acknowledging sources and academic integrity: linguistics

Acknowledging Sources and Academic Integrity

Jody Bailey, Reference/Instruction LibrarianUT Arlington Central Library, Rm. 312

[email protected]

Adapted with permission from “Acknowledging Sources”:http://library.uta.edu/plagiarism/index.html

mailto:[email protected]

http://library.uta.edu/plagiarism/index.html

April 12, 2023 Jody Bailey 2

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.

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Pretest

http://libguides.uta.edu/LINGpretest

http://libguides.uta.edu/LINGpretest


What’s the point of a writing assignment? “Pair share” on this question!

• Discovering the dominant communication channels in linguistics and joining that scholarly conversation

• Finding and evaluating information sources

• Learning to think for yourself and express your ideas


Intellectual Property• “Intellectual property (IP)

refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.” (World Intellectual Property Organization, n.d.)

• In the U.S., all intellectual property is automatically copyrighted as soon as it is created.

• Acknowledging sources is thus mandatory.


What is plagiarism?

• “When you take someone’s words or ideas and represent them as your own, you commit plagiarism. Plagiarism is using the work of others but not acknowledging the source.” (“Acknowledging Sources” 2011)


Plagiarism: Cultural Differences?• Students from Other Cultures:

– “When you really don’t know how to write your own composition, you can use other person’s paragraph or sentences as a student.” (Shi 2006:275)

– “I want to use people’s expressions in English the same way because sometimes I have no other words. . . . I think [copying] a few words or a short expression is OK.” (Shi 2006:273)

• U.S. Academic Culture:– Scholars work for years on

articles and books and other research; if you use their words or ideas without attribution, it’s viewed as stealing.

– By not citing your fellow scholars, you are denying them public attribution for their work and hence hindering their scholarly advancement.


Examples of Plagiarism• Copying text from a website.• Copying a graphic element from a website.• Copying material from books or magazines.• Copying someone’s spoken words.• Copying a unique or distinctive phrase.• Changing the wording of a source slightly and not citing the source.• Buying or using a paper written by someone else.• Taking another person’s ideas and acting as though they are yours.• Copying someone’s computer program.• Including artwork or music in a project without getting permission or citing the

source.• Writing a paper for Professor X’s class and using it again for Professor Y’s class; this

is called “self-plagiarism.” (“Acknowledging Sources” 2011)You can use other people’s work in your own work as long as you give credit to the

original author.


Scholastic Dishonesty at UT Arlington

• See UTA’s Handbook of Operating Procedures, Subchapter STU 2-200: Administration of Discipline

https://www.uta.edu/policy/hop/stu/2/200




Effects of Plagiarism

• See UTA’s Handbook of Operating Procedures, Section 2-301, Authorized Disciplinary Actions

http://www.uta.edu/policy/hop/stu/2/300





Effects of Plagiarism for Students

• University expels 34 students for cheating: “Students not expelled were put on probation or suspended for an academic year, the second-harshest punishment, for offences such as plagiarism, or purchasing projects or papers and submitting them as their own.” (Khalaf 2010)

• Harvard Faker Adam Wheeler Pleads Guilty to 20 Counts: “indicted on 20 counts of larceny, identity fraud, falsifying an endorsement or approval, and pretending to hold a degree.” (Yu & Zauzmer 2010)

http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/education/university-expels-34-students-for-cheating


http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/12/16/harvard-wheeler-college-guilty/




Effects of Plagiarism: zu Guttenberg

• Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg: elected to the Budestag (lower house of German parliament) in 2002.

• “In February 2011, evidence was made public that Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg had copied numerous unattributed passages from sources such as newspaper articles, speeches or term papers in his dissertation.”

• Degree revoked in late February 2011.

• zu Guttenberg resigned from the Bundestag on March 3, 2011 (“zu Guttenberg” 2011).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl-Theodor_zu_Guttenberg



Effects of Plagiarism: Zakaria• One of Time’s 100 Most

Influential People in the World, 2011; contributing editor & columnist at Time; host of news shows on CNN and PBS.

• Accused of “lifting several paragraphs from a New Yorker magazine essay and using them in his Time magazine column” in August 2012.

• Suspended from Time and CNN for several weeks; reinstated after investigation found that this was “an isolated incident.” (“Zakaria,” 2012)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/fareed-zakaria-resigns-yale-board_n_1814199.html


Linguistic Society of America Ethics Statement

• “Linguists are subject to the standards of conduct found in other disciplines. They should practice honesty (e.g., by not plagiarizing or fabricating data) and carefully cite the original sources of ideas, descriptions, and data.” http://www.lsadc.org/info/pdf_files/Ethics_Statement.pdf

http://www.lsadc.org/info/pdf_files/Ethics_Statement.pdf


How to Avoid Plagiarism?


