Plagiarism: How to avoid
it
You need to cite
- quotations
- paraphrases
- specific facts
- specific ideas
The text below shows how a writer plagiarized and
what he did to fix it.
Wrong: quotations and paraphrases not cited.
The Idaho Legislature established a twelve-member
negotiating committee to devise a program to handle wildlife
depredation problems (Rimbely et al., 1991, 274). The directors of
the departments of Idaho Fish and Game and Agriculture each selected
six members who would represent both sides of the depredation issue.
A professional mediator was hired to help t he committee seek a
consensus through negotiation.
The committee came to the following conclusions
about wildlife depredation. First, depredation had the potential to
be a long-term problem/issue for the state (p. 274).
Second, there was agreement that prevention, both in terms of
habitat improvement and depredation damage, as preferable to
compensation for damages (p. 274). Finally the committee recommended
that funding for the damage payment program would come from two
sources: Idaho Fish and Games’ operating budget and that
department’s Depredation Account.
Corrected to show the quotations and
paraphrases.
The text here shows the author needs to use his
own words more.
The Idaho Legislature established a twelve-member
negotiating committee “ …to
devise a program to handle wildlife depredation problems”
(Rimbely et al., 1991, 274). “The
directors of the departments of Idaho Fish and Game and Agriculture
each selected six members who would represent…”
both sides of the depredation issue
(p. 274). A professional
mediator was hired to help t he committee seek a consensus through
negotiation (p. 274). {Note: this last
citation is for a paraphrase}
The committee came to the following conclusions
about wildlife depredation. First, “…depredation
had the potential to be a long-term problem/issue for the state”
(p. 274). “Second, there
was agreement that prevention, both in terms of habitat improvement
and depredation damage, as preferable to compensation for damages”
(p. 274). Finally “… the
committee recommended that funding for the damage payment program
would come from two sources”:
Idaho Fish and Games’ operating budget and that department’s
Depredation Account (p. 274).
This still does not work effectively.
The large number of quotations becomes difficult to read, and the
author needs to use his own words more.
Corrected to use fewer quotations.
The state of Idaho needed a depredation policy for handling
depredation caused by big game animals. According to Rimbey,
Gardner, and Patterson (1991), the Idaho Legislature created a
committee with twelve members to develop a program for managing
big-game depredation. The directors of the Idaho Fish and Game
Department and the state’s Department of Agriculture each chose six
members to give equal representation to both sides of the issue.
Further, they hired a professional mediator to help the two sides
work through their negotiations (p. 274).
>Note: this is all in the author’s own words. The citation at the
end of the paragraph indicates where the information came from.
The committee came to the following conclusions.
First, depredation could become “a long term problem/issue” for the
state (p. 274). >Note that the author
correctly quotes even the short phrase. Second, they
agreed that preventing damage to crops and prevention through
“habitat improvement” were better than compensating for damage (p.
274). Finally, they recommended two sources for funding the “damage
payment program”: Idaho Fish and Games’ operating budget and that
department’s Depredation Account (p. 274).
So, you need to use in-text citations to cite
all
