大二综合英语教学资料：Avoiding Plagiarism.pptVIP

Based on Steps to Writing Well (pp. 397-399) Avoiding Plagiarism Unfortunately, most discussions of research must include a brief word about plagiarism. Novice writers often unintentionally plagiarize, because they fail to recognize the necessity of attributing paraphrased, summarized, and borrowed ideas to their original owners. And indeed it is sometimes difficult after days of research to know exactly what one has read repeatedly and what one originally thought. Avoiding Plagiarism Also,there’s frequently a thin line between general or common knowledge (“Henry Ford was the father of the automobile industry in America”) that does not have to be documented and those ideas and statements that do (“USX reported an operating loss of four million dollars in its last quarter”). Avoiding Plagiarism As a rule of thumb, ask yourself whether the majority of your readers would recognize the fact or opinion you’re expressing or if it’s repeatedly found in commonly used sources; if so, you may not need to document it. Avoiding Plagiarism For example, most people would acknowledge that the Wall Street crash of 1929 ushered in the Great Depression of the 1930s, but the exact number of bank foreclosures in 1933 is not common knowledge and, therefore, needs documenting. Similarly,a well-known quotation from the Bible or Mother Goose or even the Declaration of Independence might pass without documentation, but a line from the Vice President’s latest speech needs a reference to its source. Avoiding Plagiarism Remember, too, that much of the material on the Internet is copyrighted. When in doubt, the best choice is to document anything that you feel may be in question. Avoiding Plagiarism To help you understand the difference between plagiarism and proper documentation, here is a passage taken from the book Criminal Investigation, followed by both incorrect and correct ways of using its information in a paper of your own: Avoiding Plagiarism Avoiding Plagiarism Avoiding Plagiarism