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Avoiding Plagiarism - A Guide for Students

Introduction

Plagiarism is a serious matter in academia and the professional world.

This web page is intended as a general primer on plagiarism. In the case of differences between information presented here and UO Official Policy, UO Official Policy takes precedence. If you have further questions, please contact your Instructor/GTF, Office of Student Life (346-3216), Office of Student Advocacy (346-3722), or a Reference Librarian (346-1818).

What is Plagiarism?

The following is quoted from the Office of Student Life's Academic Dishonesty Policy:

"Plagiarism is the inclusion of someone else's product, words, ideas, or data as one's own work. When a student submits work for credit that includes the product, words, ideas, or data of others, the source must be acknowledged by the use of complete, accurate, and specific references, such as footnotes.

How to Avoid Plagiarising

When directly quoting another author, the writer must:

Accurately quote the original author's words.
Enclose the quotation within quotation marks.
Follow quotation using an in-text citation [e.g., (p. 276)], the format of an in-text citation varies by citation style.
Introduce the quotation with a 'signal phrase' (whether you are required to use a signal phrase or not varies by citation style).
A list of references with full citation information is also required at the end of the paper. For more information on humanities or social sciences citation manuals contact the Knight Reference Desk (346-1818 or email), or for the sciences, contact the Science Library Reference Desk (346-2661 or email).
Examples of incorrect and correct direct quotations

When paraphrasing another author, the writer must:

Use words or have a sentence structure different from the original work, while maintaining the gist of the original author's idea. Paraphrasing or summarizing doesn't mean just changing a couple of words from the original work.
Acknowledge the source through in-text citations immediately following the paraphrase.
Examples of incorrect and correct paraphrasing

Using/buying another writer's paper

It should go without saying, but it is academically dishonest to submit a paper that someone else wrote (unless you are working on a group project). The paper should be your own work.

What is Common Knowledge (or, do I have to cite every little detail in my paper)?

Maxine Hairston and John Ruszkiewicz define common knowledge as, "...[the] facts, dates, events, information, and concepts that belong generally to an educated public. No individual owns the facts about history, physics, social behavior, geography, current events, popular culture, and so on."
Source:The Scott, Foresman handbook for writers by Maxine Hairston, John J. Ruszkiewicz. 3rd ed.
New York, NY : HarperCollins College Publishers, c1993. p. 614.

Therefore, common knowledge does not need to be cited - the difficulty is knowing when something is, in fact, widely known. An added twist is that each discipline has its own common knowledge, e.g. psychologists will be familiar with the work of Jean Piaget so you do not need to establish who he was. If you are not sure whether or not something is common knowledge, ask your instructor/GTF.

Tips on quoting:

Select carefully. Quotations should give weight to your argument. In general, do not select quotations which only repeat points you have already made.
Be sure to integrate all ideas from other sources into your own discussion. Introduce direct quotations with your own words. After quoting, explain the significance of quotations.
Avoid quoting more than is needed. Most of the time, brief quotations suffice.
Use direct quotations only when the author's wording is necessary or particularly effective. Some disciplines discourage direct quotations. Check with your professor.
If you are using material cited by an author and you do not have the original source, introduce the quotation with a phrase such as "as is quoted in...."
End citation alone is not sufficient for direct quotations; place all direct quotations within quotation marks. Be sure to copy quotations exactly as they appear.
To avoid any unintentional failure to cite sources, include all citation information on notecards and in your first draft.

Citation Style Guides

The UO Libraries have developed a quick guide to citation style formats, as well as citing electronic resources. The examples cover the most widely used citations formats, e.g. journal articles, books, newspaper articles, and government documents.

Direct quotation example:

Original source

"Buddhadasa's conception of human beings as active controllers of their own material and spiritual progress is most clearly presented in his view of work as integrating both social and spiritual activity."
Source: Buddhadasa: A Buddhist thinker for the modern world by Peter Jackson.
Bangkok, Thailand: Siam Society, 1988. p. 200.

No plagiarism - Correctly cited direct quotation in the text of a paper.

Jackson (1988) notes, "Buddhadasa's conception of human beings as active controllers of their own material and spiritual progress is most clearly presented in his view of work as integrating both social and spiritual activity." (p. 200)

Paraphrasing examples:

Original source
If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists (Davis, 26).

No plagiarism - appropriate paraphrase of the original sentence.

According to Flora Davis, linguists and animal behaviorists were unprepared for the news that a chimp could communicate with its trainers through sign language (Davis, 26).

UO Policy & Consequences

The Official UO Policy on plagiarism (among other forms of academic dishonesty) is outlined in the Policy on Academic Dishonesty. Also see the sections "What can students do to protect themselves from being charged with academic dishonesty," and "Academic Dishonesty Sanction."

Maintained by Barbara Jenkins jenkins@uoregon.edu
Last revision: 24 April 2006