Avoiding Plagiarism, Using Sources Effectively, and Documenting Sources

I. What is plagiarism?II. The Keys To Avoiding Plagiarism

III. How to use sources in your writingIV. How to document sources

What is Plagiarism?

“The passing off of someone else’s words or thoughts as your own.”

Failure to answer the following questions may lead to plagiarism:

1. Are these my ideas and words or are they from a source?

2. How should I use other people’s ideas and words appropriately?

3. How do I show where I found this info?

Deliberate Plagiarism

• Deliberate

• Unintentional – Examples include – – copying something word for word and not putting quotations

around it– failing to give a citation for a quotation or a

summary/paraphrase– Improper paraphrasing: Copying a passage and only changing a

few words or copying the sentence structure of a source.

The Keys to Avoiding Plagiarism

Four Main Keys

1. Write an essay that emphasises your thought and analysis.

2. Put distance between you and your sources through good note-taking

3. When you use sources, use them properly.4. Cite your sources properly.

Create Distance by Taking Notes on Sources

• Your goal is to write your outline and draft from your notes. This puts distance between you and your sources and helps you to notice similarities and contradictions between sources.

• This will emphasize analysis rather than regurgitation.

• It will help you to avoid plagiarism

When You Use Sources, Use Them Properly

Ways to Use Primary and Secondary Sources as Evidence

• Quotations – using the actual words from a source. Use “quotation marks” to designate quotes.

• Summary – a concise discussion of the main points or ideas from a source; in general, it includes little detail.– Example: Despite changes in legislation, Colchester argues that

indigenous peoples have little participation in conservation efforts (Colchester, 24).

• Paraphrase – restating detailed information or evidence in your own words.– Example: For thirty years, international conservation agencies like the

World Conservation Union and World Parks Congress have made recommendations to governments about the use of protected lands (Colchester, 28).

Let’s Try It!

• To paraphrase correctly, you must take a passage and write it in your own words. This means that you need to change the sentence structure and most of the actual words (general vocabulary and proper nouns (names and dates) are fine!)

“Between about 1895 and 1915, in countless Canadian and American borderland towns and cities where social and cultural resources were scant, hockey, so often seen as ‘Canada’s game’ was shared by Canadians and Americans, both as spectators and players. It became in these years one of many ‘hands across the borders’ in an era of intensifying nationalism in both countries” (Holeman, 2004, p. 34).

Example of Poor Paraphrasing

Original Source:Economies of scale sent farmers away from local, independent

suppliers to better deals in regional supply centres. Larger livestock barns led to demands that municipalities and provincial regulators set standards for the increasing volumes of livestock manure being produced on small acreages.

Improper ParaphraseEconomies of scale sent farmers away from local small businesses to

save money in regional supply stores. Larger livestock barns led to demands that governments make laws about the increasing volumes of livestock manure found on small farms.

The Keys to Good Paraphrasing

• You must put the source into your own words and sentence structure. Cover the original, re-write it in your words, and cite the source of your paraphrase.

• Reference your source properly in the text. Include the source in your list of sources at the end of your essay.

• Test your summary or paraphrase. Underline all of the words that you have included in your summary or paraphrase that are identical to the original source. Is your wording or sentence structure too similar? Do you include more than three words in a row that are identical to the source?

Proper Paraphrase

In his book, Palwick focuses on mass production as a primary cause of rural economic hardship. Increasingly, farmers tried to economize by buying goods from large, centralized suppliers rather than local businesses. Using the example of increases in livestock manure, Palwick shows that as farms themselves increased in size, so too did the need for laws to regulate them, laws which were often too expensive for small farmers to comply with.

Notice

Not only did I change the words, I attempted to convey more than exactly what those words

said; I attempted to convey the author’s overall argument.

When You Paraphrase…

How Did You Do?

Want to talk to someone about your paraphrase? Bring it into the ASC

Document Your Sources Properly

Proper Referencing is important because…

• It indicates the quality of your research

• It demonstrates your care and attention to detail

• It minimizes potential risk of plagiarism

Citation

• Have you baked cookies from a recipe?• Put together a bike or Ikea furniture?• Installed computer software?

• IF SO, YOU CAN DO CITATION. • Simply find the rules and follow them!

Think of it this way…• If you want to write to danacapell@trentu.ca• And you leave a period out or add an extra

letter, it will not work.

