Steven M. Specht and Jan Pedersen
Lebanon Valley College
Plagiarism occurs when a writer uses someone else's words or ideas
without proper acknowledgement. Plagiarism can be considered a combination of
cheating, stealing and lying and is a serious violation in academics. In some
institutions, plagiarism can be punishable by expulsion from a class or the
institution. Statistically, "unintentional plagiarism" is virtually impossible.
"Unintentional plagiarism" arises when an individual is unaware of what
constitutes plagiarism. Everyone should know that copying someone else's work
directly is plagiarism. In addition to directly copying someone else's writing,
however, many other instances of unacknowledged use of someone else's work can
be considered plagiarism.
The following examples should make clear the differences between honest and
dishonest use of a source:
Original: ". . . what we dream is either manifestly recognizable as
psychically significant, or it is distorted and cannot be judged till the dream
has been interpreted, after which it will once more be found to be significant.
Dreams are never concerned with trivialities; we do not allow our sleep to be
disturbed by trifles. The apparently innocent dreams turn out to be quite the
reverse when we take the trouble to analyze them. They are, if I may say so,
wolves in sheep's clothing" (Freud, 1965, pp. 215-216).
Freud, S. (1965). The interpretation of dreams. New York: Avon Books.
Version A: According to Freud (1965), our dreams are either
recognizably significant right away or found to be so once they have been
interpreted. Dreams must be significant--otherwise we would not allow our sleep
to be distrubed. What appears to be innocent often turns out to be quite the
opposite, much like wolves in sheep's clothing.
Version A is an example of plagiarism: Although the author of
Version A uses a citation
to indicate that the ideas in this passage belong to Freud, the writing
follows too closely Freud's literary style and choice of words to be a true
paraphrase. Therefore, lack of quotations implies that the writer is passing
off writing that is not her or his own.
Version B: According to Freud (1965), dreams, no matter how
"innocent" on the surface, are inevitably found, once interpreted, to contain
important psychological content (p. 216).
Version B is not an example of plagiarism: The author of Version B
not only acknowledges that the ideas are not his or her own, but also has
summarized Freud's writing in his or her own style and has placed the one word
taken directly from Freud within quotation marks and noted the pages from which
it was taken.
To avoid plagiarism, the following principles must be scrupulously
- Place anything you copy exactly from another writer--whole sentences,
phrases, or even single distinctive or unusual words--within quotation marks
and identify its source. In terms of APA format, anything that is
quoted directly must include quotation marks AND a proper citation to
author, year and page number from which the quotation was taken.
- Indicate the source of any idea or information that you take from
another writer that is not common knowledge. You should indicate the source of
information even when you restate the idea or information in your own words
and don't use quotation marks. When in doubt whether to cite the source of
information you use, it is wise to include the citation. It is better to weary
the reader with excessive citations than to run the risk of being academically
dishonest (see LVC handbook, pp. 17-18). And remember... you can always ask the
Professors are generally interested in your writing and ability to
interpret and integrate your ideas with the work of others. In general, you
should avoid extensive use of quotations from the work of others. Use direct
quotations only for an idea which is particularly well expressed or which is
controversial enough that you want your readers to know you are stating it
exactly without any misinterpretation on your part. Most of the material you
take from other sources should be restated in your own words. You must be
certain that you actually do restate ideas in your own words. Retaining the
sentence structure of the original source, substituting some synonyms, and/or
deleting some phrase is NOT paraphrasing; it IS plagiarism.
One of the best ways to avoid plagiarism is to use care when taking notes.
Place quotation marks around all material you copy verbatim. Check to
make certain you have copied accurately and write down th page number of the
source next to the quotation. Read carefully material you wish to paraphrase.
Then close the book and write a summary of the material. You may wish to check
the accuracy of your summary, but do not revise it by then using the author's
words. By not looking at the source while you paraphrase it, you avoid the
temptation of retaining too much of its sentence structure and vocabulary. If
an author uses a particularly apt phrase, put that in your summary with
quotation marks beside it.
Sample summary note:
Dreams--The Issue of Significance/Meaning
The significance of dreams should not be based on surface accessibility--on
their manifest content. No dreams are "innocent". Interestingly, dreams that at
first appear free of noteworthy meaning turn out to be just the opposite once
they are carefully anlalyzed/interpreted. Freud quite aptly compares such
dreams to "wolves in sheep's clothing" (p. 216).
Freud, Interpretation of dreams, pp. 215-216.
A final word: Plagiarism is most likely to result when your paper
emphasizes the ideas of others rather than your own. Your research papers
should never consist of a loosely-connected string of undigested quotations and
ideas of other authors. Instead, you must interpret research material,
integrate it with your own ideas, and develop your own controlling idea and
organizational structure. You should refer to other sources, using them to
support and develop your own ideas, rather than rely on them as a substitute
for your own thoughts and analyses. In this way, you can produce intellectually
solid papers and at the same time avoiding plagiarizing.