IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING

PLAGIARISM and how to avoid it!

A guide to quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing.

University Policy:

The University policy concerning plagiarism and other breaches of academic integrity are explained in the section on the Academic Integrity Policy in the student handbook, The Pilot (which you can find online at the BU web site).  

Under those policies, an instructor can give a failing grade to an assignment on which a student has violated the Academic Integrity Policy.  When the instructor deems it appropriate, he or she give a failing grade in the course as a whole to a student who has violated the Academic Integrity Policy. 

The instructor also may report the violation to the board that oversees violations of the Academic Integrity Policy.  If that board finds that a student has committed plagiarism, notice of this fact will be placed in the student's academic record.  When deemed appropriate, the board can request that a student be dismissed from the University for violating these policies.

For more on this process, and for an explanation of the appeals procedure, see The Pilot.

Defining Plagiarism and Cheating:

In reference to my courses, plagiarism and cheating include the following:

• any case in which a student copies from another student’s assignment.  This includes directly paraphrasing or summarizing from the work of another student.

• any case in which a student quotes, paraphrases, or summarizes material from any source that is not accompanied by some form of reference/citation to the source (the form to be used in source citations will be designated by the instructor)

• any quoted material that is not placed in quotation marks (with the exception of block quotations)

• any paraphrased or summarized material that is not actually presented in the student’s own words (see directions)

If you handle quotations, paraphrases, and summaries correctly, you will never run into problems with "accidental" plagiarism!

Quoting: 

1. When you quote someone else's words, you must put those words in quotation marks. 

It does not matter how few or how many words you are quoting--they must be in quotation marks.

The only exception is when you put a long quotation into a "block" quotation.)

2.  When you quote, you must use the exact words that are in the quotation, in exact sequence.  

If you must change a word form for grammatical purposes, that word should be placed in square brackets, like this [  ]. 

If you have cut words out of the text, you must indicate this with ellipses, like this  ... .

3.  It is ok to quote part of a sentence as an element in a longer sentence of your own (see Example 1).

3. Whenever you quote--no matter how few words--you must provide a reference / citation to the source of the quotation.

    Depending upon the instructions for your assignment, the citation can be a parenthetical reference or a footnote / endnote.

5.  It is often useful to introduce a quotation with a clause that indicates who is "speaking."

    There are cases, however, when it is not necessary to indicate the "speaker." (See Example 1, for instance.)

WARNING:  If you are going to use someone else's words, then be honest and direct and quote them!  Do not change a few words in a sentence and try to pass it off as "your own."  I will treat that as plagiarism.

Example 1:  Here is an example that uses a quotation from a textbook as part of a longer sentence:

Because Russia had not solved the horrible problems it had faced before World War One, once the fighting started in 1914 it "was unable to sustain the political strains of extended warfare" (Coffin, Western Civilizations, 15th ed., p. 942).

 Analysis of Example 1:   

I highlighted the quoted phrase in yellow so that you can find it easily; please don't highlight quotations in your own papers.

Notice that I  began this sentence in my own words, but finished it by quoting part of a sentence    

The quotation presents the exact words, in the same order, as in the quoted source. 

The quoted words are in quotation marks. 

After the quotation marks, the source is indicated by a parenthetical citation.  (Use the citation form required for the specific assignment).

Paraphrasing:

1. Paraphrasing means putting someone else's words into your own words while echoing the structure of the original sentence.

Compare Example 2 (below) to Example 1 (above).

2.  The paraphrase must be in your own words. 

If you are quoting words, then the quoted words must be in quotation marks.

3.  It is ok to mix paraphrasing with quotation.  For example, you can begin your sentence by paraphrasing, then quote your source.

4.  If you paraphrase, you still must provide a citation to the source of the material that you are paraphrasing.

Example 2:  Here is the same idea as in Example 1, but with a paraphrase instead of a quotation:

Because Russia had not solved the horrible problems that it faced before World War One, it could not stand the constant political pressures of ongoing fighting once the war started in 1914.  (Coffin, Western Civilizations, 15th ed., p. 942.)

Analysis of Example 2: 

I highlighted the paraphrase in yellow so that you can find it easily; please don't highlight paraphrases in your own paper. 

Notice that the idea contained in the quoted phrase of Example 1 is still in Example 2.

Notice that the basic structure of the quotation is echoed, but in my own words. 

Notice that the source is indicated by a parenthetical citation.  (Use the citation form required for the specific assignment).

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Summarizing:

1.  Summarizing means that you are explain ideas or facts that you found in someone else's work (in a book, etc), but you are explaining them in your own words, using your own word order.  Compare Example 3 (below) to Example 1 and Example 2 (above). 

2.  When you summarize information from someone else (a book, etc.),  you still must provide a citation to the source of your information.

3.  It is ok to mix summary with quotations, but you must always put quoted words in quotation marks.

Example 3:  Here is a summary that uses the information quoted in Example 1.  Notice how this differs from the paraphrased version in Example 2:

The Russian political system cracked during World War One because Russia still faced huge, unsolved pre-war problems.  (Coffin, Western Civilizations, 15th ed., p. 942.)

Analysis of Example 3: 

The idea in this example is the same as in the phrase quoted in Example 1, but now it is entirely into my own words.  

The word order (sentence structure) also is very different from the quotation in Example1.  I have made this into my own sentence. 

Notice that the source is indicated by a parenthetical citation.  (Use the citation form required for the specific assignment).

Link to directions on using endnotes.