# Welcome to SMIRK Unit
5 - Avoiding plagiarism

- What is paraphrasing?
- Try paraphrasing
- An example of paraphrasing
- What is quoting?
- How to quote
- Quotation styles
- Introducing quotes
- Citing and Anti-plagiairism plan
- Summary
- Back to main index

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is when you read a piece of work and then rewrite it in your own words while retaining the flavour and ideas of the original text. Paraphrasing demonstrates that you have understood the academic context of the piece and allows you to support your argument. Watch this video from Dr Jane McKay of the Learning Development Centre in Health and Life Sciences. It will help you understand what you need to do.

Top Tips on paraphrasing. When you intend to paraphrase:

- read the piece of text.
- put the original text to one side and try re-writing it in your own words.
- if you find it difficult to do this it may be that you haven’t understood the concept behind the piece of writing. Read the text again until you are confident you understand its meaning.
- remember to keep the ‘flavour’ of the article when you write it in your own words.

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# Try paraphrasing

Below is information on the Irish Famine. Read it and try paraphrasing the piece.

Source: Interpreting The Irish Famine, 1846-1850

It began with a blight of the potato crop that left acre upon acre of Irish farmland covered with black rot. As harvests across Europe failed, the price of food soared. Subsistence-level Irish farmers found their food stores rotting in their cellars, the crops they relied on to pay the rent to their British and Protestant landlords destroyed. Peasants who ate the rotten produce sickened and entire villages were consumed with cholera and typhus. Parish priests desperate to provide for their congregations were forced to forsake buying coffins in order to feed starving families, with the dead going unburied or buried only in the clothes they wore when they died.

Landlords evicted hundreds of thousands of peasants, who then crowded into disease-infested workhouses. Other landlords paid for their tenants to emigrate, sending hundreds of thousands of Irish to America and other English-speaking countries. But even emigration was no panacea – ship owners often crowded hundreds of desperate Irish onto rickety vessels labelled "coffin ships." In many cases, these ships reached port only after losing a third of their passengers to disease, hunger and other causes. While Britain provided much relief for Ireland's starving populous, many Irish criticized Britain's delayed response -- and further blamed centuries of British political oppression on the underlying causes of the famine.
The Irish Famine of 1846-50 took as many as one million lives from hunger and disease, and changed the social and cultural structure of Ireland in profound ways. The Famine also spurred new waves of immigration, thus shaping the histories of the United States and Britain as well.

The next page gives an example.

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# An example of
paraphrasing

#### The Irish Famine paraphrased

Source: Interpreting The Irish Famine, 1846-1850

In 1846 there was food shortages across Europe as many harvests failed. Ireland was no exception and over a million lives were lost. Workhouses overflowed and disease was rife. As desperation set in many resorted to eating food that had decayed, this resulted in whole villages dying of cholera and typhus. Relief was sent from Britain but it was seen as too little, too late and such was the desperation of the local priests, they tried to save money and provide for people by not buying coffins. This added further suffering to the local populace for it often meant loved ones were not buried. Because of the famine many could not pay the rent and were turned from their homes. Many of the landlords were British and in an attempt to rid them selves of the problem, paid the passage to America for many of their tenants. This could be considered as generosity however, it often proved a death sentence as the ships were frequently as disease ridden as Ireland itself. (Interpreting The Irish Famine, 1846-1850)

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# What is quoting?

Quoting is when you use the exact words of an author in your assignment. Quotations help support your arguments and help to reinforce or raise a new point. Always consult the guidelines in your module handbook for the format used by your school or department.

#### Example of a quote in an essay:

Boden (1998: p72) states:

> "The most common female crime prosecuted at the Quarter Sessions was that of battering men. This would suggest that women were not the passive and obedient members of society that men would have liked to believe they were."

Our section on referencing will provide information on the layout and how to reference quotes.

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# How to quote

#### Do not use quotations:

- when describing or summarising ideas
- in place of your own thoughts and ideas

When you’re describing ideas you should use your own words, unless the exact wording is important. An essay should be your own thoughts on a topic, not a compilation of quotations from other people.

As your lecturer might say:

“I already know that this textbook author understands the subject; I want to find out whether you do too!”

#### Use quotations

- when you want to use a key (memorable) phrase
- when you want to comment on someone else’s view and it is important to use their exact words
- to develop or support your own argument

An example of a memorable phrase would be:

‘A rose by any other name’ - William Shakespeare ‘The selfish gene’ – Richard Dawkins

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# Quotation styles

When writing an essay you will develop your own writing style and if you are not careful quotations can spoil that flow and make it difficult for the reader. They must fit grammatically. Research is time consuming but you need to ensure you find the most appropriate quotation that both benefits and compliments your essay.

#### Example of paraphrasing and quotes with verbs that help introduce your quote:

Once called user education or library skills, now the terms Information Literacy (IL) or Information Skills are more likely to spring to mind. The term ‘Information Literacy' is open to a great deal of debate and there appears to be a ‘lack of agreement', even cynicism over its definition. (Bruce et al, 2002) Elizabeth Dupuis notes that there have been great discussions over ‘the ideas embodied by the term ‘Information Literacy', and yet a strict definition remains elusive'. (Dupuis, 2002) Is there a difference between library skills and Information Literacy? Conceptually no, but they have become more complex and moved to a higher level. Bruce and Lampson suggest a reticence by some professionals about having to break away from tradition and ‘impose an evaluation opinion on sources' and also having to teach critical evaluation and analysis. This is the reason, perhaps, that they have become such a focal point for discussion. (Bruce et al, 2002)

In the eighteenth century lawyers set us on the path of copyright confusion and arguments over moral rights by seeking to ‘fix the notion of literary property'. (Rose, 1997) This change in thinking is mirrored by the way authors began to regard the term plagiarism. Coleridge made frequent reference to ‘questions of origins and originality – and the practical and moral problems of derivativeness and plagiarism'. (Stillinger, 2001) He openly admitted, however, that he had ‘appropriated … sizable passages' from others work without acknowledgement. The difference in attitude in the eighteenth century is demonstrated by the fact that he was publicly charged with plagiarism. It is interesting to note that his accuser was a supposed friend, Thomas De Quincey, who was a ‘notable plagiarist and opium eater in his own right'! (Stillinger, 2001)

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# Introducing quotes

#### Verbs which help when introducing quotes into your essay:

Notes | Displays | Conceals
Suggests | Reveals | Disguises
Demonstrates | Disagrees | Illustrates
Argues | Points | Specifies
Supports | Claims | Remarks
Shows | Observes | Interprets

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# Citing and
Anti-plagiairsm plan

It is very important that you reference and cite your work properly. If you do reference your work correctly you can help increase your marks and avoid being accused of plagiarism. Our section on referencing will show you how to reference your work correctly.

#### An anti-plagiarism plan

Use SQ3R to help you avoid plagiarising:

- Survey: survey several sources. You may write an initial structure at this stage
- Question: what do you need to know? what does your essay say?
- Read: read your sources with your questions in mind (and note the references)
  continue reading until you’ve found answers to all the questions you identified
  highlight any direct quotations you may want to use
- Recall: write the essay in your own words without consulting your sources
- Review: review your work, including checking for plagiarism

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# Summary

#### Don’t forget:

- to paraphrase
- if you quote text, indicate what is quoted and where it comes from
- if you use ideas or any other intellectual property belonging to someone else, acknowledge your source
- if the facts are common knowledge there is no need to provide a citation but if you are in any doubt it is better to be safe and cite your source

Congratulations, you have now completed this section.

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/