Module 6: Sharing
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University of Idaho
Information Literacy Portal
UI Core Curriculum |
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6.0 Objectives
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Module 6: Sharing
Objectives:
- Recognize importance of keeping track of sources
- Determine when citing sources is necessary
- Know how to avoid plagiarism
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Module 6
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6.1 Transmitting Ideas
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6.2 Parts of a Citation
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6.3 Citing Your Sources
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There are a number of different styles or formats for citations.
Which style you use depends upon the subject discipline you are working
in. If you are uncertain about which style to use, ask your professor.
Each style includes the same basic parts of a citation, but may
organize them slightly differently.
Some Commonly Used
Writing Style Guides |
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA)
The APA style is often used by students in the social sciences. |
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
The MLA (Modern Language
Association) style, is often used by students in languages and
English.
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A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
This commonly-used style by Kate Turabian is a student version of
a longer guide, The Chicago Manual of Style. |
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CBE (Council of Biology Editors) System is used by Biologists,
zoologists, earth scientists, geneticists, and other scientists |
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IEEE ( Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) style is used by writers in electrical engineering, computer
science, and electronics |
Suggestions for Help |
Duke University Library
Another helpful guide for how to cite various sources in different styles
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Diana Hacker Research
and Documentation
An excellent way to understand how to use citation styles is to look
at the actual research papers at this site |
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6.4 Plagiarism
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Pla·giar·ism is presenting
the words or ideas of someone else as your own without proper
acknowledgment of the source.
If you don't credit the author, you are committing a type of theft
called plagiarism.
When you work on a research paper you will probably find supporting
material for your paper from works by others. It's okay to use the
ideas of other people, but you do need to correctly credit them.
When you quote people -- or even when you summarize or paraphrase
information found in books, articles, or Web pages -- you must
acknowledge the original author. It is plagiarism when you
- Buy or use a term paper written by someone else.
- Cut and paste passages from the Web, a book, or an article and
insert them into your paper without citing them. Warning! It is now
easy to search and find passages that have been copied from the Web.
- Use the words or ideas of another person without citing them.
- Paraphrase that person's words without citing them
Cite, Reference or Document your sources:
- Whenever you use factual information or data you
found in a source, so your reader knows who gathered the information
and where to find its original form.
- Whenever you quote verbatim two or more words in a row, or even
a single word or label that's distinctive, so the reader can verify
the accuracy and context of your quotation, and will credit the
source for crafting the exact formulation. Words you take verbatim
from another person need to be put in quotation marks, even if you
take only two or three words; it's not enough simply to cite. If you
go on to use the quoted word or phrase repeatedly in your paper,
however, you don't need to cite it each subsequent time.
- Whenever you summarize, paraphrase, or otherwise use ideas,
opinions, interpretations, or conclusions written by another
person, so your readers know that you are summarizing thoughts
formulated by someone else, whose authority your citation
invokes, and whose formulations readers can consult and check
against your summary.
- Whenever you make use of a source's distinctive structure,
organizing strategy, or method, such as the way an argument is
divided into distinct parts or sections or kinds, or a
distinction is made between two aspects of a problem; or a
particular procedure for studying some phenomenon (in a text, in
the laboratory, in the field) that was developed by a certain
person or group.
- Whenever you mention in passing some aspect of another
person's work, unless that work is very widely known, so readers
know where they can follow up on the reference.
When Not to Cite, Reference or Document your sources
- When the source and page-location of the relevant passage
are obvious from a citation earlier in your own paragraph. If
you refer to the same page in your source for many sentences in
a row, you don't need to cite the source again until your refer
to a different page in it or start a new paragraph of your
paper.
- When dealing with "common knowledge," knowledge that is
familiar or easily available in many different sources
(including encyclopedias, dictionaries, basic textbooks) and
isn't arguable or based on a particular interpretation; (i.e.
the date of the Stock Market Crash, the distance to Saturn, the
structure of the American Congress, the date or birth of the
discoverer of DNA. This is commonly available knowledge.
Obviously, what counts as "common knowledge" varies from
situation to situation; when in doubt ask - or cite anyway, to
be safe. Note that when you draw a great deal of information
from a single source, you should cite that source even if the
information is common knowledge, since the source (and its
particular way of organizing the information) has made a
significant contribution to your paper.
- When you use phrases that have become part of everyday
speech: you don't need to remind your reader where "all the
world's a stage" or "life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness" first appeared, or even to put such phrases in
quotation marks.
- When you draw on ideas or phrases that arose in conversation
with a friend, classmate, instructor, or teaching assistant -
including conversation by e-mail or other electronic media. You
should acknowledge help of this kind, however, in a note. Be
aware that these people may themselves be using phrases and
ideas from their reading or lectures. If you write a paper that
depends heavily on an idea you heard in conversation with
someone, you should check with that person about the source of
the idea. Also be aware that no instructor or teaching assistant
will appreciate your incorporating his or her ideas from
conversation verbatim into your paper, but will expect you to
express the ideas in your own way and to develop them.
