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This material is primarily intended for the use of IS 1100, English 3302, and English 3372 students, but any student may consider these points before writing an essay, and instructors may feel free to refer their students to this page if they feel it is adequate to their needs. BJM
Need citation examples? Go to The Citation Machine
Possible penalties may range from failure on the work in question to failure in the course.
1) Direct unacknowledged use of another person's words or ideas, i.e., you can't just copy text or ideas from an encyclopedia, a website, a book, an article, or any other source and pass it off as your own - you must, through a footnote [1] or parenthetical citation (Smith 49-50), let the reader know that you have used someone else's ideas or words. All works you cite need to be noted on a "works cited" page at the end. Any direct use of another person's words in your text (an inline quotation) "must be enclosed in quotation marks and noted" (Smith 10). "If poetry you wish to quote in brief, / Cite just like this, or else be named a thief" (Smith ll. 101-102). Note the punctuation in the previous sentences; note also that inline poetry citation uses LINE NUMBERS, not page numbers, and a slash to separate poetic lines.
For quoting larger sections of prose, use a block quotation, which looks like this - indented half an inch on both margins, single spaced, and with a parenthetical citation or a footnote at the end. As a general rule, use inline quotations for citations of less than 50 prose words or two lines of poetry; for citations of three lines of poetry or more than 50 words of prose, use a block quotation. Note the punctuation at the end of these block quotations. (Smith 15)
If poetry you wish to quote at length,
This method is a tower of quoting strength;
One line of poet's text per each text line,
And cite the lines after the final line. (ll. 103-106)
Improper
citation will be held against you; you may not intend to
plagiarize, but instructors can't read your mind, only your writing, and they
will have to go with what they see. Also,
one plagiarized paragraph or sentence is all that an essay needs to be
failed - plagiarism applies to an essay in whole or in part. If in doubt, cite
it.
2) Unacknowledged paraphrase of another's work - i.e. you can't just take a piece of text and put it into your own words without acknowledging it. That counts as copying an idea. If you're going to spend the time to change someone's words, you might as well write your own and avoid risking your grade.
3) Caution! Having an essay completely or predominantly composed of acknowledged quotes with no subsequent development of your own is not plagiarism; however, since the purpose of citation is to give you ideas with which you subsequently engage (agree but take farther, refute, clarify, etc.), failure to engage with the ideas may cause your grade to suffer.
4) Self-plagiarism: It may seem like an oxymoron (how can one steal from oneself?), but it is not automatically acceptable to turn in work for which one has already received credit in a different class, or for turning in the same paper in two different concurrent classes. If there is going to be any overlap, be sure to consult with the instructors of both classes; they will probably insist on two substantially different papers (and will probably compare notes on what you submit), and while it may be more work for you, would you rather have two times the work or two F's?
5) Turning your paper over
to another person for wholesale or partial revision. With respect to revision
for content, it is OK to ask someone if a paragraph or a sentence or your essay's
main point makes sense; it is not OK to ask someone, "Could you fix it
up for me?" Learn to reread your own writing with a critical eye.
With respect to proofreading for grammar and mechanics, correct your own
work! The Chicago Manual of Style is one of the best references
available, but any good grammar reference should help. If the instructor
allows a group workshop session or other collaborative effort, you should help
the group members learn to revise and proofread their own work; don't correct
it for them. In
general, if the instructor doesn't explicitly say collaboration is allowed,
do not assume it is.
6) Common knowledge - names, dates of events, etc. - need not be referenced, but any use of texts that give common knowledge must be cited if your use of those texts goes beyond common knowledge. For example, if Bobby Smith notes that Columbus discovered the New World in 1492, that is considered common knowledge; however, if you mention any particular fact or idea that you have to read Smith to know and couldn't find anywhere else, then you should cite it.
7) You may present ideas from class discussion as your own if thought and conviction have made them your own. As much as I like to see my name in print, you need not keep noting "Dr. McFadden, class notes" in your essays. If you are unsure about how to deal with an idea in your essays, consult your instructor.
8) Avoid online "research assistance" websites - they are barely legal and rarely ethical (or even accurate), and besides, we instructors can use a computer too; if something appears suspicious, we know where to look. Also, who is more likely to sell their paper to a "research site" - the A student or the C student? Most of the stuff you download or copy is either terrible or sticks out like a sore thumb, or both. Save your time, money, and reputation - be honest.
Revised January 2009
[1] Terry Smith, My Book about Plagiarism (New York: Big Publisher, 2003): 51. This is a fictional example for a book: note author, title, city of publication, publisher, date, and page reference. For an article: Chris Smith, "Defining Plagiarism," Academic Journal 50 (2003): 49-50 - in this fictional example, note author, article title, journal title, volume number, date, and page reference. For a (fictional) website: Pat Smith, "How to Avoid Online Plagiarism," Anti-Plagiarism Society (www.ihateplagiarism.org/articles/smith) - note author (if known), article title, the organization sponsoring the website, and the COMPLETE URL of the page on which the article occurs. For other types of documentation, consult the MLA Handbook or the Chicago Manual of Style.
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