Types of Plagiarism

Most students understand that it’s wrong to plagiarize but are confused about what plagiarism really is. The following presentation will provide you with a detailed explanation of seven basic types of plagiarism. Some types of plagiarism may be referred to as “academic misconduct.” Understanding what plagiarism really is can help you avoid it.

Video Transcript

Most students understand that it is wrong to plagiarize but are confused about what plagiarism really is. This presentation will provide you with a detailed explanation of seven basic types of plagiarism. Understanding what plagiarism really is can help you avoid it.

Submitting Another Person’s Writing

It is plagiarism to submit another person’s writing as if it were your own writing.

Student: Gee, thanks so much! I really appreciate you letting me use your paper!

Here is an example:

It’s the end of the semester, and you’re working on two research paper assignments. One is almost finished, but you haven’t even started one for an American History course yet. Two friends invite you to a party, but you explain you can’t go because you have a paper to write. One of them says, “I’ve got an idea! I wrote a paper for that same course last semester, and I got an A! Why don’t you use mine?”

Later, your friend emails you her paper. It looks good, so you write a new title page with your name on it and hand it in.

Submitting a Paper You Have Already Written

It is plagiarism if you submit a paper that you previously wrote for a different course.

Here is an example:

Last semester, you wrote a research paper about the effects of gender on classroom achievement in high school math for your psychology course. This semester, you’re taking an educational development course, and you’ve been assigned a research paper that addresses a problem by students in secondary education. You realize that the topic from your psychology course would fit this assignment, too. Since you spent a lot of time researching it and received a good grade, you decide to use it again. This time, you give it a new title, write a new introduction, and then, submit the paper to your instructor.

Paying Another to Write Your Paper

It is plagiarism if you pay another person or company to write a paper that you submit as your own.

Bulletin board notice: Custom written just for you – College Papers – Low Prices! We can help you get a good grade and reduce your workload!

Here is an example:

You have just returned from spring break in Jamaica, and you’re now trying to catch up on homework. You have three research paper assignments—all due in one month. One paper is about teenage marriage, but after spending a day in the library reading articles, you feel overwhelmed. You tell a classmate, who says, “You’re not actually going to WRITE the paper, are you?” Then, he mentions a website called “writeaway.com,” and says, “Everyone buys research papers from them!” You go to the website and find a perfect paper for your topic. It only costs $25, and they even take credit cards! No problem handing this paper in on time!

“Patchwriting” or Copying Phrases from Various Sources

It is plagiarism if you use patchwriting, which means copying phrases from various sources and using them in your work.

Student 1: If you copy and paste those phrases, he will say that you plagiarized.

Student 2: Even if I get some phrases from one source and others from other sources?

Here is an example:

You’re writing a research paper about Leo Tolstoy for a literature course. In his novel Anna Karenina, Tolstoy wrote, “All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” According to one critic, in Tolstoy’s non-fiction work Confession, “Many of the themes of that work [Anna Karenina] are sourced from his own life experience…” Using these ideas, you write your opening paragraph:

One of the reasons I’ve always been attracted to the work of Leo Tolstoy is that I believe, as he did, that all happy families do in fact resemble one another. I also believe that each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. In this paper, I will show how these themes are sourced from his own life experience.

A corrected version would be:

One of the reasons I’ve always been attracted to the work of Leo Tolstoy is that I agree with his conclusion that, although contented families may have similarities, discontented families may have similarities, discontented families are different from each other. In this paper, I will show that Tolstoy used his own personal experiences in his novel Anna Karenina.

Not Using Quotation Marks Around Quoted Material

It is plagiarism if you do not use quotation marks around text that you quote directly.

Speaker on TV: Today is the dawn of civilized healthcare!

Student notes: In his speech, Senator Goodwill emphasized today is the dawn of civilized healthcare.

Here is an example:

In further research for your paper, you read from The Crack Up by F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Family quarrels are bitter things. They don’t go according to any rules. They’re not like aches or wounds: they’re more like splits in the skin that won’t heal because there’s not enough material.” You decide to add the following to your paper:

If he had read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work, Tolstoy might have agreed with Fitzgerald when he said that family quarrels are bitter things and they don’t go according to any rules (Fitzgerald, 1936).

A corrected version would be:

If he had read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work, Tolstoy might have agreed with Fitzgerald when he wrote, “Family quarrels are bitter things. They don’t go according to any rules” (Fitzgerald, 1936, p. 198).

Failing to Cite Sources

It is plagiarism if you fail to cite your sources. When you use someone’s ideas, even when you have paraphrased and changed the words, you must still cite the source. If you do not include the source, you may be accused of plagiarism.

Here is an example:

As you continue with your paper, you like the opening paragraph to The Crack Up. Part of it reads: “Of course all life is a process of breaking down, but the blows that do the dramatic side of the work-the big sudden blows that come, or seem to come, from outside don’t show their effect all at once.” You decide to include some of these ideas in your paper, so you write:

Tolstoy would probably also agree with Fitzgerald’s idea that serious upsets cause lives to fall apart, but it takes awhile for the result to be felt.

A corrected version would be:

Tolstoy would probably also agree with Fitzgerald’s idea that serious upsets cause lives to fall apart, but it takes awhile for the result to be felt (1936).

Copying a Picture or Other Media File

It is plagiarism if you copy a picture or other media, such as videos or sound files, without crediting your source.

Here is an example:

You’re writing a research paper for your Art History course and have decided to include the image of a painting to illustrate a point. You write:

We know a lot about the daily lives of people from the great 17th century Dutch painters, including the dishes they used and the kinds of food they ate. Perhaps no painting illustrates the point more clearly than this one by Vermeer.

Notice the careful attention of the of the milkmaid as she pours fresh milk into the bowl to serve with the bread.

A corrected version would be:

Notice the careful attention of the milkmaid as she pours fresh milk into the bowl to serve with the bread.