What is Plagiarism and How Can I Avoid It?

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

Definition of plagiarism:
According to Merriam-Webster online -

y to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's

own y to use (another's production) without crediting the source y to commit literary theft y to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source (plagiarism, 2011)

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

Real Life Consequences:

y Damaged the reputation of two prominent historians, Stephen Ambrose

and Doris Kearns Goodwin, y Kearns left television position and stepped down as Pulitzer Prize judge for lifting 50 passages for her 1987 book The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys (Lewis, 2002)
y Senator Joseph Biden dropped his 1987 campaign for the Democratic

presidential nomination. (Sabato, 2003) y Copied in law school and borrowed from campaign speeches of Robert Kennedy
y Boston Globe journalist Mike Barnicle forced to resign for plagiarism in

his columns (Boston Columnist .)

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

(Spartan Daily, Sept. 25, 2008) Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE 4

Paper Mills
y http://www.essaycapital.com/ y http://www.directessays.com/viewpaper/201546.html

(site with previously used essays want to get caught?)

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

Examples:

Intentional Plagiarism y Copying from a source with no quotation marks or citation in order to make the reader think it is your own work y Cutting and pasting large amounts of material from the Internet with no citation y Copying a friends paper or paying someone else to write a paper for you y Using pictures, graphics, algorithms or code with no citation. (These should be treated like any other quoted information.)

Unintentional Plagiarism y Paraphrases are too close to the original words and sentence structure of the author y Too much direct quoting y Not enough of your own original content y Not including both a citation in the body of the text and in the reference list at the end of your paper. (In APA and IEEE reference styles you must have an in-text citation for each reference listed in your bibliography.)

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

Consequences:
Engineering Department -

according to the academic policy of the SJSU Computer

y Receive a failing grade on the test paper, or exam y

Have your course grade lowered

y

Get an "F" in the course

y

Be placed on disciplinary probation

y

Be expelled (academic policy, 2004)

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

No need to cite when:

y You are using common knowledge facts that are commonly known and

usually appear in three or more sources. (This may vary depending on your readers. If they are engineers, you may be able to discuss well known facts without citing, but if the readers are the general public, what is common knowledge to you may not be to them. When in doubt cite!) y You are using information from your own research, experiments, observations etc. (However, if you have published an article, you need to cite it if you do not own the copyright. It is also good for your portfolio to have your article cited.)

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

What do we mean by the term citing?

Three ways to give credit where it is due:

y

Use quotation marks around a direct quote with an in-text citation. The words within the quotes must be identical to the authors original words. It is also important not to leave out words if they could change the authors original meaning. Paraphrase the authors words. This means that you take notes in your own words, think about what the passage means and then restate it using synonyms and changing the sentence structure. You should be able to do this without having to look at the original passage. It means that you could explain the original to a friend in a conversation because you have internalized the authors intent. (This is also an excellent way to study for exams!) Summarize the passage. This is very similar to paraphrasing but is used to give the main points of the original and is shorter than a paraphrase. This should only be used when you just want to give the reader a short description of the original without adding your own opinion. In all three cases, when using APA format, you must give the authors name, the date of publication, and the page or chapter number if referring to a specific section.

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

Examples Direct Quote (APA format)

Original passage: Another example of where threads are useful is in browsers for the World Wide Web, such as Netscape and Mosaic [this is a really old book!]. Many Web pages contain multiple small images. For each image on a Web page, the browser must set up a separate connection to the pages home site and request the image. A great deal of time is wasted establishing and releasing all these connections. By having multiple threads within the browser, many images can be requested at the same time, greatly speeding up performance in most cases, since with small images, the set-up time is the limiting factor, not the speed of the transmission line (Tanenbaum,1997, p. 55). [Long quotes can be put in block form within the body without quotation marks.] Short Quote: By having multiple threads within the browser, many images can be requested at the same time, greatly speeding up performance in most cases (Tanenbaum,1997, p. 55 ) . OR According to Tanenbaum (1997), : By having multiple threads within the browser, many images can be requested at the same time, greatly speeding up performance in most cases (p. 55). OR Partial Quote Tanenbaum (1997) claims that by having multiple threadsmany images can be requested at the same time (p. 55). [notice that the missing portion is replaced with six dots.] [You will notice in the first quote that I inserted my comments in square brackets. You will often see - [sic] in the middle of a quote. This means that there is a spelling or grammar mistake in the original and it is inserted by the person quoting.]

