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Biology 120 Natural History
Plagiarism and Copying
Students new to college often do not fully understand plagiarism. Briefly, plagiarism is the representation of another person's work, words, thoughts, or ideas, as one's own. Plagiarism includes copying material and using ideas from sources without proper acknowledgement. Plagiarism also includes sentences that follow an original source too closely, often created by simply substituting alternative text for another person's words.
In this course plagiarism (copying without acknowledgement) and copying (with or without acknowledgement) are not allowed. All work must be original and written in your own words. Clearly, you are not creating information; you are reporting on the work of others. However, you must rewrite information from your sources in your own words and acknowledge your sources in the References section of your exams.
How to avoid plagiarism and copying
First, it is more likely that a student will copy or plagiarize if they procrastinate and are pressed for time in order to meet the deadline for submission of an exam. Start early.
When reading the online text and lectures and the sources you are using, take handwritten notes just as you would do in an in-class setting. Do not "take notes" by the copy-paste technique because it leads to using these passages as you write your reports. Instead, try to rewrite the passages as you read them, the first step in adding originality.
Use multiple sources for each subtopic of your answers and, again, take brief notes in your own words for each source. Organize your notes by topic. This is easily done by using index cards that can later be organized along the theme of your answers.
Write your final exam questions from your handwritten notes and, again, rewrite (again) and expand these notes in your own words. Check your work against your sources for accuracy, but do not add material or wording copied from your sources.
Finally, on a printout of the exam assignment cross out each area of each question and each sub-topic that you have addressed in your paper. Too often, all parts of the assignment are not addressed and points are lost for an incomplete answer. Read your finished paper out loud to yourself and make edits as necessary. You also may want to have someone read your exam for readability, grammar and flow.
Turnitin.com
Exams are submitted to Turnitin which will compare your work to an unbelievably large database of student papers and published reports, articles and books. When you submit your assignments, Turnitin highlights the sections of your assignment that match materials in their database. They are awesome (read evil) at finding copied material. Each source is highlighted in a different color and a link is provided to the original source. I will see your paper with these sections highlighted.
Following are examples of what I would see for assignments submitted to Turnitin when copying occurs.
Submitting another's work, word-for-word, as one's own
SOURCE
A Natural Setting: A History of Exploration and Settlement in Yosemite Valley
Since its first discovery by non-indigenous people in the mid-nineteenth century, Yosemite Valley has held a special, even religious, hold on the American conscience because its beauty makes it an incomparable valley and one of the grandest of all special temples of Nature. While Yosemite holds a special grip on the western mind, perceptions about the Valley have evolved over time due to changing politics, migration patterns and environmental concerns as man has become more attuned to his relationship and impact on nature.
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STUDENT SUBMISSION
A Natural Setting: A History of Exploration and Settlement in Yosemite Valley
Since its first discovery by non-indigenous people in the mid-nineteenth century, Yosemite Valley has held a special, even religious, hold on the American conscience because its beauty makes it an incomparable valley and one of the grandest of all special temples of Nature. While Yosemite holds a special grip on the western mind, perceptions about the Valley have evolved over time due to changing politics, migration patterns and environmental concerns as man has become more attuned to his relationship and impact on nature.
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Contains significant portions of text from a single source without alterations
SOURCE
A Natural Setting: A History of Exploration and Settlement in Yosemite Valley
Since its first discovery by non-indigenous people in the mid-nineteenth century, Yosemite Valley has held a special, even religious, hold on the American conscience because its beauty makes it an incomparable valley and one of the grandest of all special temples of Nature. While Yosemite holds a special grip on the western mind, perceptions about the Valley have evolved over time due to changing politics, migration patterns and environmental concerns as man has become more attuned to his relationship and impact on nature.
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STUDENT SUBMISSION
The Beautiful Yosemite Valley
From the time of its first discovery by non-indigenous people in the mid-1800s Yosemite Valley has held a special, even religious, influence on the American conscience because its beauty makes it an incomparable valley and one of the grandest of all of our national parks. And Yosemite holds a special grip on the western mind, while perceptions about the Valley have developed over time due to changing politics, migration patterns and environmental concern as humans have become more sensitive to their relationship and impact on nature.
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Paraphrases from multiple sources, made to fit together
SOURCE
A Natural Setting: A History of Exploration and Settlement in Yosemite Valley
Since its first discovery by non-indigenous people in the mid-nineteenth century, Yosemite Valley has held a special, even religious, hold on the American conscience because its beauty makes it an incomparable valley and one of the grandest of all special temples of Nature. While Yosemite holds a special grip on the western mind, perceptions about the Valley have evolved over time due to changing politics, migration patterns and environmental concerns as man has become more attuned to his relationship and impact on nature.
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STUDENT SUBMISSION
An Untouched View: A History of Settlement and Change in Yosemite Valley
The first non-natives to see Yosemite Valley were probably members of the mid-nineteenth century Joseph Walker Party, who crossed the Sierra Nevada from East to West. The first descriptions of Yosemite came almost 20 years later. From the start, the valley has been renowned for its natural beauty, and highly regarded as he center-piece of Yosemite National Park, attracting visitors from around the world. While Yosemite holds a special grip on the western mind, perceptions about the Valley have evolved over time due to changing politics, migration patterns and environmental concerns as man has become more attuned to their relationship and impact on nature.
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