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T
his guide will show you how to use
information correctly without If you use someone else’s exact words, you need
plagiarizing. You will learn how to to put those words in quotation marks. Changing
recognize plagiarism, and how to tell the a few words here and there is not enough to
difference between plagiarism and appropriate avoid plagiarism. Either put the exact phrase you
use of information in research papers. are quoting in quotation marks, or rewrite it
Using someone else’s entirely in your own words.
words or ideas Plagiarism
Quoting extensively from another source, even if
without properly • Copying sentences, you do it properly, is not appropriate for a
giving credit is phrases or paragraphs research paper. Use quotations to support your
plagiarism. exactly as they appear in arguments or clarify important points, but create
To avoid plagiarism, the original source your own argument using your own words.
there are three • Copying sentences and
important things to putting them in a different Paraphrasing
keep in mind: citing order In a paraphrase, you
your sources, using • Copying sentences and rewrite what someone Paraphrasing
quotation marks, replacing a few words with else has said in your
synonyms • Re-stating the author’s
and paraphrasing. own way. Just as you
idea in your own words,
• Copying sentences and have a personality that using your own voice
Citing Your adding a few of your own is different from
Sources • Summarizing the author’s
everyone else’s, you as
main points in your own
Any time you use a writer have your own words
words from another source, such as a Web site, voice and style. When
book, journal article, or even a friend’s English you write, even when
paper, you must give proper credit to the source. you are paraphrasing, your writing should sound
like it came from you, not from someone else.
Even if you don’t use someone else’s words, but
you refer to an idea or concept from another
source, you must also give credit.
“Citing your sources” means giving all of the
information about your source, such as author,
title, and date of publication, so someone else can
find that source again.
Explanation: The author of this paragraph did Explanation: In this paragraph the author
not cite the original source. Although the cites the original source in the text, and
words in this paragraph are not copied includes the complete reference in MLA style
directly from the original, the source still at the end of the paper. “Corporate mud-
needs to be cited because the information slinging” is in quotation marks because it is an
being discussed came from the original exact phrase taken from the original text.
source.
2
Using Quotation Marks Original Text
Following are examples of correct and incorrect Cases where the alleged abusers are affluent
ways to use quotation marks in research papers. create specific obstacles for their victims, experts
say. The batterer— typically a man, though not
Research Topic: Domestic Violence against always — is often someone well-known in the
Affluent Women community. He has the financial means to hire
pricey attorneys and private investigators. And
his lawyers are well-versed in the intricacies of
the judicial system and can easily win
continuances and drag cases on for years.
Source: Treadway, Joan. “Violence Hits Rich
Women Hard Too.” Times-Picayune 19 Aug.
2002: 1.
Explanation: The author of this paragraph Explanation: The phrase that is an exact
used an exact phrase from the original text, quotation from the original text is in quotation
“well-versed in the intricacies of the judicial marks, and the author has cited the original
system,” but didn’t put the phrase in source in the text and at the end of the paper
quotation marks, and didn’t cite the original in APA style.
source.
3
Paraphrasing Original Text
Following are examples of correct and incorrect Increasingly, researchers have been turning to
ways to paraphrase in research papers. identical and fraternal twins for answers, with
dramatic results. They are finding that genetics,
Research Topic: Influence of Genetics on Career in addition to familial interests, educational,
Choice social and other environmental pressures, have a
considerable impact on how we choose what we
do — and how happy we are with that choice.
Source: Segal, Nancy L. “New Twins Studies
Show: The Career of Your Dreams May Be the
Career of Your Genes.” Psychology Today.
Sept./Oct. 2006: 54-60.
Explanation: The author copied most of the Explanation: Here the author paraphrased
original text and changed or added a few the original text by restating the ideas in the
words, and did not cite the original source. author’s own words, and cited the original
Copying from a text and replacing a few source in MLA style.
words with synonyms constitutes plagiarism
4
You be the judge!
Read the following paragraphs and decide if they have been plagiarized, or if they are appropriate for
a college research paper.