Transcript PLAGIARISM AND PARAPHRASING

ACADEMIC DISCOURSE
B. Mitsikopoulou
PLAGIARISM AND PARAPHRASING
The use of secondary sources
Why use secondary sources in your text
a) To include in your writing material you have
read somewhere (e.g. in a book)
b) To support your own ideas and the points
you make in a text
c) To avoid plagiarism
What is plagiarism?
WHY DOCUMENT
TO AVOID PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is using the words or ideas of
another writer without giving proper credit.
The plagiarist usually intends to pass off his
paper as being an original creation when it is
not.
Plagiarism as stealing
Plagiarism is a form of stealing. If you copy a
sentence, a phrase or an idea and use it in
your paper without acknowledging its owner
(the author), you are stealing from the author
of the source.
Please notice:
Plagiarism refers to borrowing both words
and ideas
Forms of Plagiarism
Plagiarism takes many forms
1. Word-for-word copying without using
quotation marks or crediting the writer’s
source.
2. Using another student’s work but turning it in
under your own name.
3. Using a catchy or clever phrase or comment
without giving credit.
4. Taking material from a variety of sources and
tying it together to make it look original.
DOCUMENTATION
Documentation gives the reader the source of
the information you use in your paper. It says
to the reader: “Here is where I found this
information in case you are interesting in
finding out more about this topic”.
WAYS TO AVOID PLAGIARISM
1. PARAPHRASE
2. SUMMARIZE
3. QUOTE
PARAPHRASE
WHY
a) Restate an idea using your own words
b) Avoid having many different writing styles
in your paper
WHAT
a) Important idea not well stated
b) Material you would like to incorporate in
your text but you cannot quote
WHEN
Incorporate material you have read into your
paper
HOW
By changing
a) vocabulary and b) sentence structure
+ reference to the source
SUMMARY
WHY
Condense a paragraph, a text etc
WHAT
a) The gist of a text in one-two sentences
(one-sentence summary)
b) The main ideas of a text (global summary)
c) An aspect of a text you have read
(selective summary)
Recall an idea in a text
WHEN
HOW
By identifying the topic sentence and the
main points of a text or an aspect of a text
+ reference to the source
QUOTE
WHY
Transfer the exact words of a text and
support a point you make in your paper
WHAT
Something brief and well stated
(remember: quotations in a text can be up to
10-15% of the total number of words)
WHEN
Emphasize a point
HOW
By using quotation marks and transferring the
exact words of the original text
+ reference to the source
PARAPHRASE
What is a paraphrase?
DEFINING PARAPHRASING
To paraphrase is to read and understand a
piece of source material (which can be of any
length) and then to rewrite it in your own words.
How can you rewrite a text in your own words?
(a) using different vocabulary words, and
(b) using different sentence structure
The most important aspect of paraphrase
 The ability to relate the borrowed idea to the
writer’s purpose
IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF
PARAPHRASING
Meaning
The paraphrase must have the same meaning as the
source: it should also have the same relationships
between main ideas and supporting details.
Length
The length should not vary much from the length of the
original.
Style
It should be your own and not an imitation of the source.
HOW TO PARAPHRASE
…words
Use different words when possible, usually
more common synonyms, expressions and
simpler phrases.
Keep specialized vocabulary which has no
synonyms (e.g. calcium, plastic, theory),
numbers and formulae.
By changing the vocabulary
(verbs/nouns)
e.g. She examined the difficulties that…
=She investigated the problems that….
Activity: Rewrite the following
Smith and Jones (1991) found that the
circumstances had…
CHANGING VOCABULARY ITEMS
Character words
Character words are like a writer’s signature, because
they carry the style of the original author. Therefore,
they must be changed when paraphrasing.
How to identify character words:
They are almost always words of substance – such as
nouns, verbs, special adjectives, and unusual adverbs.
A character word is one the reader is likely to notice and
remember: it is not a common class word such as
building or plant but a specific word such as high-rise or
philodendron.
RECOGNIZING CHARACTER WORDS
In each of the following set of words, identify one is
unusual or one that is noticed and remembered.
