IXL | Identify plagiarism | 9th grade language arts

Compare the student text with the source.

Source: Kristina Killgrove, "Roman Subway Construction Uncovers Possible Mass Grave Of Elite Soldiers." Published in Forbes, 2016:

Since it's Rome, of course anytime anyone puts a shovel in the ground, historical and archaeological remains are found.

Student text:

In Rome, "anytime anyone puts a shovel in the ground," he or she is likely to uncover archaeological artifacts.

Is the student text plagiarized?

No, it is not plagiarized.

Yes, because it fails to cite the source.

ref_doc_title.

Learn with an example

question

Compare the student text with the source.

Source: Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel, pages 39–40. Published by W. W. Norton & Company, 1997:

Anyone who has experienced firsthand the overwhelming power of the life-sized painted bulls and horses in the Lascaux Cave of southwestern France will understand at once that their creators must have been as modern in their minds as they were in their skeletons.

Student text:

If you've seen the ancient paintings in France's Lascaux Cave, then you know "that their creators must have been as modern in their minds as they were in their skeletons" (Diamond 39–40).

Is the student text plagiarized?

No, it is not plagiarized.

Yes, because it fails to use quotation marks.

key idea

Plagiarism is the act of taking another person's work or ideas and presenting them as your own, either accidentally or on purpose. When you use an outside source in your own writing, you should make sure to cite the source in order to avoid plagiarism. Consider the following source:

The results of these experiments suggest that searching the internet may cause a systematic failure to recognize the extent to which we rely on outsourced knowledge. Searching for explanations on the internet inflates self-assessed knowledge in unrelated domains.

If you use a direct quotation in your writing, you must use quotation marks around the exact words that were copied from the source, in addition to citing the source.

red X symbol, Researchers have found that relying on the internet for information may cause a systematic failure to recognize the extent to which we rely on outsourced knowledge.

This sentence is plagiarized because it uses the source's exact words without quotation marks and without properly citing the source.

green checkmark, Researchers have found that relying on the internet for information "may cause a systematic failure to recognize the extent to which we rely on outsourced knowledge" (Fisher, Goddu, and Keil).

If you paraphrase a source, or put a source's ideas into your own words, you must still cite the source. Even if properly cited, a paraphrase that is too similar to the source in wording or sentence structure is still considered plagiarized.

red X symbol, According to Fisher, Goddu, and Keil, searching the internet can lead to a regular failure to perceive the extent to which we rely on outside knowledge.

This sentence is plagiarized because it is an insufficient paraphrase. Even though it is properly cited, it borrows too much of the source's wording and sentence structure.

green checkmark, According to Fisher, Goddu, and Keil, relying on the internet to look up information can make it difficult for us to estimate how much of our knowledge comes from internal versus external sources.

There are different rules about how to format citations, such as when to include page numbers for print sources. Check a style guide, such as the Modern Language Association (MLA) Handbook, for a complete list of these rules.

solution

The student text is not plagiarized. It correctly uses quotation marks and properly cites the source.

If you've seen the ancient paintings in France's Lascaux Cave, then you know "that their creators must have been as modern in their minds as they were in their skeletons" (Diamond 39–40).

Source: Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel, pages 39–40. Published by W. W. Norton & Company, 1997:

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R.3Use in-text citations (MLA 8th–9th editions)

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