Guideline on Copyright, Citation, and Plagiarism

 PART 1: RATING DOCUMENTATION OF SOURCES

1)         F     I rated this passage F because although the documentation looks correct, the source is used out of context or contrary to the meaning in the original text.

2)         D    This passage has documentation, but it is not used clearly or correctly. The sentence about George Washington should either be cited (clearly from a different source). Also, in the Works Cited section, “Civilization 3” should be italicized.

3)         B     Was the Notes on the State of Virginia a separate reference in the Works Cited section? If so, it is missing information to set it apart as such. The first sentence of this passage needs a citation, but it did not come from the Ellis paragraph, which means yet another source on the Works Cited section.  Ellis was noted in the Works Cited but not cited in-text.  I could also have gone with a C rating on this one.

4)          A     A few words may have been changed here or there in this passage, but sentence structure was not changed. There was some phrasing copied verbatim—with no in-text citations of any kind, nor sources cited in a Works Cited section.

5)         H     I think the writer of this passage cited sources and paraphrased well while still implementing personal thoughts and ideas about the topic.

PART 2: REFLECTION ON “SELF PLAGIARISM”

              When I first came back to school and learned that “self-plagiarism” is an actual problem, I was surprised. It seemed extremely strange that I would not be able to use my own words from previous works without citing myself. It still feels odd to even type such a concept. However, as I have learned about ethics in publication, I have come to understand the importance of not self-plagiarizing. Just from a practical student standpoint, when researching a specific topic, I would find it extremely frustrating to find multiple resources by the same author(s) containing the same information or variations of the same study while claiming that each is an original work. Publishing just for the sake of getting published does not build upon research. Similarly, piecing out information into multiple journal articles in order to publish more weakens the research.

              Things get “muddy” when repurposing one’s own phrases or statements that do not necessarily apply specifically to one study or research project. Perhaps such a statement would be applicable in multiple disciplines or under differing circumstances. Coming up with a new way to say the same thing might be very challenging and feel quite unnecessary, especially when doing so does not change the integrity of the research. Happily, properly citing all sources will allow the writer to avoid plagiarism of any kind.