Plagiarism's Pitfalls

What is plagiarism?
You are guilty of plagiarism if

Whether you intend it or not, any such use in your work is considered plagiarism.

How can it be detected?
Your teachers can easily detect plagiarism because they know your work – your sentence style, your vocabulary, your interpretive abilities, your level of literary thinking and tact, and your grasp of literary and historical tradition. Teachers also have access to all the same materials students can access, especially those published on the Internet. An advanced Google search can turn up evidence of plagiarism in seconds.

Is plagiarism always intended?
No. Sometimes a student will include paraphrased or catch-word material unintentionally, that is, without intending to fool the reader. It’s important to know that intent does not protect you from plagiarism. As the Vanderbilt Student Honor Code states, for instance, “Students should realize that an act of plagiarism may include some degree of premeditation or may be the result of carelessness or ignorance of acceptable forms for citation; the act is plagiarism in any case and is a violation of the Honor Code” (“Chapter 2: The Honor System”).

Why does acknowledgement matter?
Readers assume that a writer’s work is original and represents his or her ideas, insights, beliefs, and words. Indeed, in this class, I am only interested in what you, a unique individual, think about what we read and discuss. I already know what the experts think. You’re not an expert; neither am I. We’re individual readers and writers striving to become better readers and writers, but we don’t have ideas in a vacuum. We are influenced by what others say in class discussion or in conference (that’s good!) and by what we read in the process of research (that’s good!). Indeed, scholars like you share ideas because they want other scholars to consider them. Ideas are the currency of education and its product. For that reason, we give credit to those who contribute them.

How do I acknowledge sources?  

How do I know what information I have to acknowledge?
That’s tricky. If you’re reading about the institution of slavery, for instance, everything you read at first may be new to you. However, to experts in the field, much of what you read might well be common knowledge. How do you know what’s common knowledge and what’s unique to an individual? Here’s a good rule of thumb: If you read the same facts or figures or data or the like at least three times in three different reputable sources, then you can assume it’s common knowledge. That means you don’t have to give credit to any of those sources (other than their appearance on the bibliography) if you use the information. It’s now common knowledge for you, too.

What does plagiarism in a paper look like?
The following example is from the Vanderbilt University Student Handbook:

A student turned in a paper with the following paragraph:

“The characters in Othello are both allegorical and realistic at once. Characters like Iago and Desdemona are recognizable both as persons and at the same time devils, demigods and forces in nature. It is Shakespeare’s achievement as an artist that he is capable of creating visions of life as people live it at the same time that he is able to understand life in terms of social and cosmic symbols. In this paper I will discuss the allegorical elements in the play, the skeleton of ideas and actions with which the characters give meaning to the play.”

The instructor gave the paper to The Honor Council, citing this paragraph as evidence of plagiarism. The instructor presented the following paragraph from the “Introduction” to The Tragedy of Othello by William Shakespeare, edited by Alvin Kernan. Copyright © 1963 by Alvin Kernan.

“Here is the essence of Shakespeare’s art, an ability to create immediate, full and total life as men actually live and experience it; and yet at the same time to arrange this reality so that it gives substance to and derives shape from a formal vision of all life that comprehends and reaches back from man and nature through society and history to cosmic powers that operate through all time and space. His plays are both allegorical and realistic at once; his characters both recognizable men and at the same time devils, demigods and forces in nature. I have discussed only the more allegorical elements in Othello, the skeleton of ideas and formal patterns within which the characters must necessarily be understood. But it is equally true that the exact qualities of the abstract moral value and ideas, their full reality, exist only in the characters.”

The instructor delineated four examples of plagiarism:

(1) A change in wording:
STUDENT: The characters in Othello are both allegorical and realistic at once. Characters like Iago and Desdemona are recognizable both as persons and at the same time, demigods, devils and forces in nature.
KERNAN: His plays are both allegorical and realistic at once; his characters both recognizable as men and at the same time devils, demigods and forces in nature.

The instructor explained that this is plagiarism because the ideas presented in both cases are the same, with the student adding only a few of his own words to alter Kernan’s original phrasing.

(2) Use of a catchy word or phrase:
STUDENT: In this paper I will discuss the allegorical elements in the play, the skeleton of ideas and actions with which the characters give meaning to the play.
KERNAN: I have discussed only the more allegorical elements in the play, the skeleton of ideas and formal patterns within which the characters must necessarily be understood.

The instructor stated that this sentence constitutes plagiarism because the student used the catchy phrase “the skeleton of ideas.” Again, the student retains Kernan’s phrase and his ideas, changing only some of the wording.

(3) Undocumented paraphrasing:
STUDENT: It is Shakespeare’s achievement as an artist that he is capable of creating visions of life as people live it at the same time that he is able to understand life in terms of social and cosmic symbols.
KERNAN: Here is the essence of Shakespeare’s art, an ability to create immediate, full and total life as men actually live and experience it; and yet at the same time to arrange this reality so that it gives substance to and derives shape from a formal vision of all life that comprehends and reaches back from man and nature through society and history to cosmic powers that operate through all time and space.

This, the instructor said, was paraphrasing, and unless acknowledged, it is also an act of plagiarism. Students must clearly indicate each use of paraphrasing with a footnote or a reference technique suitable to the instructor.

(4) Word-for-word copying:
STUDENT: . . . are both allegorical and realistic at once . . . recognizable . . . devils, demigods and forces in nature . . . the allegorical elements in the play, the skeleton of ideas . . .
KERNAN: . . . are both allegorical and realistic at once . . . recognizable . . . devils, demigods and forces in nature . . . the allegorical elements . . . the skeleton of ideas . . .

The instructor noted that had the student put Kernan’s words in quotation marks and properly footnoted them, there would have been no offense.

What happens if a student commits plagiarism?
First, he or she will receive a numerical zero for the assignment, and he or she will not be allowed to make up the work. Second, he or she must report himself or herself to the school Honor Council, which will then hear the case and make a decision regarding further punishment.

What’s the harm anyway?
The harm is to the person who commits plagiarism. He or she has cheated himself or herself out of the learning that could have been experienced in the course of writing. As your English teacher this year, I assure you that what you learn while doing an assignment will represent your most significant learning of the year. I can tell you plenty of things. You’ll forget most of them. You can read plenty of things. You’ll forget most of them. But what you do, that you will learn. Therefore, you must do your own work.

Any final advice?
When in doubt – about what constitutes general knowledge, about how to cite a source, about how to build upon another’s ideas without wrongfully appropriating them – ask. That’s what I’m here for.

Work Cited

“Chapter 2: The Honor System.” Student Handbook, 2001-2002. 21 March 2001. Vanderbilt University. 26 June 2002 <http://www.vanderbilt.edu/student_handbook/ Honor_System.htm>.