Paraphrasing and Plagiarism

1. Paraphrasing and Plagiarism

2. What is plagiarism? • Download and read the document “Plagiarism Information” from the wiki. • In your notes, write down your understanding of what plagiarism is.

3. What is paraphrasing? • Paraphrasing is taking an idea from a source and including it in your paper but writing the information in your own words. • Paraphrasing is more than simply writing synonyms for all of the words in a passage. The syntax and diction need to be your own. • Refer to the section “How do I paraphrase” in the “Plagiarism Information” document. There are some fantastic ways to approach effective paraphrasing listed there.

4. Let’s look at a source • Here is an original source. It is taken from Dennis Baron’s article “English in a Multicultural Society,” which appeared in the spring 1991 issue of Social Policy, pages 5-14: • The notion of a national language sometimes wears the disguise of inclusion: we must all speak English to participate meaningfully in the democratic process. Sometimes it argues unity: we must speak one language to understand one another and share both culture and country. Those who insist on English often equate bilingualism with lack of patriotism. Their intention to legislate official English often masks racism and certainly fails to appreciate cultural difference: it is a thinly veiled measure to disenfranchise anyone not like “us.”

5. Plagiarized Use • Supporters of U.S. English argue we must all speak one language to understand one another and share both culture and country. But Dennis Baron argues that “their intention to legislate official English often masks racism and certainly fails to appreciate cultural differences” (1991, p. 8). English-only legislation really intends to exclude anyone who is not like “us.” • The potion in bold is taken directly from the source, word for word, but is not in quotation marks, nor is it cited. • The portion in italics is a paraphrase of the source, but it is not cited.

6. Plagiarized Use • Calls for a national language sometimes wear the disguise of inclusion, according to linguist Dennis Baron (1991, p. 5). When U.S. English argues that we must all speak English to participate meaningfully in the democratic process, or that we must speak one language to understand one another and share both culture and country, Baron says they are masking racism and failing to appreciate cultural difference (1991, p. 6). • The words in bold are taken directly from the source, but since there are no “ “ around them, the writer implies that they are his own words. This is not the case. • The words in italics are taken directly from the source with some very minor changes. The author should copy the quotation word for word and place it in “ “. • Note that even though the information in this example is cited, it is plagiarized because the author is implying that he used his own language when he is, in reality, using somebody else’s.

7. Acceptable Use • Linguist Dennis Baron argues that supporters of official English legislation use the reasons of inclusion, unity, and patriotism to justify these laws, but that their efforts may hide racist and culturally intolerant positions. Baron says that sometimes, English–only laws are “thinly-veiled measure[s] to disenfranchise anyone not like ‘us’” (1991, p. 8). • The author’s name is mentioned in a signal phrase, and the parenthetical citation provides the rest of the necessary information. • Quotation marks clearly show the language that comes directly from the source.

8. Practice and Review • Download the handout “Plagiarism and Citing Practice” and complete it to see how well you understand the concepts that we have talked about.

9. Sue’s Paper • There is no lead in/signal phrase. The quotation needs to be part of Sue’s own sentence. • The citation is incorrect; it should read (Cohen, 2011, p. 27) • There should be a period after the citation, not after the word “health.’ • A corrected version of this example might look like this: • One writer who supports gun control claims, “The very existence of guns in our society is dangerous to our health” (Cohen, 2011, p. 27).

10. Annie’s Paper • There is no citation for the information even though it came from a source. • The paraphrase in the first sentence is too close to the original language; it is not Annie’s own language. • Changing “food additives contributed to headaches” to “food additives can cause headaches” is too similar to the original language. • A corrected version of this example might look like this: • Many studies have suggested that “food additives contributed to headaches” (“Certain,” 2012, p. 25). Some foods like aged cheese can make a headache even worse (“Certain, 2012, p. 25).

11. John and Mike’s Papers • Compare your corrections to those of your table mates. • Can you identify all of the problems in each example? • Can you come to agreement on the best way to fix each problem?