Psychology: Avoiding plagiarism

Preventing plagiarism

Your mission is to learn as much as you can about your chosen topic through the selection and use of appropriate sources. 

You will write about what you've learned in your own words, using your own style and voice. Unless you are directly quoting an author, which you should rarely do, you will never use text directly from what you read (with the exception of technical terms or phrases associate with your topic).

TCC takes some responsibility to inform you about plagiarism, which most of us know is using the words, images, and ideas of others in our work without crediting the original author. What many students are not taught, or fail to grasp, is that plagiarism is more complex than that and students commonly commit plagiarism even when they do give credit. How do you avoid that?

Write what you learn. Write what you think. Write your insights into the topic based on what you read.

• Quoting:  Using the exact words in exactly the same order from a source and including it in your paper
• Summarizing:  Rewriting the main points of the source in your own words and including it in your paper
• Paraphrasing:  Rewriting the text in your own words instead of directly quoting from the source
• Citing:  Giving credit to the original author's ideas (whether using quotes or not)

From the OWL at Purdue:

A paraphrase is...

• your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.
• one legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source.
• a more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.

Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because...

• it is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage.
• it helps you control the temptation to quote too much.
• the mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original.

6 steps to effective paraphrasing

1. Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
2. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
3. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
4. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.
5. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
6. Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

Example of paraphrasing

See the link below for an example of how to properly paraphrase a source.

The "hamburger technique" of writing

It is important that the majority of your writing in a research paper is YOURS. Even if you are citing your sources, the general rule is that 2/3 of the words in your research assignments should be your own. If your paper consists of nothing but quotes, you are not demonstrating that you understand the material nor are you providing your own analysis of that material. One writing method you can follow to help you do this is called the hamburger paragraph.

Hamburger paragraph:

• Some instructors will call this the sandwich paragraph method or even the Oreo method (which you may have heard before). Keep in mind that this method applies to body paragraphs, which are basically any paragraph in a paper other than the introduction and conclusion paragraphs. 

Building the burger:

Here are the parts for an effective hamburger (or veggie burger) paragraph:

1. Top bun: The topic sentence, or argument. The first sentence of a paragraph should clearly state the paragraph’s main idea.
2. Condiments: Your evidence (quotes & paraphrased information from your sources). When using quotes, remember that a little goes a long way!
3. Cheese, pickles, onions, lettuce, tomato, burger: Your analysis. The bulk of the paragraph! This is where you explain the significance of the evidence in your own words. This section is crucial to your paragraph. Don't get caught in a quote trap. Which is stringing quotes together without explaining their purpose. If you do not back up your quotes or paraphrased information, your writing will be weak and your reader (which at TCC is your teacher) will not be convinced that you understand the material you are writing about.  
4. Bottom bun: Sentence relating the paragraph back to the thesis statement and transitioning to the next body paragraph.

Here's a diagram to illustrate the concept: 

(click on image to enlarge)

Example with a paragraph:

Here is another example of a simple "evidence sandwich" paragraph in the middle of a research paper that paraphrases information about using social media in the classroom. If you were to use a direct quote instead of paraphrasing, this is where you would want to place the quote. 

(click on image to enlarge)

Variations on the hamburger method:

Remember...

• You can use variations on this formula.  For example, you could make this paragraph longer by including more analysis of the researchers’ findings.
• Or you could include a second piece of evidence (more filling!) to further back up your point.  If you add more filling, you might want to balance it by adding another slice of bread, too (that is, more of your own analysis).

Not every paragraph in your paper has to follow this formula, or even necessarily include outside evidence. But this is a classic formula that can serve you well throughout your college career. Just remember, you can't just plop a quote into a paragraph and move on - you must explain what the quote means or why the information is important in your own words - this is your analysis. Don't use quotes to fill space. Adding information into your paper should do just that, ADD to it - compliment it. Don't include useless information, but be picky and use quotes only when you intend to talk about what they mean and why they matter to your argument! 

One last note:

And again, making sure you correctly paraphrase, quote, summarize and CITE is key to avoiding plagiarism!

Diagram source: "Paragraph burger" by M. Persson, 2013, Educational use.

Learn to use APA and avoid plagiarism 

There are two parts to a citation, and the related citation handouts linked on this page, as well as the multi-step tutorial, created by a TCC faculty member, linked below, will get the basic facts about using APA style and avoiding plagiarism. See the full citation guide linked below, and stop by the reference desk or use the librarian chat to ask for more citing help! 

There are two parts to a citation:

1. The brief in-text citation lets your reader know where the information in your paper came from, as you are using it. Usually, this means the author(s) and year.
2. The full References citation is on a separate References page, letting your reader know, in detail, where to find that source.

Below is an example of how the two citation pieces fit together in APA style:

Gordon and Cui (2015) found compelling evidence suggesting that a person’s career outcomes in adulthood are more of a product of the quality of their childhood relationships with their parent(s), or other adult guardians, rather than the quality of the education they received.

. . . . . . . .

References

Gordon, M. S., & Cui, M. (2015). Positive parenting during adolescence and career success in young adulthood. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(3), 762-771. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9887-y

Image source: Plagiarism icons created by Smashicons - Flaticon