Jenzabar University

In writing papers, reports, and summaries for your University courses, you will be held responsible for knowing the difference between legitimate and illegitimate use of published source material. Illegitimate use is called plagiarism, and at Huntington University, the penalty for plagiarism may range from a grade of F on the work in question to failure of the course. (Intentional plagiarism is a much more serious offense than “unintentional” plagiarism, although the student is obligated to avoid both).

Plagiarism is the use of the ideas, information, or wording of another without proper acknowledgment, leaving the false impression that the material is original with you. Plagiarism can occur in creative works, like poems and screenplays, as well as in research papers and reports. Everything that you quote, paraphrase, or summarize from another source must be referenced properly (in the current MLA or APA style, as requested by your professor). The only exception to this is information that is common knowledge in the field that you are exploring-that is, facts, dates, and figures that are well known to the experts in the discipline and thus are not the property of any specific author.

The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (New York: Modern Language Assn., 1984) has this to say about the varieties of plagiarism:

...to plagiarize is to give the impression that you have written or thought something that you have in fact borrowed from someone else... The most blatant form of plagiarism is to repeat as your own someone else’s sentences, more or less verbatim...Other forms of plagiarism include someone else’s particularly apt phrase without appropriate acknowledgment, paraphrasing another person’s argument as your own, and presenting another’s line of thinking... as though it were your own. (sec. 1.6)

NOTE: This handout has been printed without clear line spacing, to conserve space; the MLA Handbook calls for your research paper to be double-spaced throughout, “including the heading, the title, quotations, and bibliography” (sec. 3.4), the form in which publishing companies wish to receive it.

Following are examples of proper and improper handling of original source material. First, the original source paragraph upon which the examples will be based:

1. Original Source
   The first step in helping children adjust to relocation is to acknowledge the idea that children are affected by moving. Parents and teachers can then talk to children about what to expect during the move and in their new surroundings. Children need to know that loneliness is normal. Families can hold meetings in which children can feel free to ask questions, air concerns, and resolve anxieties. Adopting a positive attitude is very important, as the optimism spreads (Smardo 10).
   
   
2. Examples of Proper Acknowledgment
   
   
   1. Direct Quotation
      
      
      1. QUOTATION OF THE ENTIRE PARAGRAPH: Enclose in quotation marks if four lines or shorter; otherwise, indent ten spaces (double-space – see the note above) and omit quotation marks. Indicate author and page number for both long and short quotations (but do not repeat any part of the citation that has already been mentioned in your comments that introduce the quotation).
      2. PARTIAL QUOTATION: Use quotation marks around the portion of the original source paragraph that you choose to quote; omissions within the quoted portion are indicated by ellipsis dots (...), and your own insertions into the quotation are enclosed in square brackets [ ].
         
         EXAMPLE:
         Moving can be a traumatic experience for children and parents, and teachers should “acknowledge the idea that children are affected by moving. ...Children need to know that loneliness is normal.” (Smardo 10).
         
         Moving can be a traumatic experience for children. Smardo suggests that “adopting a positive attitude [toward the move] is very important, as the optimism spreads” (10).
         
         
   2. Paraphrase or Summary
      A paraphrase or summary of the original source must be your composition written in your own style and using your own wording. Quotation marks are not used, but the usual citation of source and page number must be clearly indicated – just as in the case of directly quoted material.
      
      EXAMPLE:
      Moving can be a traumatic experience for children. Smardo suggests that parents and teachers can help by openly and optimistically discussing the move with the children (10).
      
      
3. Examples of Plagiarism or Improper Acknowledgment
   
   
   1. Direct Quotation Without Proper Acknowledgment
      
      
      1. FAILURE TO USE QUOTATION MARKS AND TO INDICATE SOURCE: The second sentence of the following example is copied from Smardo without proper acknowledgment.
         
         EXAMPLE:
         Moving can be a traumatic experience for children. The first step in helping children adjust to relocation is to acknowledge the idea that children are affected by moving.
         
         
      2. INDICATION OF SOURCE, BUT FAILURE TO USE QUOTATION MARKS: The second sentence in the following example is directly copied from Smardo without proper acknowledgment by quotation marks, even though the author’s name and page number are given.
         
         EXAMPLE:
         Moving can be a traumatic experience for children. The first step in helping children adjust to relocation is to acknowledge the idea that children are affected by moving (Smardo 10).
         
         
   2. Attempts to Avoid Direct Quotation Which Fail
      
      
      1. RUNNING TRANSLATION: The actual wording of the source is avoided by the use of synonyms and slight rephrasing, but the sequence of ideas and general sentence structure mimics the source. Omitting a passage of the original or inserting one of your own does not make this legitimate even if the source is cited. The following example (with the unacceptable synonyms and slight rephrasing in Italics) is a running translation that is still plagiarism even though the source is cited.
         
         EXAMPLE:
         Moving can be a traumatic experience for children. The first thing to do to help kids adjust to the move is to admit that children are bothered by it. Then parents and teachers can tell kids what to anticipate while moving and settling into their new home. (Smardo 10).
         
         
      2. PATCHWORK QUILT: In this type of plagiarism, portions of the original source are inserted into one’s own composition without the use of quotation marks. Even though the source is cited, this is still plagiarism. (The offending passages are in Italics in the example).
         
         EXAMPLE:
         Moving can be a traumatic experience for children. The trauma can be alleviated, however, if parents and teachers talk to children about what to expect, let them know that loneliness is normal, and encourage them to ask questions, air concerns, and resolve anxieties. Adopting a positive attitude is very important for helping children overcome the difficulties involved in moving to a new location (Smardo 10).
         
         
      3. SUMMARIZING WITHOUT CITING THE SOURCE: Even a good summary in your own words is plagiarism if you fail to acknowledge the source. In the following example of plagiarism, an otherwise acceptable summary becomes plagiarism because there is no citation of the source of the ideas for the summary.
         
         EXAMPLE:
         Moving can be a traumatic experience for children. It is a good idea for parents and teachers to help by openly and optimistically discussing the move with the children.
         
         Work Cited:
         Smardo, Frances A. “Helping Children Adjust to Moving.” Children Today, 16.3 (May-June, 1987): 10-13.

Updated and Revised by the HU English Department and Authorized by the Academic Concerns Committee, September 1989.