Is it plagiarism if I change around the words in the sentence? 

YES!  Even if you change the order of the words, you are still stealing someone else’s concept.   

            Original Text:

George Eliot was born Mary Ann Evans on November 22, 1819, in Warwickshire, England. She was the daughter of Robert Evans and Christina Pearson, and was the youngest of their five children. A precocious and religious child, Evans was teaching Sunday school to the local farm children at the age of 12. [1]  

Plagiarized Text:

On November 22, 1819, George Eliot was born in Warwickshire, England.  She was the youngest of five children whose parents were Robert Evans and Christina Pearson.  As a child, she was young and precocious.  At the age of 12, she began teaching Sunday school to the local children. 

Properly Cited Text:

Born on November 22, 1819, Mary Ann Evans was the youngest of five.  Her parents, Robert Evans and Christina Pearson, were highly involved in the church.  In fact, Mary Ann began teaching Sunday school to the local children when she was twelve (Middlemarch 1). 

When is it necessary to cite my sources?

Plagiarism.com states that it is necessary to cite your sources when you use the following:

• another person's idea, opinion, or theory;

• any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings--any pieces of information--that are not common knowledge;

• quotations of another person's actual spoken or written words; or

• paraphrase of another person's spoken or written words.

To avoid inadvertently plagiarizing, it is best to read the information and then close the book or flip over the paper and summarize the information in your own words. 

What is common knowledge?

Common knowledge is information that is generally known and can be found everywhere.  For example, William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582.  Although this may not be common knowledge to you, it is a known fact.  You do not have to cite information that is well known such as a birth date, birth place, date of death, husband, wife, etc.  These things are not opinions or ideas, they are simply facts.  The following is an example of information that is not common knowledge:

Original Text:

Richard Hathaway died in September 1581 and left Anne the sum of 6 pounds 13 Shillings and 4 pence to be paid "atte the day of her maryage". [2]

            Correctly Cited Text:

When Anne Hathaway’s father died he left her 6 pounds 13 Shillings and 4 pence, which was to be paid on the day of her marriage (Hathaway 1). 

How do I cite my sources within the text? 

The following is an example of how to use someone else’s words legally.  The borrowed material is placed within quotation marks and proper credit is given to the author. 

Original Text:

In college courses, we are continually engaged with other people’s ideas: we read them in texts, hear them in lecture, discuss them in class, and incorporate them into our own writing. As a result, it is very important that we give credit where it is due. Plagiarism is using others’ ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information. [3]

Correctly Cited Text #1:

Plagiarism is defined as “using others’ ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information” (Peterson 1).   

            Correctly Cited Text #2:

John Peterson defines plagiarism as “using others’ ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information” (1). 

Is it necessary to cite an image taken from the internet or other source?

YES!  The following is an example of how you may want to give proper credit to your visual sources.  In addition to doing this, be sure to put the complete bibliographic information on the works cited page.  By the way, this is Anne Hathaway the actress, not Shakespeare’s wife.

Source:  http://www.beatboxbetty.com/photogallery/photogallery3/photogallery3/photogallery3.htm

John/Jane Doe

Assignment #4

Steps for preparing your properly formatted MLA paper

If you are reading this, you have probably just been assigned to write a paper for one of your classes or you will be very shortly.  Your completed paper should look very similar to this one.  Notice that there are no extra spaces between the title, which should be the same size font as the rest of the text, and the actual body of the paper.  Also notice that there are no pictures or borders; although they are pretty, they are not necessary.  The following information is to aid you in properly formatting your paper:

1. In the upper left hand corner, you should have the proper information (name, date, assignment, etc.)  Consult your teacher on this and find out what he or she would like you to include. 

2. Set all margins to one inch.  To do this go into file – page setup and then set the left, right, top, and bottom margins to one inch.  Top secret information:  Teachers are not fooled by two inch margins. 

3. Set font at Times New Roman – regular 12 point.  Do not bold or italicize the whole paper; these functions should only be used to highlight important text.  Another secret:  Teachers are not fooled by 16 point font.

4. Put your last name along with the page number in the upper right hand corner.  To do this you will need to go into view – header and footer.  In the rectangular box, type your last name and then press the button that looks like this “#”.  Once you have done this (while you are still in the header and footer option) click the right align button in the tool bars menu.  This will automatically number the pages and will identify each of your pages should they get separated from the rest of the paper.

5. Your entire paper should be double-spaced.  To do this go to edit – select all.  This will highlight your entire paper.  When this is complete, go into format – paragraph and set line spacing to double.  P.S. Teachers can also tell if a paper is set at 1 ½  or 2 ½ line spacing.

Please be sure that your paper follows these specific requirements!  If you have any questions at all, consult your teacher.   

Works Cited

(For a book – Last name, First name.  Title.  Publishing City:  Publisher, Publication Date.)

Camfield, Gregg.  The Oxford Companion to Mark Twain.  New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

(For a newspaper article – Last name, First name.  “Article Title.”  Newspaper Title.  Date.  Page.)

Di Rado, Alicia.  “Trekking through College: Classes Explore Modern Society Using the World of Star Trek.”  Los Angeles Times.  15 March 1995: A3.

 (For a website – Last name, First name.  “Title of web page.”  Website (Home Page).  Date of last update.  Publishing Organization.  Date accessed <address>.)

Peterson, John.  "Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It."  Writing Center at Indiana University Bloomington.  The Trustees of Indiana University.  03 March 2003 <http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html>.

 (For an encyclopedia – Last name, First name.  “Topic.”  Encyclopedia.  Edition.  Publication Date.)

Sturgeon, Theodore.  “Science Fiction.”  The Encyclopedia Americana.  International ed.  1995. 

Note:  This is a listing of the four most popular references used by high school students.  If you have something to cite that is not listed here, ask your teacher how to cite it or go online to an MLA citation site.  This site <http://www.landmark-project.com/citation_machine/cm.php?ctype=16> is a great site for creating your works cited page.  It is set up as a database where you enter the specific information and it creates your citation, which you will need to copy and paste into your document.  Points to remember concerning the works cited page:

1. Sources are alphabetized.

2. This page is double-spaced as well.

3. You must have a hanging indent, to do this go to format – paragraph and click on special – hanging. 

4. This is a critical part of your paper and should also have your name and page number in the upper right hand corner within the header. 

Be sure that your websites are reputable; if you are unsure consult your teacher.