This tutorial will help you learn how to cite
sources used in your research and how to
avoid plagiarism when incorporating these
sources into your assignment or project.
According to the Collin College Student Code
of Conduct:
"Plagiarism is the use of an author’s words or
ideas as if they were one's own without giving
credit to the source, including, but not limited to,
failure to acknowledge a direct quotation or
patchwriting, even when a source is cited."
Because of the United States Copyright
laws, anything we use (words, ideas, etc)
belonging to another person needs to be
acknowledged and cited, both in the text
of our paper and in a Works Cited or
References page at the end!
"building on the works of other scholars."
These scholars deserve credit for the
work they have done!
Referencing other sources gives the
person reading your paper confidence
that you have taken the time to become
familiar with what other scholars in the
field have discovered about your topic.
Examples of Plagiarism:
1. Failing to cite sources (either citing inaccurately or not at all!)
Example of a quote using a Signal
Phrase: According to the author,
(insert author's name) "insert quoted
material" (14).
The author, (insert author's name) states
"insert quoted material" (14).
14 is the page number from where the quote
was taken.
The second way, is a direct quotation
"IN QUOTATION MARKS" followed by
the author(s) name and page number.
Example:
"The economy will rebound with the
new monetary policies" (Smith 14).
2. Misrepresenting the original source
when paraphrasing.
Paraphrasing is the restatement of information
and ideas in one's own words and style. You
review a source in detail and restate the
main claims in your own words.
3. Paraphrasing too closely to the original
isn't a good idea!
Unfortunately, changing only a few words or
phrases in a sentence or revising the
sentence structure can get you in trouble.
Example: Original
The rise of industry, the growth of cities , and the
expansion of the population were the three great
developments of late nineteenth century American
history.
A student writes...The increase of industry, the
growth of cities, and the explosion of the population
were three large factors of nineteenth century
America.
Busted!
The Paraphrase is too close to the original
and there is no citation.
The wording is too close to the original and
the writer has failed to cite a source for
ideas or facts.
Good paraphrasing makes the ideas of the original
source fit smoothly into your paper.
When in doubt, Cite!
Let's see how much you know about
paraphrasing.
In which of the following cases should you use
quotation marks in your writing?
A. When quoting a source directly
B. When using someone else's writing and changing
a couple of words but leaving the sentence
otherwise intact.
C. When paraphrasing too closely to the original
All three of these situations apply.
Most college professors expect their
students to become familiar with and use the Scholarly
Sources available in the many databases
Collin College provides.
Databases contain digitized copies of published
Books, Scholarly Journal & Magazine Articles,
Newspaper Articles, Art Images, streaming
music and videos.
Collin College pays hundreds of thousands of dollars for students to have access to current, authoritative information from quality sources!
No more Google or Wikipedia for research!
Use Wikipedia and Google for background information about a topic but NEVER cite either one in your Works Cited or References page!
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and encyclopedias are not considered to be quality sources for academic research!
When you use any information from the databases you are expected to "acknowledge the sources" by name, both in the body of your paper and in your Works Cited or References (Bibliography) pages.
So, there is a two step process when acknowledging these sources.
Which of the following is the correct way to acknowledge sources in MLA and APA styles? Click on the best answer.
You must give credit when you use another person's idea, opinion or theory.
Use any facts, statistics, graphs, or drawings
Quote another person's actual spoken or written words.
Paraphrase another person's spoken or written words
Ways to AVOID plagiarism!
When you're taking notes PUT QUOTATION MARKS around anything that comes directly from the text. Make a note of the author and title.
Put MINE with a colored marker when it comes from your own head!
When you paraphrase make sure you put it in YOUR OWN WORDS!
Don't paraphrase while looking at the original text.
Use a thesaurus to find synonyms for words in the original.
When you paraphrase or quote, always include a citation both in the text (parenthetical citation) and in your Works Cited (MLA) or References (APA) pages!
When taking notes ALWAYS keep track of the original source. When in doubt, CITE!
Register for the EBSCO databases to save your sources (more on that later)
If you're unsure about anything, ask a Librarian or make an appointment with the Writing Center!
Which of the following information should not be included in a citation for a book?
How do you find the citation information for a source?
For a book look on the title page...The title page is always right at the beginning of a book. Just open up the first few pages and look for a page with information about the book.
The title page usually looks something like the page below.
The title page tells you the author's name, Book Title, and publication information. In this case, this book is a reprint of the original, published in 1903.
Any information I take from this book should be cited (London 12). London is the author's last name and 12 is the page number from where the information came.
When there is no author listed, the first word in the title is sometimes enough. For example; (The Call 20).
Just make sure it matches up with what is on your Works Cited or References page!