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

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Examples - Paraphrase
Original passage: Another example of where threads are useful is in browsers for the World Wide Web, such as Netscape and Mosaic. Many Web pages contain multiple small images. For each image on a Web page, the browser must set up a separate connection to the pages home site and request the image. A great deal of time is wasted establishing and releasing all these connections. By having multiple threads within the browser, many images can be requested at the same time, greatly speeding up performance in most cases, since with small images, the set-up time is the limiting factor, not the speed of the transmission line (Tanenbaum,1997, p. 55). Acceptable paraphrase: Tanenbaum (1997) claims using multiple threads in browsers can eliminate delays in transmission of images (p.55). [You will notice that terms from the original passage are still in quotes.] Unacceptable paraphrase: Tanenbaum (1997) says that set-up time of many small images within a browser is the limiting factor, not the transmission lines speed (p. 55). [Only the order of the sentence structure has been changed and a few words changed slightly.]

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Examples Summary
Original passage: Another example of where threads are useful is in browsers for the World Wide Web, such as Netscape and Mosaic. Many Web pages contain multiple small images. For each image on a Web page, the browser must set up a separate connection to the pages home site and request the image. A great deal of time is wasted establishing and releasing all these connections. By having multiple threads within the browser, many images can be requested at the same time, greatly speeding up performance in most cases, since with small images, the set-up time is the limiting factor, not the speed of the transmission line (Tanenbaum,1997, p. 55). Acceptable Summary: Tanenbaum (1997) says that browser speed can be improved by using multiple threads within the browser since it allows many small images to be requested at the same time thus overcoming the long wait time of having to make individual connections (p. 55). [A summary just gives the main points of the original. I have used some terms from the original, but they are in quotes. You could also do this entirely in your own words.]

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APA or IEEE Whats the difference?

APA (American Psychological Association) and IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) are the two reference styles most widely used in computer and software engineering. I have been using APA style which is widely used in most social and natural sciences. You should also be familiar with IEEE style if you plan to publish papers since most computer engineering journals use that style. As you have seen, APA uses the author and date as the main elements for in-text citations. IEEE, on the other hand, uses numbers in square brackets [1]. These refer to the reference list at the end of the paper. These are listed in the order in which they appear in the text unlike APA which lists the references in alphabetical order. This may seem easier than the APA style of citation, but with IEEE style, you must also decide when it is important to mention the author as well as the number. IEEE also uses the double column format rather than double-spaced, paragraph format. Since the goal of this tutorial is mainly to familiarize you with the basics of referencing, I will stick with APA style to avoid confusion. If you want to learn more about IEEE style, the following sites will help you: http://www.computer.org/portal/web/publications/style_refs http://www.ieee.ca/journal/authorinfo_references.html

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

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The Reference List

Many people are confused about how to write references for online resources. With most university libraries and many companies subscribing to professional databases, most research is now done using electronic resources. The next few slides will give you the basics of how to do an APA reference list followed by examples of the most common types of sources cited. The Purdue Online Writing Lab, also known as OWL, has excellent tutorials and handouts on APA referencing as well as many other writing topics. Most of the examples given will be from that site. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

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Example of an APA Reference List

You will notice that the first line of each entry is on the margin and the following lines are indented one tab. This is called the hanging indent and can be formatted by right-clicking on the paragraph tab and going to indentation hanging first line. Each entry is in alphabetical order by author or title if there is no author. Everything is double spaced.

(Seneca Libraries APA Style Guide. 2010)

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

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Basic Elements in an APA Reference

Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderland, L. & Brizee, A. (2010, May 5). General format. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
1. 2. 3. 4.

The author(s) name is listed last name first, followed by the first initial. If there is more than one author an ampersand (&) is used instead of and before the last author. The second element is the date of publication or update in parentheses. If no date is available, just write (N.D.) for no date. (This is also true for in-text citations.) The next element is the title of the article or book. (Italics are only used for the title of the publication book or journal.) This is followed by access information such as volume, issue and/or url. (In the case of an online source you will notice that there is a retrieval statement.)

Now lets look at some actual examples. You will need to refer to these for the bibliography exercise that follows this presentation.

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

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Article from an online periodical

Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living Web. A list apart: For people who make websites, 149. Retrieved from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving (Angeli et al, 2011)

Notice that the title of the article in not in Italics A list apart: For people who make websites is the name of the periodical so it is in italics. There is no retrieval date because it is a periodical. This means that it always comes out on a set date and that the material will not change. When citing a wiki or other source where the content may change, you need to give the date that you accessed the site.

