates that the soul is really just “the information-processing activity of the brain.” Steven Pinker points out that “[n]ew imaging techniques have tied every thought and emotion to neural activity.” It should not be surprising that “any change to the brain...will literally change your mind.” |
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Steven Pinker, “How to Think About the Mind.” Newsweek. 144.13 (Sept. 27, 2004): 78. |
The student’s voice, what little there is of it, adds even less to the discussion. |
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Stealing Ideas
Remember that not only words, but ideas too originate with an author, and if you are not the author of ideas that you write down in your paper, you need to give credit to the original author. To fail to do so is considered plagiarism. An exception to this rule is the case of “common knowledge" or those encyclopedic facts and data that have such wide currency with either the general public or a particular academic discipline, that to attribute them to one individual would not only be unnecessary, but not really even correct. An original idea usually takes the form of a unique viewpoint on a topic, an original contribution to a particular discipline or ongoing discussion, or an argument for which another author is singularly responsible. And if you cite someone else’s idea, be sure to explain how it supports your idea.
| ORIGINAL SOURCE |
PLAGIARISM EXAMPLE |
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In reality the United States did much more than fall [sic] to send troops. It led a successful effort to remove most of the UN peacekeepers who were already in Rwanda. It aggressively worked to block the subsequent authorization of UN reinforcements.
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The purpose of this paper is to show that during the crisis in Rwanda, the most powerful nation on earth was active in its negligence to confront what was clearly genocide. The United States even prevented the United Nations from confronting the tragedy. |
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Samantha Power, “Bystanders to Genocide: Why the United States Let the Rwandan Tragedy Happen.” The Atlantic Monthly 288.2 (Sept. 2001): 86. While only an excerpt, the above passage is essentially Power’s thesis.
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Unless the student cites Ms. Power, and chooses a different thesis, genocide will not be the only tragedy happening here. |
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Excessive Paraphrasing
Be careful when you paraphrase. Like stringing quotes, excessive paraphrasing can end up being a rehash of someone else’s ideas strung together with footnotes. Although you may cite your paraphrases appropriately, the ideas are not yours if all you do is re-present what has already been presented by your sources. If you are paraphrasing, make sure it is to demonstrate a point that you, the author, are trying to make. Besides being unethical, your contribution to an ongoing academic discussion is utterly transparent if all you do is regurgitate another author’s argument.
| ORIGINAL SOURCE |
PLAGIARISM EXAMPLE |
European crops and other desirable plants flourished in the Indies even when disgracefully neglected by farmers gone crazy for gold and conquest; so we can be sure that the imported weeds, which thrive on neglect, did very well indeed [Crosby, 150].
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The isolation of the indigenes of the Americas and Australia from Old World germs prior to the last few hundred years was nearly absolute. Not only did very few people of any origin cross the great oceans, but those who did must have been healthy or they would have died on the way, taking their pathogens with them [Crosby, 197]. |
Crosby explains that opportunistic European weeds did well on New World soil as European farmers neglected their crops in favor of other distractions.
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As weeds imported from Europe flourished in the New World, so too did diseases. Prior to the Age of Global Expansion, people who were native to the New Worlds had remained isolated from exposure to Europeans and their illnesses. The oceans posed a barrier to all but those in the most robust health, who were thus less likely to be disease carriers anyway. |
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Alfred W. Crosby. Ecological Imperialism: the Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900. (New York: Cambridge U.P., 1986), 150, 197.
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Although the paraphrases are quite good, take enough of these strung together without interpretation or criticism, and the student is essentially summarizing Crosby’s work. |
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What are examples of academic honesty?
Citing the work of others indicates that you have done your research, but your work should still be your own. Read footnotes or endnotes and follow up on some of them to see how the author used the work that s/he is citing.
Quotation to support a point
Quotes can serve several valuable purposes in writing. For example, when the author’s words are especially poignant or profound, you might want to highlight your own argument with their unique use of language. It can also be valuable to quote primary sources, such as the actual historical or political figures that you are discussing in your paper.
| ORIGINAL SOURCE |
PROPER CITATION EXAMPLE |
The Slave Trade, the horrors of the Middle Passage, and West India slavery were enough to rouse the most torpid philanthropy.
