Plagiarism explainer for students

A slide deck to serve as an explainer of plagiarism in academic settings, with a personal viewpoint. For my students.

Please cite as follows:
Barba, Lorena A. (2016): Plagiarism explainer for students. figshare.
https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3792084.v1

Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY 4.0 license.

Transcript

1. “STOLEN WORDS”
   PLAGIARISM EXPLAINER FOR STUDENTS
   

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2. GW
   BY LORENA A BARBA
   

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3. THE BASICS
   WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?
   ▸ "Using another person's ideas or expressions in your writing
   without acknowledging the source constitutes plagiarism…
   [T]o plagiarize is to give the impression that you wrote or
   thought something that you in fact borrowed from
   someone, and to do so is a violation of professional ethics…
   Forms of plagiarism include the failure to give appropriate
   acknowledgment when repeating another's wording or
   particularly apt phrase, paraphrasing another's argument,
   and presenting another's line of thinking.”
   — Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Style Manual
   

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4. QUOTE MARKS
   YOUR BEST FRIENDS:
   “ ”
   

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5. BUT I CAN’T HAVE QUOTES ALL
   OVER MY TEXT. MAYBE I’LL
   JUST CHANGE A FEW WORDS?
   Any Student
   THE BASICS
   

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6. “…
   PARAPHRASING
   ANOTHER'S
   ARGUMENT…”
   still plagiarism
   

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7. THE BASICS
   WHAT IS PARAPHRASING?
   ▸ Dictionary definition: “a rewording of something written or
   spoken by someone else.”
   ▸ When is it plagiarism?
   1.only a few words are changed or sentences re-ordered
   2.proper acknowledgement to the source not given
   

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8. BUT I WAS TOLD
   PARAPHRASING WAS OK!
   Another Student
   THE BASICS
   

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9. THE BASICS
   WHEN IS PARAPHRASING OK?
   ▸ Through reading and reflection, you have come to
   understand the meaning in the original.
   ▸ You then craft original sentences to convey that meaning
   in your own writing.
   ▸ And you include proper acknowledgement to the source!
   

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10. COPY-AND-PASTE
    YOUR WORST ENEMY:
    

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11. BUT HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO
    COLLECT RESEARCH FOR MY
    WRITING?
    Confused Student
    THE BASICS
    

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12. THE BASICS
    PREVENT PLAGIARISM
    ▸ Note-taking: cite sources & use quote marks in your
    notes! Record page numbers for printed work, URLs for
    websites.
    ▸ Pre-writing: after reading, highlighting and reflecting,
    make short summaries of the relevant sources. Organize
    these notes, plan your piece, make an outline.
    ▸ Write and cite: use your pre-writing materials while
    composing your draft, add citations as you go, consult
    original sources for details or clarification only.
    

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13. BUT, CAN I COPY TEXT FROM
    WIKIPEDIA?
    Struggling Student
    THE BASICS
    

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14. NO.
    

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15. PLAGIARISM IS A
    WESTERN
    NOTION.
    Other cultures differ.
    

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16. ADVANCED TOPICS
    PLAGIARISM ETYMOLOGY
    ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from Latin plagiarius
    ‘kidnapper’ (from plagium ‘a kidnapping,’ from
    Greek plagion)
    Source: Apple Dictionary
    

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17. ADVANCED TOPICS
    PLAGIARISM HISTORY
    ▸ 1st Century Roman poet Marcus Valerius Martialis (Martial)
    protested that another poet “kidnapped” his verses.
    ▸ English playwright Ben Jonson used “plagiary” in 1601:
    someone who commits “literary theft.”
    ▸ 17th–18th Centuries: rise of the concept of copyright in
    British and German law.

    e.g., Justice Aston in Millar v. Taylor (1769) …
    

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18. “Authors and Owners: The Invention of Copyright”, Mark Rose. 

    Harvard University Press, 1993
    

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19. By John Platts, London 1826 (Volume III, 15th-16th cent., p. 530)
    

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22. The Huffington Post, 

    19 July 2016:

    “Melania Trump
    Plagiarized Her
    Convention Speech
    From Michelle Obama”
    

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23. ORIGINALITY:
    CROSS-CULTURE
    DIFFERENCES
    Examples in Asia.
    

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24. ADVANCED TOPICS
    MEMORIZING IS VALUED IN CHINA
    天下文章一大抄
    “all written works are copied from others works”

    “good writings are very similar”
    

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25. I STRUGGLE WITH ENGLISH.
    CAN I COPY SENTENCES TO
    HELP ME COMPOSE?
    International Student
    ADVANCED TOPICS
    

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26. SORRY, NO.
    

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27. ADVANCED TOPICS
    ADVICE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
    ▸ Time management: plan extra time for composition and
    editing; seek help from the writing center.
    ▸ Integrate: work in groups with students of other
    nationalities; speak English with classmates.
    ▸ Read broadly: news articles, books, magazines, opinion
    pieces and commentary. Pay attention to style and content.
    

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28. FOR EVERYBODY
    WRITING IS HARD WORK …
    

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29. WHY SHOULD I WORK SO
    HARD? I HAVE A LIFE!
    Lazy Student
    ADVANCED TOPICS
    

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30. YOU…
    HERE’S MY
    COMMITMENT TO
    

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31. MY PART IN OUR CONTRACT
    I WILL ALSO WORK HARD…
    ▸ to make the course meaningful to your career,
    ▸ to design authentic assignments that you can accomplish,
    ▸ to foster a good environment for learning,
    ▸ and to expect the best from you.
    Lorena A. Barba, Washington, DC

    (c) 2016 Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0
    

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