Linguistics Citation Style

• Language: Journal of the Linguistic Society of America, “Style Sheet”: http://lsadc.org/info/pubs-lang-style.cfm

• See also the “Unified Style Sheet for Linguistics Journals”: http://linguistlist.org/pubs/tocs/JournalUnifiedStyleSheet2007.pdf

http://lsadc.org/info/pubs-lang-style.cfm

http://linguistlist.org/pubs/tocs/JournalUnifiedStyleSheet2007.pdf

http://linguistlist.org/pubs/tocs/JournalUnifiedStyleSheet2007.pdf


Sample Citations(from Language “Style Sheet”)

• Journal article:Hale, Kenneth, and Josie White Eagle. 1980. A preliminary metrical account of Winnebago accent. International Journal of American Linguistics 46.117-32.

• Book:Dorian, Nancy C. (ed.) 1989. Investigating obsolescence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


Sample In-Text Citations

• “Give only a brief citation in parentheses consisting of the author's surname, the year of publication, and page number(s) where relevant: (Rice 1989) or (Yip 1991:75-6).”– “a. If a cited publication has more than two

authors, use the surname of the first author, followed by et al.”

– “b. If the author's name is part of the text, then use this form: Rice (1989:167) comments ...” (“Style Sheet,” Language)


What do I cite?

• Quotations? • Common knowledge?• Graphics, charts, tables?• Your original ideas?• Your original research

(e.g., surveys, experiments)?

• Paraphrases of others’ ideas?

YESNO

YES

NO

NO

YES


Tips for Quoting & Paraphrasing

• Quote accurately! • Paraphrase correctly; do not

use the structure or language of the original– Pretend to explain the source

to someone else– Summarize the source

without looking at it– If it’s too hard to paraphrase,

then quote!– Don’t just replace a word

here and there using a thesaurus!


Correct ParaphrasingSource:• “Currently, the two language

varieties employed by GCs [Greek-Cypriots] in their daily interactions are Standard Modern Greek (SMG) and the Greek-Cypriot Dialect (GCD). SMG is the official and prestigious language variety that is learnt through schooling and employed in formal environments and in writing” (Papapavlou & Sophocleous 2009).

Paraphrase: Which is better?• Greek-Cypriots speak both

Standard Modern Greek and the Greek-Cypriot dialect; the former is considered higher prestige and formality level.

• The two language varieties used by Greek-Cypriots in their daily life are Standard Modern Greek and the Greek-Cypriot dialect. Standard Modern Greek is more prestigious and official.


What do faculty do if they think someone has plagiarized?

• TurnItIn.com• Google/Google Scholar• Wikipedia• Linguistics databases


“How to Tell If You’re a Plagiarist”1. DID YOU WRITE IT? [Yes/ No]2. DID YOU CITE IT? [Yes/ No]ANSWER KEY• If you answered Yes, No, you are

an honest student.• If you answered No, Yes, you are

an honest student.• If you answered No, No, you are

a plagiarist.• If you answered Yes, Yes, that

doesn't even make sense.(Nolan, 2010)• http://gawker.com/5602360/ho

w-to-tell-if-youre-a-plagiarist

http://gawker.com/5602360/how-to-tell-if-youre-a-plagiarist

http://gawker.com/5602360/how-to-tell-if-youre-a-plagiarist


ReferencesACKNOWLEDGING SOURCES. 2011. University of Texas at Arlington Library. Online: http://library.uta.edu/plagiarism/index.htmlFAREED ZAKARIA RESIGNS FROM YALE UNIVERSITY'S GOVERNING BOARD. 2012. Huff Post College. Online: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/fareed-zakaria-resigns-yale-board_n_1814199.htmlHANDBOOK OF OPERATING PROCEDURES. 2012. University of Texas at Arlington. Online: https://www.uta.edu/policy/hop/KHALAF, HALA. 2010. University expels 34 students for cheating. The National. Online: http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/education/university-expels-34-students-for-cheatingLINGUISTIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA. 2009. Ethics statement. Online: http://www.lsadc.org/info/pdf_files/Ethics_Statement.pdfNOLAN, HAMILTON. 2010. How to tell if you're a plagiarist. Gawker. Online: http://gawker.com/#!5602360/how-to-tell-if-youre-a-plagiaristPAPAPAVLOU, ANDREAS and ANDRY SOPHOCLEOUS. 2009. Relational social deixis and the linguistic construction of identity. International Journal of Multilingualism 6.1-16.SHI, LING. 2006. Cultural backgrounds and textual appropriation. Language Awareness 15.264-282.WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION. What is intellectual property? Online: http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/YU, XI, and JULIE M. ZAUZMER. 2010. Harvard faker Adam Wheeler pleads guilty to 20 counts. Harvard Crimson. Online: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/12/16/harvard-wheeler-college-guilty/KARL-THEODOR ZU GUTTENBERG. 2011. Wikipedia. Online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl-Theodor_zu_Guttenberg

http://library.uta.edu/plagiarism/index.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/fareed-zakaria-resigns-yale-board_n_1814199.html

https://www.uta.edu/policy/hop/



http://www.lsadc.org/info/pdf_files/Ethics_Statement.pdf

http://gawker.com/

http://gawker.com/

http://gawker.com/

http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/



Posttest

http://libguides.uta.edu/LINGposttest

http://libguides.uta.edu/LINGposttest

acknowledging sources and academic integrity: linguistics

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