Question

read the following excerpts. (a) is a paragraph taken from an original article. in (b), the writer has plagiarized. study the two examples, and decide which type of plagiarism is being used. then indicate how the writer could avoid plagiarizing.
(a) cell phones should be banned from schools because they promote cyber bullying. according to the i - safe foundation, an internet safety education group, cyber bullying is alarmingly common among adolescents and teens, with one in three young people having experienced online bullying firsthand.
source: \cyber bullying statistics,\ bullyingstatistics.org. stop bullying, harassment, and violence, 2009, www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber - bullying - statistics.html.
(b) many students use their cell phones as tools to bully other students. as the i - safe foundation explains, cyber bullying is dangerously common among kids and teens, with one in three young people having experienced cyber bullying firsthand. these statistics need to be changed.
in (b), the writer has plagiarized by:
changing the original source slightly (a word or two) and failing to provide a citation
copying an entire passage word for word and passing the work off as his or her own
how could the writer avoid plagiarizing? check all that apply.
put a reference to the original source on a works cited page at the end of the paper.
put the text in quotation marks; no other citation is necessary.
put the text into his or her own words and cite the original source.
directly quote the text and cite the original source.

Explanation:

In (B), the writer has plagiarized by changing the original source slightly (a word or two) and failing to provide a citation. The original text in (A) mentions "Cell phones should be banned from schools because they promote cyber bullying" and (B) changes it to "Many students use their cell phones as tools to bully other students". Also, the source "I - SAFE foundation" is used in (B) without proper citation as per the source given for (A).

For avoiding plagiarism:

• Putting a reference to the original source on a works cited page at the end of the paper is a good practice as it gives credit to the original author.
• Putting the text into his or her own words (paraphrasing) and citing the original source is correct. Paraphrasing shows understanding and proper citation gives credit.
• Directly quoting the text and citing the original source is also a valid method. Quotation marks indicate the exact words of the original author and the citation gives the source.

Putting the text in quotation marks without any other citation (like an in - text citation or a works cited entry) is not sufficient as it does not fully credit the source.

Answer:

In (B), the writer has plagiarized by: Changing the original source slightly (a word or two) and failing to provide a citation.

How could the writer avoid plagiarizing?

• Put a reference to the original source on a works cited page at the end of the paper.
• Put the text into his or her own words and cite the original source.
• Directly quote the text and cite the original source.