1. one, tick, was, and, man
2. beautiful, cumbersome, interesting, important
3. car, automobile, vehicle, conveyance
4. flower, daisy, blossom
5. walk, run, amble, move
6. dig, uncover, excavate, work
7. parched, dry, thirsty
8. late, delayed, tardy
Changing vocabulary items
The words you have selected to be changed from
an original text can be changed in two general
ways:
a) Through a synonym to substitute original word
b) Through circumlocution (a phrase to describe
the meaning of the word)
e.g. The basic tenet of the religion is monotheism.
= A basic dogma of the religion is belief in a single
Deity.
HOW TO PARAPHRASE
…grammatical structures
The grammatical structure should be changed if
this can be done without changing meaning.
Different things you can do:
1. break up long sentences
2. combine short sentences
3. expand phrases for clarity
4. shorten sentences for conciseness
By changing the verb form (e.g.
from active to passive)
e.g. Johns (2010) analysed the students’
difficulties and …
= The students’ difficulties were analysed
by Johns (2010)
Activity: Rewrite the following
Brown and While (2009) observed the
problems caused my seminars.
By changing the word class (from
verb to noun phrase)
e.g. The reports were completed in April….
=The completion of the reports in April
ensured that….
Activity: Rewrite the following
James and Harris (2004) concluded that there
was a need for note-taking practice.
STEPS IN PARAPHRASING
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Read the source
Understand the source
Put away the source
Make a simple list of the main points you remember
from the source
Reread the source quickly to make sure you have
included all the important points
Put away the source again
Join the points into appropriate sentence structure
Reread your paraphrase, checking the grammar
and organization if necessary
A GOOD PARAPHRASE IS
Accurate
the ideas in the paraphrase are the same
as in the source
Original
the language used is different from the
source
Grammatical
Paraphrase the direct quotation below
Text 1
 “Terseness of note taking rather than mere
quantity seems to be an essential ingredient
of effective notetaking” (Dunkel, 1988)
Activity on notetaking
“Terseness of note taking rather than mere
quantity seems to be an essential ingredient
of effective notetaking” (Dunkel, 1988)
Paraphrase 1
As Dunkel affirmed in 1988 conciseness
is the key to a successful notetaking.
As Dunkel (1998) affirmed,
Activity on notetaking
“Terseness of note taking rather than mere
quantity seems to be an essential ingredient
of effective notetaking” (Dunkel, 1988)
Paraphrase 2
Dunkel (1988) argues that an important
factor of successful notetaking is not
being simple but being brief and concise.
Activity on notetaking
“Terseness of note taking rather than mere
quantity seems to be an essential ingredient
of effective notetaking” (Dunkel, 1988)
Paraphrase 3
As Dunkel points out, the briefer one’s
notes are the better result is achieved.
Activity on notetaking
“Terseness of note taking rather than mere
quantity seems to be an essential ingredient
of effective notetaking” (Dunkel, 1988)
Paraphrase 4
According to Dunkel (1988) notetaking can
only prove useful when it is characterized
by accuracy and not quantity.
Activity on notetaking
“Terseness of note taking rather than mere
quantity seems to be an essential ingredient
of effective notetaking” (Dunkel, 1988)
Paraphrase 5
As Dunkel states writing briefly is the most
functional way of taking notes.
Paraphrase the direct quotation below on notetaking
Text 2
 “Several other researchers have found similar
positive relationships between “terseness” of
notes and test performance” (Chaudron,
Loschky and Cook, 1994)
Now put the two paraphrases together in a brief
report. Use a linking expression to connect the two
sentences.
 “Terseness of note taking rather than mere
quantity seems to be an essential ingredient
of effective notetaking” (Dunkel, 1988)
 “Several other researchers have found similar
positive relationships between “terseness” of
notes and test performance” (Chaudron,
Loschky and Cook, 1994)
Paraphrase the two direct quotations relating to
the same topic (teaching of academic discourse)
 “In the past, composition and argumentation played a
key role in higher education, as the teaching of
scientific discourse consisted largely of teaching
students about how to compose ideas in writing”
(Jones, 1990).
 “The process of students moving from school to
university studies is currently associated with the
acquisition of an increased expertise in the discourse
and culture of academia rather than an increased
ability to argue in writing” (Brown & Mitchell, 1998).