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Based on:
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Radford, Marie L., Susan B. Barnes, and Linda R. Barr. Web Research:
Selecting,
Evaluating, and Citing. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2002. |
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6.5 Is it Plagiarism?
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Plagiarism ranges from copying word-for-word to
paraphrasing a passage without credit and changing only a few words.
Below is a sentence from a book. The original source is followed by its
use in three student papers. For each student's version check the
pull-down box to see if the passage would be considered plagiarism.
Original Passage
Still, the telephone was only a convenience, permitting Americans to
do more casually and with less effort what they had already been
doing before.
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Student |
Example Written Content |
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Abbie |
The telephone was a convenience, enabling Americans to do more
casually and with less effort what they had already been doing
before.
Comments on Abbie's passage (click me):
This is plagiarism in its worst form. Abbie does not indicate that the words and ideas belong to Boorstin, leaving her readers to believe the words are hers. She has stolen the words and ideas and attempted to cover the theft by changing or omitting an occasional word.
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Brian |
Daniel J. Boorstin argues that the telephone was only a convenience,
permitting Americans to do more casually and with less effort what
they had already been doing before.
Comments on Brian's passage (click me):
Even though Brian acknowledges his source, this is plagiarism. He has copied the original almost word for word, yet he has not supplied quotation marks to indicate the extent of his borrowing.
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Chad |
Daniel J. Boorstin has noted that most Americans considered the
telephone as simply "a convenience," an instrument that allowed them
"to do more casually and with less effort what they had already been
doing before."2
Sample
Foot Note:
1 (Daniel J. Boorstin, The Americans: The Democratic Experience, page
390.
2 Excerpt, examples, and commentary below are from James M. McCrimmon, Writing With A Purpose, page 499.)
Comments on
Chad's passage (click me):
Chad has done a good job. He has identified his source at the beginning of the paragraph, letting readers know who is being quoted and has provided a footnote directing them to the exact source of the statement. He has paraphrased some of Boorstin's words and quoted others, but makes it clear to the reader which words are his and which belong to Boorstin.
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6.6 Avoiding Plagiarism
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Five Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism |
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First, use your own ideas. It should be your paper and your ideas
that should be the focus. |
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Use the ideas of others sparingly--only to support or reinforce your
own argument. |
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When taking notes, include complete citation information for each
item you use. |
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Use quotation marks when directly stating another person's words. |
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A good strategy is to take 30 minutes and write a short draft of
your paper without using any notes. It will help you think through
what you want to say and help prevent your being too dependent upon
your sources. |
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6.7 Copyright
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Copyright is a complex and confusing area of the law these days. But you
should know the following about copyright:
- Everything that is produced is automatically
copyrighted. The U.S. Copyright Office puts it this way: "Copyright
is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is 'created' when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first
time. 'Copies' are material objects from which a work can be read or
visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or
device…” Thus, a book, Website, sound recording, or photograph are
all examples of works that are automatically protected by copyright
immediately upon their creation. The U.S. Copyright Office’s website
at http://www.copyright.gov/
gives in-depth information.
- There is no need to register for copyright or to put any words
or symbol on an item: it is copyrighted merely by existing. The
owner can, of course, register for copyright, as well as putting a
notice on the work such as:
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Copyright 2005
University of Idaho Library All Rights Reserved |
- The right to copy (i.e, to control intellectual property) is
protected for many years. The U.S. Copyright Office tells us:
“A work that is created (fixed in tangible form for the first time)
on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the
moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for
the author's life plus an additional 70 years after the author's
death. In the case of 'a joint work prepared by two or more authors
who did not work for hire,' the term lasts for 70 years after the
last surviving author's death.
For works made for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works
(unless the author's identity is revealed in Copyright Office
records), the duration of copyright will be 95 years from
publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.” A
helpful chart can be found at:
http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm
- Does that mean I cannot use a copyrighted work? No. Here is what
the Copyright Website
http://www.benedict.com/ has to say:
“The 'fair use' provision of the law says use of a copyrighted work,
including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by
any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as
criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple
copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an
infringement of copyright.”
Public Domain
Also, some work is in what’s called the public domain. Works in the
public domain include works with the following characteristics:
- Originally Non-copyrightable
such as ideas, facts,
titles, names, short phrases and blank forms
- Lost Copyright such as all works published before January 1, 1978 that did not
contain a valid copyright notice may be considered to be in the
public domain.
- Expired Copyright for which the statutory
copyright period has expired.
- Government Documents are not copyrighted, and
therefore are considered to be in the Public Domain. Consequently,
if you obtain a government document from the net, such as a law,
statute, agency circular, federal report, or any other document
published or generated by the federal government, you are free to
copy or distribute the document.
- Works Granted to the Public Domain
if the
copyright owner grants the work to the public domain.
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