According to the Roger Williams University Student Handbook,Most frequently, students plagiarize when attempting to paraphrase or summarize an author's ideas. To avoid this problem, you must first recognize the difference between shared and non-shared language.Plagiarism is best defined as incorporating the words or ideas of another person into a paper or presentation without properly crediting the source from which they came. Plagiarism is a violation of ethical practices. The author who commits plagiarism attempts to claim another person's work as his or her own. Thus, plagiarism is both a form of intellectual theft and intellectual fraud. In its worst form, plagiarism may consist of directly copying large or small portions of either printed works or, as frequently happens in schools, written papers of another student. There are, however, more subtle forms of plagiarism as well. Paraphrasing, or changing an author's ideas or words, is also a form of plagiarism if the source of the idea being paraphrased is not acknowledged, and this form of plagiarism is equal to direct copying.People plagiarize for a number of reasons. Sometimes they do it ignorantly, other times because they are in a hurry, careless, or just lazy. Frequently, people plagiarize because they do not have the confidence to trust their own ideas and use the "expert" as a crutch in an attempt to please their teachers.
No matter what the cause, most universities consider plagiarism to be a serious offense – the most serious academic crime there is. Faculty members react against plagiarism because they consider it an attack on one of the values that universities hold sacred – honesty in the pursuit of knowledge.
Because universities consider plagiarism a serious offense, they treat violations seriously. Roger Williams University is no exception. A first offense may result in failure of the course involved, plus an entry on the student's permanent record. A second offense is punishable by expulsion from the University. The penalties should make one think twice before intentionally plagiarizing.
SHARED AND NON-SHARED LANGUAGE
Shared language constitutes words common to everyday experience. Non-shared language constitutes those words the author has carefully crafted, and in many respects the author's style and non-shared language are closely related. Therefore, if you change a passage by substituting synonyms for certain words, you are still plagiarizing, for you have represented the author's style as your own.In the following passage, the highlighted words and phrases are examples of non-shared language.
"Two decades have passed since the infamous Chicago Seven trial sparked heated public debates about prosecuting citizens for their ‘intent' and about the need for ‘decorum' in the courtroom. In those fifteen years, most Americans have forgotten the details and even the outcome of the trial, although they may remember the dramatis personae with nostalgia or revulsion, depending on their political outlook" (Dee 86).
(Dee, Juliet, "Constraints on Persuasion in the Chicago Seven Trial," Popular Trials: Rhetoric, Mass Media, and the Law. Ed. Robert Hariman. Tuscaloosa, AL: U of Alabama P. 86-113).Note that the highlighted language in this passage is distinctive to the author: Another author writing about this topic would not use this language, phrasing, or style. In contrast, a similar account is likely to include "the Chicago Seven Trial," "courtroom," or "prosecuting" because these are everyday words – shared language.A NOTE ON DOCUMENTATION STYLE
When we cited the source for the quotation above, we used the MLA documentation style. However, you should always ask your professor which documentation style is appropriate to the course you are taking.
SUMMARIZING OR PLAGIARIZING
When summarizing or paraphrasing a passage from a text, it is important that you use 1) shared language; 2) language that captures your understanding of what the text says; and 3) phrasing distinctive to your own style, not the author's.
AN EXAMPLE OF A PLAGIARIZED VERSION OF DEE'S TEXT
Twenty years have passed since the famous Chicago Seven trial heated up public debates about prosecuting citizens for their intent and about the need for decorum in the courtroom. After those fifteen years, most Americanscan't remember the details or the outcome, even though they may remember the dramatis personae nostalgically or with revulsion. What they remember depends on their political outlook.The underlined words in bold face constitute plagiarism: we have substituted synonyms for Dee's words in some instances and, in others, have merely copied phrases.
NON-PLAGIARIZED VERSION
According to Juliet Dee, it is unlikely that most Americans today remember the verdict of the 1969 Chicago Seven trial even though the fairness of prosecuting the Chicago Seven "for their ‘intent'" and the defendants' inappropriate behavior in the courtroom were hot topics of the time (86). Dee purports that many, nevertheless, may recall the defendants, the attorneys, and the presiding judge – and would do so "with nostalgia or revulsion, depending on their political outlook" (86).
Notice that when we could not help using Dee's phrasing, we put these phrases in quotation marks to indicate that they constitute non-shared language.