But our Southern slavery has become a benign and protective institution, and our negroes are confessedly better off than any free laboring population in the world. |
Some Southerners defended slavery on the basis that it was a form of labor morally preferable to the exploitation of free industrial workers. George Fitzhugh even claimed in 1857 that “Southern slavery has become a benign and protective institution” in comparison. |
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George Fitzhugh. Cannibals All! Or Slaves Without Masters. Ed. C. Vann Woodward. (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1960 [1857]), 201. |
The student effectively incorporates the words of a contemporary author in a paper discussing the various motives for defending American slavery during the Antebellum Period. |
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Brief paraphrase to support a point
When you paraphrase someone else, it is probably best to mention him or her by name in the body of your paper, and to be as unambiguous as possible as to why it is necessary for your argument to bring up the point that they make.
| ORIGINAL SOURCE |
PROPER CITATION EXAMPLE |
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Modern neuroscience has shown that there is no user. "The soul" is, in fact, the information-processing activity of the brain. New imaging techniques have tied every thought and emotion to neural activity. And any change to the brain--from strokes, drugs, electricity or surgery--will literally change your mind. |
Another area of science that has posed a challenge to traditional religious beliefs is neuroscience, the study of the physiological activity of the brain. Steven Pinker, an MIT psychologist, claims that belief in religious concepts, such as the soul, can simply be reduced to the brain’s chemical activity.
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Steven Pinker, “How to Think About the Mind.” Newsweek. 144.13 (Sept. 27, 2004): 78.
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In a paper on various challenges to religious beliefs, the student paraphrases Pinker. |
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Referring to the thesis of another work
The thesis of a work is the central argument that is being made, the unique contribution that the book or article is making to its academic discipline. When you make reference to a particular thesis, it is not always necessary to cite the page number because you are referring to the work generally, but you definitely want to site the work!
| ORIGINAL SOURCE |
PROPER CITATION EXAMPLE |
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In reality the United States did much more than fall [sic] to send troops. It led a successful effort to remove most of the UN peacekeepers who were already in Rwanda. It aggressively worked to block the subsequent authorization of UN reinforcements. |
Contemporary scholars have challenged the tradition of American isolationism. For example, Samantha Power laid a great deal of the blame for the Rwanda genocide on the complacency of American foreign policy, which she characterized as negligence in the face of enormous evidence that genocide was happening. |
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Samantha Power, “Bystanders to Genocide: Why the United States Let the Rwandan Tragedy Happen.” The Atlantic Monthly 288.2 (Sept. 2001): 86. While only an excerpt, the above passage is essentially Power’s thesis.
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In a paper on American isolationism, the student cites the overall thesis of Power’s work, and could thus reference the whole article in a footnote (See Samantha Power, “Bystanders to Genocide…). |
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Common Knowledge
As mentioned above, “common knowledge” refers to those general facts that are so well known—historical dates and periods, widely accepted scientific laws and theories, high profile news events, etc.—that it is not necessary to attribute them to any one source. Make sure nonetheless that you can distinguish “common knowledge” from a viewpoint or a particular style of presentation, in which cases it is necessary to provide citation.
| ORIGINAL SOURCE |
PROPER CITATION EXAMPLE |
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1848…2 Feb. TREATY OF GUADALUPE HIDALGO resulted from the unauthorized negotiations between Trist and the Mexican commissioners begun formally 2 Jan., and the treaty was signed at the village just outside Mexico City.
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The most significant milestone in Mexican-American relations was the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, outside of Mexico City. The United States acquired a vast amount of territory from Mexico, covering what is today most of the American Southwest, which some Mexicans still feel rightly belongs to them. |
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Part of an entry from Richard B. Morris and Jeffrey B. Morris, Eds. Encyclopedia of American History. 7th Edition. (New York: Harper Collins, 1996), 231. |
The student needed to check a trivial fact to include in his or her narrative. Since the formal date of a famous event can be found in any number of reference sources or textbooks, it is not really necessary to cite any one particular source.
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But I didn't know I was plagiarizing.
Pleading ignorance will rarely serve as adequate defense from a charge of plagiarism, and that is especially true where the case is explicit. You can (indeed, you must) learn to avoid plagiarism and consulting the generous number of tutorials that are available on the topic, including this one, will help. The best ways to avoid plagiarism, however, are: a) find a style of writing that suites you and stick to it; b) learn how to develop a thesis statement on which to build your work; and c) plan effectively. Learning how to plan effectively is the cornerstone of good academic writing:
- Use notecards that cross reference your bibliography.
- Be careful to keep track of the sources of your quotes and ideas.
- Build an outline of your paper before you start writing.
If you need help writing, you can always visit the writing center on campus (MCB, Room 113). The research papers and essays that are assigned to you in college have a learning objective. You are expected to learn how to express your own ideas and in the process demonstrate how your ideas have been influenced by those of others—that is to say, demonstrate how you are evaluating the literature of your given field of study. You may also want the reader of your essay to be aware of certain sources, but when you paraphrase and/or quote the work of others, it should always be with the objective of making your own point (see above for specific examples).
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Where can I learn more?
There is an enormous literature on the Web and in print where you can learn more about academic integrity and how to avoid plagiarism. The lists below are only a sample and geared toward students, rather than teachers and professors.
Internet Resources
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