Conceptual and Procedural Errors
Am I doing anything as a writer that could possibly cause
plagiarism to occur? Possibly. When someone's quoting and paraphrasing
mechanics are correct, but they still plagiarize without meaning to,
it's usually one of two things:
- Delaying: When students write their papers more
or less note- and source-free well after an initial reading,
the frequent result is that other writer's words are at
the forefront of their thinking on the subject. However
they may have forgotten either the particular source(s)
or the fact that the idea(s) came from somewhere else to
begin with, and plagiarism may result. To combat this problem:
- Make notes as you read and include
source information (including page numbers) as you do so.
- Gather your notes and sources together prior
to writing, and consult them frequently during the writing
process.
- Talk to your texts: that is, respond honestly and consciously to particular
sections of your primary and secondary texts, take note of those sections,
and record your thoughts and feelings for immediate or eventual - but always cited -
inclusion in your paper.
- Write your paper with your reader in mind
For a more detailed discussion of these steps, click
Here
- Speed Writing: This is a somewhat more serious problem; it
consists of reading secondary texts and copying from them
deliberately, using unacknowledged quotes and uncited paraphrases,
planning to cite at some future point and then not getting
around to it. This problem is indicative of a less-than-methodical
approach to writing, where the line between one's own
ideas and those of others is less clear than it should
be. To combat this problem, try these steps:
- Slow down. Read your texts, or at least the parts relevant to your research,
slowly. Read some sections out loud.
- Engage your texts: feel free to disagree with the critics you are reading. Admit when
you don't understand something an author has written. Don't assume that authors are always
right or always clear. Confront other authors confidently and honestly.
- Cite as you go; don't wait until later.
If "speed writing" from your sources describes your writing
habits to any degree and you feel you could use more help,
You may want to seek further assistance at writing and tutorial
centers such as the
Writing Center at the College of Notre Dame,
or the Center
for Academic Services at Loyola College.
When should I quote, and when is a paraphrase more appropriate?
- Use a quote for the ideas (besides your
own) that are most important to your paper. Your agreement
with, disagreement with, or amendments to these ideas should
generally constitute important aspects of your arguments.
Because of their importance, it is the exact words of these
quotes that you want to respond to. For more on the relationship
of quotes to your own writing, click here.
- Use a paraphrase when an idea is less
central to your own argument, or when you feel you can more
concisely state what would be a lengthy quote. For more
on this subject, click here.
How else can I refer to other authors' ideas besides quoting and paraphrasing?
1) General Reference: It is certainly possible to refer to another writer's idea or ideas in a way that is somewhat
more general than either a quote or a paraphrase, such as in the following example:
Many critics have observed that Tom Wolfe, for example, has made something of a cottage industry
out of ironic observation of America's ruling class.
There is no citation following either "critics" or "Tom Wolfe" because
there are no particular critics being referred to in the first
case, and no particular work being referred to in the second.
But there will probably be automatic questions from the reader:
Which critics? Which of Wolfe's books? A general statement like
the one above, if it occurs in an academic paper at all, is almost always
going to precede a more specific discussion of the same topic
which mentions (and cites!) particular critics and particular texts.
2) Brief Reference: This is where you provide a cited reference without including
either a quote or a paraphrase, such as in the following example:
...Similar work has already been done by Purdy (1978) and Jenkins (1986).
These citations are to specific works which will be included in the paper's Works Cited
section, but the author did not feel the need to either quote or paraphrase any particular text
by these authors; they are serving more as a general backdrop to an argument or review of literature,
and are probably just included in the interests of completeness.
Back to Plagiarism Tips
Return to
Plagiarism
|
|