• YOU HAVE THIS SKILL• Use this attention to detail when you find and

follow citation rules

The basics• Information for books: author, title of book, place of

publication, press, date of publication (also chapter title, edition number, editors)

• Information for journals: author, title of article, title of journal, volume and issue number, page range

• Online resource? If the resource is only available online (not in print), use the above information plus name of host site, full web address, date of retrieval, Digital Object Identifier

For the Details

Check out our new online Documentation Guide.

www.trentu.ca/academicskills/documentation

I. Social Sciences: American Psychological Association (APA)

IN TEXT CITATIONS:

• Paraphrasing and Summarizing:• Parreñas (2001) examines the power structures of gender, race, and class . . .

• In their 2005 article, Ramilo, Hafkin, and Jorge demonstrate the impact of . . .

• Because spousal abuse is often constructed within the framework of heterosexual relationships, stereotypes about gender carry over into abusive lesbian relationships (Weinbaum, 2004).

When paraphrasing specific examples, points or data, include a page reference.• Smith argues that because divorce rates are near 38%, there is grounds to challenge the

stability of the institution of marriage (2006, p.10)

APA In-text citations

• Direct Quotation – you must include a page number

• Moderated by class and assimilative policies, marriage between Aboriginal men and non-Aboriginal women was “[f]ar from being a travesty against society” (Ellinghaus, 2002, p. 69).

• Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has great potential, as indicated by a report from the UN Division for the Advancement of Women:

If . . . the gender dimensions of ICT — in terms of access and use, capacity-building opportunities, employment and potential for empowerment — are explicitly identified and addressed, ICT can be a powerful catalyst for political and social empowerment of women, and the promotion of gender equality. (Ramilo, Hafkin, & Jorge, 2005, p. 3)

Format of the APA References Page

• The references list should be on its own page(s). The title, References, is centred at the top of the list.

• The entire list is double-spaced and alphabetized by authors' last names. • APA Style uses a hanging indent. The first line of each reference is set flush left.

Subsequent lines are indented five to seven spaces. • In titles of articles and books, capitalize only the first word, the first word after a colon,

and proper nouns. • Names are inverted (last name first). Never use the full first name of an author or

editor. Use only initials. • List up to seven authors or editors. When there are more, follow this list with et al. • When there are multiple works by one author, list them by publication date (earliest

one first). • Include a digital object identifier (DOI) where available. A DOI is an alphanumeric

identifier that insures there is a persistent link to information on the Internet. It is located on the first page of an electronic journal article near the copyright notice. It is also on the article's database landing page.

(c) 2011 Academic Skills Centre 27

APA References PageReferences Journal Article (Accsessed Online):Herbst-Damm, K.L. & Julik, J.A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times of terminally ill

patients. Health Psychology, 24, 225-229. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225a

- OR-Sillick, T.J. & Schutte, N.S. (2006). Emotional intelligence and self-esteem mediate between perceived early

parental love and adult happiness. E-Journal of Applied Psychology, 2(2), 38-48. Retrieved from http://ojs.lib.swin.edu.au/index.php/ejap

Book:Parreñas, R. S. (2001). Servants of globalization: Women, migration and domestic work. Stanford: Stanford

University Press.

Online Source:Ramilo, C., Hafkin, N., & Jorge, S. (2005). Women 2000 and beyond. Retrieved from

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/public/w2000-09.05-ict-e.pdf

Article/Chapter in An Edited Collection:Weinbaum, B. (2004). Exploring discursive constructions of lesbian abuse: Looking inside and out. In C.L.

Winkelmann & C. Shearer-Cremean (Eds.), Survivor rhetoric : negotiations and narrativity in abused women's language (pp. 94-119). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

II. Humanities: Modern Languages Association (MLA)

• Use In-Text Citations that give author’s last name and a page number.• You must always include a page number for MLA. EX: Venus and Adonis are a “cosmological allegory” (Ellrodt 78). • If the author’s name is already mentioned in the text, only the page

number is required in the parenthetical citation.EX: Miller concedes, in The Poem’s Two Bodies, that “human beings are…living organisms, whose apprehensions of themselves and their world is mediated by the body” (215).

