Kinds of Plagiarism: Borrowing Directly (Word-for-Word) from a Source

When you use the exact words of an outside source, you must put quotation marks around those words. They indicate that the words did not come from you. In addition, you must acknowledge that source with a citation.

Original Wording [from Flores et al., 2010]: “Insecticides are sometimes used to kill virus-transmitting aphids. But incorporating resistance into snap beans is considered a more sustainable approach.”

Not Plagiarism: “Insecticides are sometimes used to kill virus-transmitting aphids. But incorporating resistance into snap beans is considered a more sustainable approach” (Flores et al., 2010).

Quotation marks and a citation are present. By using quotation marks, the student is showing that the words are not his/her own. The citation shows from whom the words were borrowed. However, the exact wording of this pair of sentences is not a compelling example of an incidence where a direct quotation should be used in academic writing. In this case it would be better to rephrase the wording and cite the source instead of using a direct quotation.

Plagiarism: Insecticides are sometimes used to kill virus-transmitting aphids. But incorporating resistance into snap beans is considered a more sustainable approach.

The lack of quotation marks indicates that these are the student’s own words. The lack of citation indicates that the idea did not come from a source outside the student. However since the sentences were actually those of Flores and his colleagues, this statement is plagiarism.

Plagiarism: Insecticides are sometimes used to kill virus-transmitting aphids. But incorporating resistance into snap beans is considered a more sustainable approach (Flores et al., 2010).

Even though the student acknowledges that the idea comes from an outside source by including a citation, this is still plagiarism. The lack of quotation marks indicate that the words are the student’s own when they are not.

Reference

Flores, A., S. Yao, and J. Suszki. 2010. Help for the common bean: Genetic solutions for legume problems. Agric. Res. 58:8–10. https://agresearchmag.ars.usda.gov/2010/may/bean/ (accessed 7 Jan. 2018).