What Is Plagiarism?

Today we’re going to discuss a serious topic—plagiarism—so serious that we’ve brought in a ninja to emphasize the point.

What Is Plagiarism?

You may have already read or heard that plagiarism is “a serious academic offense” (1) and “a form of intellectual dishonesty” (2). But you still may be wondering, What precisely is plagiarism? Plagiarism is the act of presenting the words or ideas of someone else as if they are your own words or ideas; in other words, it’s not giving credit where credit is due—and that’s bad (and the Ninja may kill you), especially when the plagiarized work is submitted for a grade or appears in a publication. Merriam-Webster defines the verb plagiarize in this way: “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own…[to] use (another’s production) without crediting the source” (3).

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Stealing, Sinning, Cheating, and Plagiarizing

Stealing someone else’s words may not seem like a big deal, but it is. And the academic community is not the only place where plagiarism is considered a major violation. Recently The New York Times reported that “[t]he creators of South Park…apologized…to the creators of a Web comedy video satirizing the summer blockbuster Inception, saying that they had used dialogue from a video on the Web site CollegeHumor.com” (4). A sincere apology, however, doesn’t always settle the case. In another news story this year, “Zachery Kouwe, a [former] New York Times business reporter…resigned…after he was accused of plagiarizing from The Wall Street Journal. An internal review of his work turned up more articles…containing copy clearly lifted from other news sources without proper citations. Plagiarism is a mortal journalistic sin…” (5).

As for the problem of plagiarism in higher education, another New York Times article reported that “in surveys from 2006 to 2010 by Donald L. McCabe, a co-founder of the Center for Academic Integrity and a business professor at Rutgers University, about 40 percent of 14,000 undergraduates admitted to copying a few sentences in written assignments. Perhaps more significant, the number who believed that copying from the Web constitutes ‘serious cheating’ is declining…” (6).

Next: How to Avoid Unintentional Plagiarism

The Good News

The good news is that most instances of plagiarism are unintentional, resulting from not taking good notes or improperly using notes. Later in the episode, we’ll look at some tips for taking and organizing your notes; but let’s look now at four scenarios where a person plagiarized:

• Bobby copied an author’s sentence into his notes but didn’t include quotation marks. Later, without adding quotation marks, he inserted that sentence in an essay, so it appeared to be his own writing. Bobby is guilty of plagiarism.

• Cindy didn’t distinguish her own ideas from the ideas she got from her sources. Cindy is also guilty of plagiarism.

• Dylan didn’t cite the source of a paraphrase or a summary in his paper or in his list of references. Dylan is guilty of plagiarism.

• Farrah included a paraphrase of a published passage that was too closely worded to the original passage. Is Farrah guilty of plagiarism? Yes. To avoid the infraction, she should have just directly quoted parts or all of the passage (7).

Taking and Organizing Good Notes

As mentioned earlier, plagiarism is not always intentional and may be a result of poor note-taking. Here are a few tips for taking good notes and organizing them:

• Include quotation marks around any quotes you write down (or type).

• When paraphrasing a sentence or short passage, don’t keep looking at the source. Re-phrase the line or lines in your own words. Then check back with the original source, and revise your writing if need be.

• Like a paraphrase, a summary also needs to be composed in your own words.

• Whether you’re quoting, paraphrasing or summarizing, right next to the noted material include an abbreviation or a link to the source; don’t rely on your memory (8).

• Another effective way to keep your notes organized is to color-code them to match each associated source.

• Note-taking software, such as OneNote and Evernote, is also an effective way to keep your notes and sources organized.

A word about documentation: To determine whether you’re expected to adhere to MLA, APA, Chicago, AP, or some other style, refer specifically to the appropriate guide or the organization that you are writing for.

Next: You Can Plagiarize Yourself?!

Plagiarizing Yourself?

Did you know that you can also plagiarize yourself? Let’s say, for example, that Andrew composed a well-written and properly documented essay for one class. The work is his own, so Andrew assumes that he can use parts of it or even submit the entire paper for an assignment in another course. This is known as self-plagiarism and can incur the same kinds of punishment as other types of plagiarism: required rewriting of parts or all of the paper, receiving an F on the assignment, failing the course, suspension, or even expulsion. (Most educational institutions have a three-strikes-and-you’re-out rule.)

Self-plagiarism is unacceptable in any school, college, or university. There is, however, one conditional exception: when you have to write a paper with a different thesis statement after securing permission from the two teachers involved with both assignments. The Brief New Century Handbook states the reason: “When an instructor assigns an essay or a research paper, he or she assumes each student will produce original work written for that specific assignment and course” (9).

Electronically Detecting Plagiarism

Because copying and pasting text is so easy to do, and such a vast amount of material is now available online, schools are sending papers through plagiarism-detection software, such as Turnitin.com, to check for any plagiarism in student papers. If you don’t have an account with Turnitin, you can use the Plagiarism Checker, a free online service to help you be certain that you haven’t plagiarized.

So now you know what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.

This podcast was repeatedly interrupted by the guys from Ask a Ninja and written by Geoff Pope, who teaches English at City University of Seattle and can be found online at www.geoffpope.com. The article was edited and read in the podcast by Mignon Fogarty, author of the New York Times bestseller Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.

1. Hult, C.A., & Huckin, T.N. The Brief New Century Handbook (4^th ed). New York: Pearson/Longman, 2008, p. 233.
2. Palmquist, M. The Bedford Researcher (2^nd ed). Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006, p. 189.
3. “Plagiarism.” Merriam-Webster Online. 2010． https://www.merriam-webster.com (accessed on November 29, 2010).
4. Itzkoff, D. “South Park Creators Apologize for Using Other Writers’ Lines.” October 22, 2010． https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/business/media/23southpark.html?ref=plagiarism (accessed on November 29, 2010).
5. Hoyt, C. “Journalistic Shoplifting.” March 6, 2010． https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/opinion/07pubed.html?ref=plagiarism (accessed on November 29, 2010).
6. Gabriel, T. “Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age.” August 1, 2010． https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/education/02cheat.html?ref=plagiarism (accessed on November 29, 2010).
7. Palmquist, M. The Bedford Researcher (2^nd ed). Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006, p. 189.
8. Hacker, D. A Writer’s Reference (6^th ed). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008, pp. 387-388.
9. Hult, C.A., & Huckin, T.N. The Brief New Century Handbook (4^th ed). New York: Pearson/Longman, 2008, p. 151.

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