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Home First Things First . . . ► Why is plagiarism difficult to avoid? What happens if you are accused? How to Avoid Plagiarism Use valid, credible sources for information Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing Giving Credit Is it plagiarism? (interactive game) Copyright Is it copyright infringement? (interactive game)
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Why is plagiarism difficult to avoid?Some cases of plagiarism are blatant. The 2003 revelation that a New York Times reporter had stolen and made up stories threatened to bring down one of the world’s most famous newspapers. By the time the investigation into Jayson Blair’s career had unfolded, the Times had been embarrassed to the point that Executive Editor Howell Raines and Managing Editor Gerald Boyd had resigned. Because journalism, like academics, is built on trust, the entire field faced a credibility crisis. Plagiarism cases like this one are difficult to defend. At other times, plagiarism is a sticky subject, one that gets students and even professional writers into trouble from time to time. What's so sticky about it? Well, the experts don't always agree on what is or isn't plagiarism. For example, two noted historians, Stephen Ambrose in 2001 and Doris Kearns Goodwin in 2002, got into trouble even though their works used footnotes clearly indicating their sources. The problems lay in sentence structures that too closely mirrored the original texts. So, you see, even citing your sources may not be enough to avoid an accusation of plagiarism. Even though scholars aren't always sure how to define plagiarism, they usually know it when they see it. When they see it, their first reaction is to assume the plagiarism is intentional (as much as all of us like to believe the best about our fellow human beings). Frankly, whether the act is intentional or not is often beside the point. If you have questions about plagiarism, it's better to ask your professor or instructor than to guess. Ignorance is not worth the possible penalties. The best way to avoid plagiarism is to do what educators expect: learn something from your writing process. Look for valid and credible sources. Take careful notes. Digest the information. Cite everything that isn't original.
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University of Maine at Farmington |
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