APA and Avoiding Plagiarism

Department of Social Work UMD Fall 2009 Compiled by Anne Tellett

Overview

APA
In text citations Reference list General rules There are a variety of styles for citing materials, the Department of Social Work requires the use of APA

Avoiding Plagiarism
What it is Paraphrasing
Properly citing the works of others that you have used provides credit to those who have created the work. It also provides your reader with a trail to find sources that they may want to read and learn about themselves

The Department of Social Work has required writing guidelines which can be found at:
http://www.d.umn.edu/sw/StudentResources.html
Student Resources /Frequently Asked Questions/ Writing Resources

There are also links to a variety of sources for writing assistance and APA information in this same section of our website

Citations using direct quotes

(or in the case of online documents which dont have page numbers, a paragraph number is required). Example A Rhodes (1963) defines an englobe as a layer of colored clay applied to the surface of a piece of pottery to change its color (p. 160).

When citing a source with a direct quote, include author, date, and page number

Example B:

An englobe is a layer of colored clay applied to the surface of a piece of pottery to change its color (Rhodes, 1963, p. 160).

Example C (40 or more words in quote):

Rhodes (1963) discusses another approach to glazing:
An englobe, or a slip, is layer of colored clay applied to the surface of a piece of pottery to change its color or to add some decorative accent. There are many ways of developing, coloring, aging, and applying englobes. (p. 160)
but be sure to double space the quotation!

Citations without direct quotes

When citing a source without using a direct quote, include only author and date.

Example D Rhodes (1963) wrote extensively about using englobes to decorate ceramic works. Example E The use of englobes is one method of ceramic decoration (Rhodes, 1963).

Format for Citing Multiple Authors

2 authors cite both names (every time) separated by &. Example: (Day & Bye, 2000). 3-5 authors cite all authors 1st time (Falk, Raschick & Campbell, 2004); after that use et al. Example: (Falk et al., 2000). 6 or more authors cite first authors name and use et al. Example: (Shepard et al., 2004).

General APA Rules

What youre undoubtedly already doing

Using 1 margins on all sides Indenting each paragraph 1/2 (57 spaces) Double spacing the text Numbering each page Using 12-point font
Using a serif type face similar to New Roman or Courier

Times

References Format

Books

General format
Smith, E. B. (2004). Title of work: Often a subtitle goes here. Location: Publisher.

Book edition other than the first edition

Smith, E. B., & Jones, C. D. (2005). Title of book (5th ed.). Location: Publisher.

Edited Books
Edited

book with no authors

Davis, A.B. & Morgan, C.D. (Eds.). (2006). Title: Insert a subtitle here. Location: Publisher.
Edited

book with author

Smith, E. B.(2006). Title (A.B. Davis, Ed.). Location: Publisher.

Article or Chapter in Edited Book

*Single author and Editor
Smith, E. B. (2005). Title of chapter. In A. Davis (Ed.), Title of book (pp. 6775). Location: Publisher.

*Multiple authors and Editors

Smith, E. B., & Jones, C. D. (2005). Title of chapter. In A. Davis, B. Smith, & C. Rodriguez (Eds.), Title of book (pp. 7689). Location: Publisher.

Periodical in Reference List

Periodical
Jones, M. V. (2004). Title of article. Title of Periodical, 77, 101124. Smith, Q. R. (2003). Title of article. Title of Periodical, 28 (4), 2435.
In this example, the (4) is the issue number, which is included if each issue begins with page 1.

Note re: capitalization (and italics*)

Book titles and journal article titles have the following format:
Here is my title: A guidebook. or
Everything you wanted to know about APA: But wouldnt ask.
(Note it is not capitalized throughout, unless you have a proper name or its the first word after a : or -)

Journal titles are capitalized:

Journal of Strange Sightings and Bad Jokes.
* Also note which are or are not italicized

Internet sources

Let your reader know where to find the material you are citing and provide an accurate address

For full details go to the OWL at Purdue Writing Lab Materials @

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/

Citing Internet material

Some of the different types of online sources to be aware of: -Articles from an Online journal -Newspaper Articles -Electronic Books -Nonperiodical web document, web page or report -Government Report

For additional information on reference lists and in text citation

http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_o.html

General overview: Plagiarism

The following resource from UC Davis (2006) gives clear descriptions of plagiarism, why you should care and how you can avoid it, as well as examples of how to paraphrase correctly. While the document is from another institution the definitions of and consequences for plagiarism are in line with UMDs own polices. It should be noted that their advise when in doubt, cite ( Under Guidelines for avoiding plagiarism, 6)is very sound. It is unlikely that you will receive much in terms of point reductions for overciting, while not citing can result in serious consequences, which could include failing the assignment or failing the course (see UMDs Student code of conduct).

http://sja.ucdavis.edu/files/plagiarism.pdf

Three broad acts considered plagiarism

-failing to cite -failing to quote -failing to paraphrase correctly
(Hacker, 1998 as quoted in Duckart, 2007, 2) See the following link for Diana Hackers additional explanations on this:
http://www.humboldt.edu/~tdd2/Plagiarism.htm

Avoiding Plagiarism

Common Errors
Missing attribution ( author ) Missing Quotation Marks Inadequate Citation Paraphrase relies too heavily on source Distortion of meaning Missing Works Cited (References) entry Inadequate citation of images (Faigley, 2006,p. 231)

Additional resources
Is it plagiarism yet?
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/02/

Safe practices to avoid plagiarism

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/04/

References
American Psychological Association (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association ( 5th Ed.). Washington, D.C.: APA. Duckart, T. (2007). Avoiding Plagiarism. Retrieved October 19, 2009, from http://www.humboldt.edu/~tdd2/Plagiarism.htm Faigley, L. ( 2006). The brief Penguin handbook (2nd Ed.). New York: Pearson Education Inc. UC Davis (2006). Avoiding plagiarism: Mastering the art of scholarship. Retrieved October 19, 2009 from http://sja.ucdavis.edu/files/plagiarism.pdf ( dont forget to double space!)