GEN 100

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Plagiarism Quiz 1 I found some great writing on a web site. I cannot just copy and paste it into my essay or homework without a citation. That would be plagiarism. TRUE: quotation marks and a citation are required FALSE: copying is allowed if it is from a reliable source 2 I found some great writing on a web site. I will just copy and paste it into my essay or homework. I will put quotation marks around all the copied text. That is all I need, I do not need to give a citation. TRUE: so long as you show it is a quote, nothing else is needed FALSE: you need to add other things to make a full citation 3 It is OK to copy text from a book or web site without a citation, so long as I paraphrase. If I change any of the words, it is not plagiarism. TRUE: a paraphrase is your own words, no citation needed FALSE: a paraphrase is still using another person's ideas 4 I found a new term on a web site I visited: “cognitive dissonance.” It means having two or more ideas in your head which cannot all be true. It is a commonly used expression, but I have never heard it before. I will use that in an essay, but I will not mention where I found it or give a citation. This is OK. TRUE: it is a term; like any vocabulary, no citation needed FALSE: it is a term someone else made, so it must be cited 5 I read an article by a psychologist named Howard Gardner. In it, he described a theory he created called “Multiple Intelligences.” The theory says that intelligence is not just one ability, but is divided into many different talents, such as “language intelligence,” “musical intelligence,” and so on. I will explain this theory in my essay, but I do not have to say who created it or where I found it, or give a citation. This is OK. TRUE: it is a popular idea, so no citation is needed FALSE: it is a specific idea created by someone, so you must cite 6 My five-paragraph paper is due tomorrow, and I cannot finish it in time. I only can write two paragraphs. I have a better chance at a higher score if I just copy three paragraphs off the web and hand it in like that. TRUE: my teacher will probably not notice FALSE: my teacher will notice and I will get a severe penalty 7 I was asked to write an essay in my class this semester. It is very similar to an essay I wrote last year. I cannot just change the class and dates at the top and hand in my old essay. Even if it is my own writing, resubmitting the same work is plagiarism. TRUE: every new assignment must be unique, I can't copy myself FALSE: if it is my own work, I can use it however I want 8 I am writing an essay on the United States government. I did not know that the Vice President’s name is Mike Pence. I had to look that up. However, that is common knowledge, so I do not need to add a citation to show where I got the information. TRUE: it is common knowledge FALSE: I didn't know it, so it must be cited 9 My friend came up with a great idea about how we could change the LUJ registration system to make it better. She explained the idea in detail. My friend is not a researcher or famous in any way, so I can use her idea without citing the source. TRUE: only researchers and serious writers must be cited FALSE: anyone must be cited 10 I learned a fact from a TV show last year. I want to use that fact in an essay I am writing. However, I can’t remember the name of the TV show, or when it was broadcast. Because a citation is impossible, I don’t have to write anything. I will just state the fact without a citation. That is OK. TRUE: it is information that I just know FALSE: if there is no source, the accuracy cannot be judged 11 I copied and pasted text from a web site into my essay. Even though I did not think it was plagiarism when I did it, it is still plagiarism, and I will be penalized. TRUE: it is plagiarism even if you don't think it is FALSE: the teacher will understand that you did not intend it 12 I quoted someone, but I did not use quotation marks or give a citation. However, it was a mistake: I intended to make those changes, but I just forgot. Because it was a mistake, it is not plagiarism and I will not get a penalty. TRUE: you should not be penalized for a mistake FALSE: if that's accepted, everyone would plagiarize with the same excuse 13 It is OK if someone else writes my essay, so long as I pay them for it. TRUE: you would own it, it would be yours FALSE: you must write all of your own assignments 14 I want to use an image of the planet Jupiter. The image was taken by NASA. Photographs by NASA are in the “public domain” (they have no owner), therefore I do not need to give a citation for it. TRUE: it is not owned by NASA, so no citation is needed FALSE: citation is not about ownership, it is about authorship 15 I want to use material written by a professional writer. I contacted the writer and asked for permission to use it. The writer said it was OK. It is still absolutely necessary to cite the author in my paper and correctly quote exact text. TRUE: even with permission or ownership, the original author must be cited FALSE: the writer gave me permission to not use a citation 16 I have information which I want to use in my essay. I am not sure if it is necessary to cite it or not. Therefore, to avoid trouble, I will not make a citation. That is the best way. TRUE: if you make a citation, you might make a mistake FALSE: you should always cite or ask a teacher if you are not sure 17 I wrote an essay with an idea I thought of. After I wrote my essay, but before I turned it in, I discovered that another person had had the same idea. My idea was original, but I should at least note the pre-existing idea in my text and cite it. TRUE: it would be safer, and it would add support to your thesis FALSE: I got the idea without help, the teacher will believe me 18 I want to use two paragraphs of information from a book. I was able to summarize the information in two sentences. It now looks completely different. I do not need a citation. TRUE: the words are yours so you don't need to cite FALSE: the idea is someone else's so you must cite 19 I found some information on a web site. It was just a personal blog, not a professional or academic web site. However, I still must make a citation. TRUE: it doesn't matter if it is unprofessional FALSE: unprofessional and unreliable information should not be cited 20 I want to use several paragraphs from another student’s essay. The other student gave me permission. This would not be plagiarism. TRUE: the student volunteered, and it just helping FALSE: you must write everything yourself 21 I want to use several paragraphs from another student’s essay. The essay is more than 7 years old. This would not be plagiarism. TRUE: older information is not owned, so no citation is needed FALSE: it could be 1000 years old, you still must cite it 22 My Persuasive Writing teacher asked me to write an essay. By coincidence, my Philosophy professor asked me to write a very similar essay this semester also. I will write one essay, and hand it in to both teachers. This is OK. TRUE: it is an original writing, so I am OK FALSE: every assignment must be unique 23 John F. Kennedy famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” That is a really famous quote. Therefore, I do not need to use quotation marks around it. TRUE: everyone knows it, they will understand FALSE: exact text from someone else must always be in quotes 24 John F. Kennedy famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” That is a really famous quote. Therefore, I do not need to give a citation for it. TRUE: this is common knowledge, no citation needed FALSE: you have to cite President Kennedy 25 I was doing my homework with my friend. She had the better answers, so we mostly used her answers for both our homework assignments. It was just 4 out of 10 answers. Therefore, it is OK. TRUE: if it is less than half, it is OK FALSE: you cannot copy even one answer from another student 26 I was doing grammar correction homework with my friend. I made a mistake on two of the problems. My friend noticed them, and told me where I made mistakes, but did not give me the answers. Now, our answers are exactly the same. However, my friend was just helping me, and I did not see her work. Therefore, it is OK. TRUE: if the friend gave me no answers or text, it is OK FALSE: I cannot get any help on any assignment 27 I paraphrased my source by replacing about half the words.
That should be good enough. I will give a full citation, and the teacher will accept my paraphrasing. TRUE: the paraphrase is significantly different FALSE: you cannot just change some of the word 28 I paraphrased my source by replacing as many words as possible.
That should be good enough. The teacher will not cite me for plagiarism. TRUE: All new words means no plagiarism FALSE: If the words are still in the same order, it might be plagiarism 29 I paraphrased my source by changing as many words as possible, and I changed the sentence structure and order. That should be good enough. TRUE: Yep! FALSE: Still not good enough! I hate my teacher! 30 Any information, ideas, summaries, paraphrases, or quotations taken from someone else must be given a clear citation to show its source. TRUE: this is the definition of good citation FALSE: it's too much work, I'd rather not