Plagiarism Detection & Revision Skills: What Is Plagiarism?

Last updated 11/11/2019

 

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Audio: Guitar music.

 

Visual: “Walden University Writing Center. Your writing, grammar, and APA experts” appears in center of screen. Background changes to a book on a table and the title “What Is Plagiarism?”

The screen changes to show a slide with the following title and content: What Is Plagiarism?

  • “Use of intellectual material produced by another person without acknowledging its source” (Walden University, Student Handbook, “Plagiarism,” para. 1).

Audio: The word “plagiarism” can cause students both confusion and concern, since it’s a concept that is often high stakes but can also seem cryptic. When we fully understand what plagiarism is, however, we’re one step closer to avoiding plagiarism in our writing. The Walden University Student Handbook defines plagiarism as the following: the “use of intellectual material produced by another person without acknowledging its source.”

Essentially, what this means is that in U.S. academic writing, we need to always tell our readers when we are using ideas, facts, and statistics from our sources. This includes source information that we use in any form: summary, paraphrase, or quotations.

Another way of saying this is giving credit where credit is due: When we learn information from a source and include that information in our writing, we need to give credit to the original source. In this way, appropriately giving credit helps us avoid plagiarism and maintain academic integrity.

 

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Types of Plagiarism

  • Overt Plagiarism [scissors icon]
    • Improperly cited quotations
  • Passive Plagiarism [book icon]
    • Ineffective paraphrasing or missing citations
  • Self-Plagiarism [pencil icon]
    • Sentences, paragraphs, or entire papers you submitted previously

Audio: Let’s look at the specific ways plagiarism can manifest in writing. The Writing Center categorizes plagiarism into three categories: overt plagiarism, passive plagiarism, and self-plagiarism, also referred to as misuse of a writer’s own past writing.

Overt plagiarism is when writers use the exact words from a source without enclosing those words in quotation marks and citing the author, year, and page number of the source.

Passive plagiarism is when writers use ineffective paraphrasing or are missing citations in their writing. In these cases, writers aren’t using the exact wording from the source, but they still need to credit the source for their original ideas.

Self-plagiarism is when writers misuse their own past writing, re-using their own previously submitted sentences, paragraphs, or entire papers—either in the same course or another course. At Walden University, students should focus on writing about ideas in new ways and approaching assignments with new understanding, unless they are working on specific assignments (like doctoral capstones) or have faculty approval.

 

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  • An important writing skill that can be:
    • Learned with practice.
    • Affected by limited time, a poor writing process, and a lack of critical reading.
    • Difficult when learning new skills or engaging in new ideas.

Audio: Many students are concerned that they will plagiarize in their writing or may be frustrated that they have plagiarized in the past. This is understandable! Plagiarism can be a significant writing issue, but it’s also something that can be avoided when we understand the following:

Avoiding plagiarism is a writing skill that can be learned with practice. There are writing and citing strategies any writer can learn and practice to avoid plagiarism.

Avoiding plagiarism is a writing skill that can be affected by limited time, a poor writing process, and a lack of critical reading. All of these factors can contribute to plagiarism, even if you know all of the writing and citing rules to avoid plagiarism. So when you are concerned about plagiarism, pay close attention to your writing schedule, process, and reading.

Finally, avoiding plagiarism is a writing skill that can be difficult when learning new skills or engaging in new ideas. If you’re new to the field you are studying or if you are learning about new concepts, be aware that as you focus on this new area, other areas of your writing—like avoiding plagiarism—might become more difficult. This doesn’t mean plagiarism is acceptable in these cases; instead, your awareness is key. In these situations, pay special attention and set aside extra time to ensure you’re avoiding plagiarism.

 

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  • Plagiarism Prevention Resource Kit
  • Video Series
  • “Plagiarism Prevention: The Three Components to Avoiding Plagiarism”

Ask for our support!

Audio: Now you know what plagiarism is, what the types of plagiarism are, and what can contribute to plagiarism in your writing. Of course, this is just the start: To learn more about types of plagiarism and how to avoid them, use the following resources:

The Writing Center’s Plagiarism Prevention Resource Kit, short video series, including the other videos in this Plagiarism Detection & Revision Skills playlist, and our full webinar, “Plagiarism Prevention: The Three Components to Avoiding Plagiarism.”

And of course, reach out to us in the Writing Center for our support. Send us an e-mail or visit us at our Live Chat hours to talk through your plagiarism questions; we’re here to support you throughout your Walden program.

 

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