The MLA citation for this book in a Works Cited page would be:
London, Jack. The Call of the Wild.
Macmillian, 1990.
The 8th edition of the MLA Handbook was recently published. There are a number of changes to the way items are cited.
Because of the ever changing formats in which information can be accessed today, it was necessary to simplify the way we cite items. Most of the databases that provide citations have not updated to the new MLA format!
Your citation is normally placed where there is a pause in the sentence - usually at the end of a sentence or a comma.
Another way to introduce a paraphrase or quote is by using a "signal phrase."
Using a "signal phrase" means beginning the quote or paraphrase with the author's last name... Example:
Ratey (author of the book) believes that "exercise has a profound impact on cognitive abilities and mental health (7)."
By using a signal phrase with the author's last name it is only necessary to include the page number at the end.
Now, your reader can go to your Works Cited or References page and get the title of the book by matching it with the author's last name.
Common Knowledge is information the average person would know and does not need to be cited. It is a fact that can be found in many places and is likely to be known by many people. Example: John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1960.
The United States entered World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
How do you decide if something is common knowledge?
Did you already know the information?
Be careful though, what is common knowledge to you may not be common knowledge to someone else.
Many of the library databases do your citation for you.
More and more are adding the option to export citations directly into EasyBib (a citation generator). If you decide to register for EasyBib while using this tutorial you can get back to the tutorial using the Alt back arrow...
www.easybib.com
If you register and create an account (only free for MLA) you can save your citations on the EasyBib Website. When you have all your sources, EasyBib will format your Works Cited page.
The database we are looking at on the right is Academic Search Complete.
This is a good place to start learning about using the college databases for your research.
The information available in databases is reliable and free to currently enrolled students.
By using articles or information from the databases you will be "building on the research of others."
It also lets your professor know that you spent time doing quality research - and I would bet, it will improve your grade!
Your Works Cited or References page tells others reading your paper where they can find information about your topic.
The name of the company that distributes this database is EBSCOhost. The reason this is of note is that the Collin College subscribes to over 50 EBSCO databases, all of which do your citation for you!
Academic Search Complete has a Full Text Box and a Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals Box. Always click the Full Text box before doing a search! Our assignment does not require us to use Peer Reviewed material so we will leave that box unchecked.
Suppose you need to do some research on whether the use of "social media is negatively affecting personal relationships."
Click the Full text box and enter "social media" and negative and relationship in the search box.
Some of the articles are in foreign languages. Under the Refine Results on the left side of the page, click Language and select English.
Now how many articles are there? Choose the answer closest to your search results. The databases add and subtract articles daily.
are added all the time) of your search results.
Look at the article titled, "Examining Applicant Reactions to the Use of Social Networking Websites on Pre-Employment Screening."
What are some of the Subject terms (hint: look under the article title) listed for the article?
When was the article published?
What is the name of the Journal in which this article was published?
Notice the Tools on the right side of the page. You may have to use the scroll bar at the bottom of the page to scroll to the right. In the middle, click the Cite icon.
How many different citation styles are listed?
Scroll down to the MLA format.
English classes always use the MLA citation format.
Notice the link that says "Export to Bibliographic Management Software."
Within this tutorial, if we try to export a citation into EasyBib it takes us out of the tutorial - so try using EasyBib after you finish.
When the EasyBib website opens, click Import. If you Register and create an EasyBib account you can save your citations permanently on their server. Just remember to login to EasyBib before you start exporting citations from the databases
When you're in EasyBib and ready to submit your citations, click Export. Select Print as Word Doc from the drop down menu/Download for MS Word/and either Open or Save the file.
Please check with your professor before using this method, as some do not allow students to use EasyBib.
Remember we said earlier, the college subscribes to many EBSCO databases? Go back to the login page for Academic Search Complete. Select Choose Databases at the top of the search box...you can select a number of databases to search through. I'm going to choose:
Academic Search Complete Health Source Consumer Edition Medline Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection Religion & Philosophy Collection
Click the Full text box and enter the same search:
"social media" and negative and relationship
How many results did you get?
Once again, select English under Language on the left side of the page.
Now how many results did you get?
There are more articles relating to the medical and psychological aspects of social media because it's pulling from a medical and psychology database.
All EBSCO databases allow you to register and save articles on their server. This is an excellent way to keep track of all the sources you use when doing research. You can create Folders for specific projects or classes.
Click on the Library Tab at the top of the page
and from there, click the link to the databases:
Find Articles in Databases-Journals, Magazines, etc.
Click on Academic Search Complete and
Register to save articles on their server.
So, we've reached the end of our
tutorial. Hope it helps you with your research!
If you want to print out the Certificate of
Completion please click the forward arrow.
Happy Searching!
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