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

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Article From an Online Periodical with DOI Assigned

Brownlie, D. (2007). Toward effective poster presentations: An annotated bibliography. European Journal of Marketing, 41(11/12), 1245 -1283. doi:10.1108/03090560710821161

After the name of the journal, you will see 41 this is the volume number. Next you will see a number in parentheses (11/12) that is the issue number. Then you see numbers 1245 1283. Those are the page numbers. APA doesnt use the terms vol., issue or p.(pp). Next, and most importantly, you will see a Doi number. This is a recent innovation to help make keeping track of online sources easier. In the last few years most professional publications have started assigning digital object identifier numbers to their articles. This means that you can always find that article just by going to the doi Website and entering the number. http://www.doi.org/ This means that you do not need to give a retrieval statement or date for any article with a doi number.

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

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Article From an Online Periodical with no DOI Assigned

Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. Journal of Buddhist Ethics,8. Retrieved from http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html (Angeli et al, 2011)

In this case there is no doi number so there is a retrieval statement. There is no date given for access since this is again a periodical and the date is fixed.

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

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Article From a Database

Smyth, A. M., Parker, A. L., & Pease, D. L. (2002). A study of enjoyment of peas. Journal of Abnormal Eating, 8(3), 120-125. (Angeli et al, 2011) You will notice there is no url or doi number here. If the article is from a well known journal, there is no need to cite the database. However, if it is an article that is found only in an online databse, you do need to cite it. For example: Arakji, R. Y., & Lang, K. R. (2008). Avatar business value analysis: A method for the evaluation of business value creation in virtual commerce. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 9, 207-218. Retrieved from http://www.csulb.edu/journals/jecr/ (Angeli et al, 2011) You will find increasingly however that most articles will have a doi so that you will not need to worry about databases and retrieval statements.

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

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Web Page With No Author

Products & Services. (N.D.) Retrieved August 12, 2011 from http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/index.html

If there is no author, you just need to put the title of the page. In this case I dont know when the page was last updated so I have put N.D for no date.

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

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Computer Software/Downloaded Software

Hayes, B., Tesar, B., & Zuraw, K. (2003). OTSoft: Optimality Theory Software (Version 2.1) [Software]. Available from http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/hayes/otsoft/ (Angeli et al, 2011)

Software should be treated just like any other intellectual property. You should also include the version.

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

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Electronic Book with No Doi

De Huff, E. W. (n.d.). Taytays tales: Traditional Pueblo Indian tales. Retrieved from http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/dehuff/taytay/taytay.html (Angeli et al, 2011)

If the book is from a site where it is easily downloadable with no copyright restrictions, you can just give the url. However, if it is a commercial site and the book must be purchased, you should put available at so that the reader knows where to buy it.

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

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Sources in Print

In case you have to cite a book or article in print, here are examples of a book and a journal article: Book: Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. (Angeli et al, 2011) Notice that the main difference between a book and a journal article is that instead of a volume, issue and page numbers, you give the place of publication and the publisher. Journal Article: Scruton, R. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The New Criterion, 15(30), 5-13. (Angeli et al, 2011)

Plagiarism Tutorial CMPE

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And Finally
Hopefully by now you understand the need for referencing. You can always go to numerous Web sites to find out how to cite a particular source. The main things to remember are: 1. You must always have an in-text citation for each reference in your bibliography. 2. It is never ok to just cut and paste large chunks of material. You need to understand the original so that you can restate it in your own words. 3. It is not ok to give a list of urls at the end of your paper. You should try to format your references as closely to the given models as possible. For more information on APA referencing, go to http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/ http://library.nmu.edu/guides/userguides/style_apa.htm http://lib.trinity.edu/research/citing/APAelectronicsources.pdf

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References:
Academic Policy. (2004). Computer Engineering Department, San Jose State University. Retrieved August 11, 2011, from http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/cmpe/cmpe/academic_policy.php Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderland, L. & Brizee, A. (2011, May10). Reference List: Electronic Sources (Web Publications). Retrieved August 11, 2011 from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/ Boston Columnist Resigns Amid New Plagiarism Charges. (August, 1998). Retrieved September 12, 2011 from http://www.cnn.com/US/9808/19/barnicle Lewis, M. (February, 2002). Doris Kearns Goodwin And The Credibility Gap. Retrieved September 12, 2011 from http://www.forbes.com/2002/02/27/0227goodwin.html plagiarize. (2011). In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved August 11, 2011, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarize Sabato, L. J. (March 3, 1998) Joseph Biden's Plagiarism; Michael Dukakis's 'Attack Video' 1988. Washington Post Online. Retrieved September 12,2011 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/politics/special/clinton/frenzy/biden.htm Seneca Libraries APA Style Guide (2010). Retrieved August 12, 2011 from http://library.senecacollege.ca/OLD/Research_Help/Citing_Sources/apa_guide.html Tanenbaum, A. S. (1997). Operating Systems: Design and Implementation (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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