SOC 322 AVP Module 2 Script - Saint Leo University



Slide 1:

Intro slide

Slide 2:

I’m sure you’ve heard about plagiarism before, and how unacceptable it is. We’re going to work through an example to illustrate some rules you can use to avoid it.

Slide 3:

But first, what is plagiarism? It refers to the action of using someone else’s work or ideas and presenting them as your own. Part of plagiarism involves not giving credit to others.

Slide 4:

This is why academic disciplines have developed manuals of style. They explain to you very specifically how you need to cite a source to be compliant with the expectations in your field. Sociologists use the American Sociological Association, or ASA, format, and social workers use the American Psychological Association, or APA, format. Remember, plagiarism can start with the misuse of a citation format, so make sure to have your style guide handy whenever you need to cite sources.

Citing properly always involves mentioning your source in the text when you use it, and building a reference list at the end of your paper, where you alphabetically list all the sources you used in your paper. No more, no less.

Slide 5:

Here’s the example we’re going to use to illustrate what to do and not do. Now let’s imagine that I’m using the original text written here in a paper. It comes from the book which citation is given below, in ASA format. All the examples will use ASA format, and I will indicate any differences with APA format when relevant. I’m not very clear on the rules of plagiarism, so I’m making a number of mistakes before I get it right.

Slide 6:

This is the most blatant case of plagiarism. I’m copying someone else’s words verbatim, without using quotation marks or citing the work.

Slide 7:

This is what I should have done. Place the copied text in quotation marks. And cite the work. Both ASA and APA require the use of the authors’ names, the year of publication of the work cited, and the page number of the quote. There are fine rules for the formatting depending on the number of authors, which you should check.

Note that both quotation marks and the citation need to be included. If either one is missing, you’re still plagiarizing.

Slide 8:

The plagiarism here is still pretty severe, because the citation is missing. The words have been changed, which we call paraphrasing, but this is not enough. Changing a few words in a sentence still qualifies as plagiarism, because the structure of the sentence has still been copied.

Slide 9:

Here’s one way to paraphrase properly. The idea is still there, and I’m citing the work in correct ASA format (APA would be the same). Note that I’m not including quotation marks or a page number, because this isn’t a direct quote. APA recommends, but doesn’t require, a page number when paraphrasing. This paraphrasing is OK because I have changed the sentence structure as well as the main words, without distorting the idea.

Also, note the sentence construction. To vary the style and not always cite my sources in parentheses at the end of the sentence, I start by mentioning the authors and build the reference into the sentence. It makes a paper more interesting to read if you use such techniques, which are described in your writer’s manual.

Slide 10:

Here’s another example of how you can cite this source without plagiarizing, also varying your writing style. I’ve rephrased some of the sentence in my own words. And I’ve directly quoted the second part, because I thought the wording was striking and I didn’t want to alter it. The citation of the direct quote suffices for the whole sentence.

Slide 11:

What about this? I’m citing the source correctly, and I’ve changed every single word using the thesaurus in my word processor.

I’m including this case because it’s a grey area. Some instructors will consider this plagiarism because of the sentence structures, but others won’t. However, you’ll probably be penalized anyway because this sentence is incomprehensible. So save yourself some trouble and avoid overusing your thesaurus.

Slide 12:

Here’s one last piece of advice about plagiarism. It often comes from a lack of confidence. It can be intimidating to try and rephrase an expert’s work. So instead of focusing on one sentence or two in a source, look at the whole document. Ask yourself, what’s the key idea here? Even better, try to explain it to a friend, a pet, or an empty room if you don’t have a willing audience. You’ll see that it’s a lot easier to put ideas in your own words when you do that. If a sentence is a tree, and the text is a forest, stay focused on the forest.

Slide 13:

End of presentation

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