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Avoid Plagiarism: Write it Right Workshop: How to Avoid Plagiarism

Learn what plagiarism is - and is not - by recognizing examples and finding alternatives to copying word for word from research sources.

Common Knowledge

Common knowledge is NOT considered plagiarism.  According to Rozakis, " 'common knowledge' is defined as the information an educated person is expected to know...Common knowledge falls into many categories. Here are some examples of common knowledge that you don't have to document:

  • Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, scientist, and philosopher
  • Mozart, Verdi, and Wagner all composed operas
  • Shakespeare's tragedies include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear
  • A clone is a genetic copy of an individual organism, arrived at through asexual reproduction in which the nucleas of a cell from the body of a single parent is stimulated to start dividing by itself
  • Quid pro quo means 'something for something; tit for tat'
  • The American Revolution began in 1775 when fighting erupted at Lexington and Concord, Massachussetts."

Rozakis, Laurie E., Ph.D. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Research Methods. New York: Alpha Books, 2004. Print.

Secondary Sources

A secondary source is a source you are citing that cited an ORIGINAL source of information.  In this case, you would cite the original source and include the phrase, "as cited in (secondary source)..." 

Unethical Collaboration

As stated by the University of Michigan's Research Guide, "collaboration is sometimes unacceptable when a student works with another or others on a project and then submits written work which is represented explicitly or implicitly as the student's own work. 

Equally unacceptable is submitting a group project in which you did little or none of the work yet you take the credit for the work done by others within your group."

You must also keep in mind that when instructor's say an essay or paper should be written individually, if you collaborate with someone else on the writing process, you are participating in unethical collaboration and potentially plagiarizing.

Citations

When copying someone else's words exactly as they are written, you must make sure to use direct quotations.  A direct quotation uses quotations marks ("  ") around the words or phrases that are being copied.  This type of citation indicates that the words you are using are someone else's and not your own. 

The other type of citation is indirect quotations.  An indirect quotation is either a paraphrase or a summary of the original text.  A paraphrase or summary condenses the original text and typically employs your own words to express the author's meaning or purpose behind the original text.

If the author said it better than you ever could, you should use DIRECT quotations.  Many times, the effect of the words is better carried by the author's voice rather than your own.  If you are trying to demonstrate what you understood from the text or if your paper has too many direct quotations, then you should use a paraphrase or a summary.

Regardless or which you use, you must be sure to cite your source!

The WPA Statement on Best Practices

Original Thoughts

Any unique, or original, thought of your own does not need to be quoted...

BUT

If you reuse content from a paper you have already written and submitted for another class, you DO have to quote yourself.