Formatting the Works Cited Page• The Works Cited list should be on its own page. • The title, Works Cited, or occasionally, Work Cited, is centred. The title does not have to put in

bold, italics, or underlined. • The entire list is double-spaced (or in 1.5, if that is what you are using throughout the essay). • Each entry is in a format called a "hanging-indent.“• Arrange the entries in alphabetical order by the author's last name. If the author is unknown,

alphabetize by the title, ignoring the articles, "A"," An", and "The". • If two or more works by the same author are to be listed, alphabetize the works by title, then give

the author's name in the first entry. For additional entries, type three unspaced hyphens and a period instead of the author's name;

• Publishers' names are shortened. Only the important, indentifying words are necessary. • MLA is now calling for the medium of publication to follow the publication information (print,

web).

MLA Works Cited Page

Works Cited

Article (originally in print but you found it through an online database):Ellinghaus, Katherine. “Margins of acceptability: Class, education, and interracial marriage in Australia

and North America.” Frontiers. 23:3 (2002) 55-75. Ebsco Host. Web. 03 March 2010.Notice: Ebsco Host is the name of the online database. You do not need to include a URL.

Book:Parreñas, Rhacel Salazar. Servants of globalization: women, migration and domestic work. Stanford,

CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. Print.

Online Document:Ramilo, Chat, Nancy Hafkin, and Sonia Jorge. “Gender equality and empowerment of women through

ICT.” Women 2000 and beyond. New York: United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2005. Web. 3 March 2010.

Chapter/Article in an Edited Collection:Weinbaum, Batya. “Exploring discursive constructions of lesbian abuse: looking inside and out.”

Survivor Rhetoric: Negotiations and Narrativity in Abused Women's Language. Eds. Carol L. Winkelmann and Christine Shearer-Cremean. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004. 94-119. Print.

Chicago Style (Footnoting)• Insert a superscript number at the end of the sentence with

the info. you are citing.• This number corresponds to a footnote/endnote with

complete publication info. for the source.• The first footnote contains complete information.• Subsequent footnotes contain only the author’s last name,

short title, and page #. • YOU MUST ALWAYS INCLUDE A PAGE NUMBER IN CHICAGO

STYLE.

Chicago Style/Footnotes Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Quoting

• Parreñas examines the power structures of gender, race, and class inherent in the unequal and illegal relationships between migrant domestic workers and their employers.1 In 2005, Ramilo, Hafkin, and Jorge demonstrated the impact of ICT on the empowerment of women.2 Because spousal abuse is often constructed within the framework of heterosexual relationships, stereotypes about gender carry over into abusive lesbian relationships.3

1 Rhacel Salazar Parreñas, Servants of Globalization: Women, Migration and Domestic Work (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001), 10.

2. Chat Ramilo, Nancy Hafkin, and Sonia Jorge. “Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women through ICT,” Women 2000 and Beyond, United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, 2005, <http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/public/w2000-09.05-ict-e.pdf>.

3. Batya Weinbaum, “Exploring Discursive Constructions of Lesbian Abuse: Looking Inside and Out,” in Survivor Rhetoric : Negotiations and Narrativity in Abused Women's Language, eds. Carol L. Winkelmann and Christine Shearer-Cremean (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004), 97.

Formatting the Bibliography• The title “Bibliography” is centered and placed one inch

from the top of the page. • Sources are listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last

name. • List multiple works by the same author in alphabetical

order by the title of the work. • Each source is listed along with its full publication

information. • Double-space all entries. • Use a hanging indent so that the second line of a

bibliographic entry is indented.

BibliographyJournal Article:Ellinghaus, Katherine. “Margins of Acceptability: Class, Education, and Interracial Marriage in Australia

and North America.” Frontiers. 23, no.1 (2002): 55-75.

Book:Parreñas, Rhacel Salazar. Servants of Globalization: Women, Migration and Domestic Work. Stanford,

CA: Stanford University Press, 2001.

Online Document:Ramilo, Chat, Nancy Hafkin, and Sonia Jorge. “Gender equality and empowerment of women through

ICT.” Women 2000 and beyond. New York: United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2005. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/public/w2000-09.05-ict-e.pdf.

Chapter/Article in an Edited Collection:Weinbaum, Batya. “Exploring Discursive Constructions of Lesbian Abuse: Looking Inside and Out.” In

Survivor Rhetoric: Negotiations and Narrativity in Abused Women's Language. Edited by Carol L. Winkelmann and Christine Shearer-Cremean, 94-119. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.

For the Details

Check out our new online Documentation Guide.

www.trentu.ca/academicskills/documentation