Plagiarism FAQ

Q: What if I forget to place a citation? Everything else is cited and the source is in my works cited, but I forgot one spot?

A: Plagiarism is plagiarism regardless of intention.

Q: How many words do I need to replace in a quote before it is a paraphrase?

A: A paraphrase needs to be your own words and written in your own voice. It cannot mimic the sentence structure of the original quote either. So: All the words need to be different, the sentence structure needs to be different, and the tone/voice of the writing needs to be your own for it to be a paraphrase.

Q: I don’t get the difference between a summary and paraphrasing.

A: A summary is a “birds-eye-view” of the overall concept behind a document. A paraphrase is a more detailed rephrasing of an authors idea put into your own words. Think of it this way: a summary is basically a bulleted list of facts about a subject while a paraphrase is a detailed review of a singular idea or fact.

Q: Why isn’t it enough to just list my sources at the end? Why do I need an in-text citation?

A: When conducting research to write a paper you gather multiple sources. Each source represents a different author’s ideas. As you place these ideas into your paper, you are going to try and tie them together so they relate back to your thesis. The in-text citation plays a few roles.

1. 1. Without citation, the reader of your work had no idea where your information came from (which source). It makes you look untrustworthy or lazy. (Untrustworthy because without citation you could have made that information up, and lazy because you didn’t put effort into doing your paper correctly)
   2. As multiple sources come together, it is necessary to make sure each author who you are borrowing ideas from is given proper credit, especially is multiple sources are used in a single paragraph. How is the reader supposed to what information is from a source and what information is your own idea?
   3. To keep compliance with copyright laws. Intellectual theft is against copyright law. Using another’s words or ideas as your own is a form of fraud. When caught, be prepared for professional and legal ramifications.

Q: I put in all my citations, but my professor still said I plagiarized! How is that possible?

A: If you are not careful, plagiarism is still a possibility even when you have cited the source. For example, not citing properly can be considered a form of plagiarism. Also, if too much of your work is quoted from various sources without any of your own ideas, this can also be a form of plagiarism. Another way is if your paraphrase is basically the same as the quote but with a few words changed. This is plagiarism if you do not use quotation marks along with your citation. A good way to practice paraphrasing is to stop looking at the original source and pretend you are trying to explain the source to someone who has no idea what you are talking about. This technique forces you to think about the major concept and rephrase it in a way that can be understood by a different audience. That is a paraphrase at it’s finest.