VOA教育报道2022--如何避免剽窃

How to Avoid Plagiarism¹

In the digital age, it has become easy for students to find and copy published material. But copying another person's writing without giving them credit can get students into big trouble.

Copying another person's writing without giving them credit is called plagiarism.

Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster says the word "plagiarism" comes from the Latin word plagiarius. It means "kidnapper²." But now we use it to describe someone who steals words rather than children.

In the United States and other Western countries, universities have rules for avoiding plagiarism. But learning to correctly follow these rules can be difficult for some international students.

Intellectual property

Why do universities and publishers care so much about copying even very small parts of someone's writing?

American copyright law protects original works of authorship including books, movies, music, images and artworks. It also extends protection to computer software and architecture. The owner can sell the work or permit others to use it.

The idea is that copyright helps society make progress. If people can make money by owning their creations, called intellectual property, then more people will want to create original works.

The law permits the unlicensed use of copyrighted works, called fair use, for activities including criticism, comment, news reporting, education and research. However, there are some limitations.

In education, students can include a very small part of copyrighted works in their writing and research if they provide credit, or citation³, to the original creators.

Many universities, such as Harvard, even urge students to give credit to information or sources of ideas they get from conversations with professors or other students. Harvard even warns students about copying themselves. That is, they cannot hand in the same work for more than one class without the permission of their instructors⁴.

A failure to do so is considered plagiarizing⁵.

How can professors know if a student is plagiarizing?

Just as it is easy to copy, it is also easy for professors to know if a student has plagiarized⁶.

First, there are computer programs that compare students' papers to large databases of published writing. The programs can identify whether students have copied published writing. Second, if English is not a student's first language, a professor might recognize a change in vocabulary and writing style. This could bring more attention to the student's paper.

The punishment for plagiarism can vary. Professors could simply warn a student not to do it again, lower their grade, or they may fail the student in that class. In more extreme cases, a student may be temporarily banned or expelled from school.

Cultural differences

Some international students in the U.S. struggle to avoid plagiarism and learn the rules of citation. Part of the difficulty is due to cultural differences.

Some cultures do not have a long historical and legal tradition of protecting intellectual property. In these cultures, knowledge has been considered something common to everyone, without ownership. In others, copying is seen as showing respect for the writing and thinking of experts rather than themselves.

If English is not a student's first language, sometimes, finding words to express complex ideas could be difficult. Thus, copying becomes the way the students try to express their ideas.

Steven Horowitz is a professor of Legal English at Georgetown Law in Washington, D.C. In an email to VOA Learning English, he said, "I've talked with students from Middle East cultures who have explained to me that they often are not expected to cite because a lot of things they quote are so familiar to everyone that there is no need or expectation of citing."

Horowitz said, "I know on occasion some international students will use quoted text... because they feel like their own words can't do justice to the meaning in the quoted text and feel like it's not their place to suggest alternative text."

"It's often a challenge to explain to international students the need for citation even in sentences when you don't use quoted text," he added.

Tools to avoid plagiarism

There are free tools to make citations⁸ easier for students and to avoid plagiarism. Zotero is a free, open-source program that helps organize all the research a student may use. For example, it can automatically create citations and combine them into a list. The Purdue Online Writing Lab, or Purdue OWL⁷ for short, is another free resource.

Many universities also have writing centers where students can learn the citation rules. And another way for students to learn how to avoid plagiarism is to read published papers and pay careful attention to how information is presented. Students should observe when and how citations are used. This can help them learn the rules of citations.

Finally, remember that in educational, or academic, writing, it is better to cite too much than too little.

Words in This Story

original -adj. never having been done or created before, not a copy of something else

authorship -n. indicating that a person is the creator of a work

citation -n. an indication of a source or reference from which words or ideas have been copied

style -n. a particular design or pattern or way of doing things

grade -n. a score or rank teachers assign to students for their coursework, such as a percentage or letter ranking

quote -n. a copy of the exact words someone has written or spoken

do justice to -v. give enough respect to or fully⁹ explain

alternative text -n. other words used to express the same idea

1 plagiarism   

n.剽窃，抄袭

参考例句：

• Teachers in America fight to control cheating and plagiarism.美国老师们努力对付欺骗和剽窃的问题。
• Now he's in real trouble.He's accused of plagiarism.现在他是真遇到麻烦了。他被指控剽窃。

2 kidnapper   

n.绑架者，拐骗者

参考例句：

• The kidnapper was shot dead then and there by the armed policeman.绑架者被武装警察当时当地击毙。
• The kidnapper strangled the child with a piece of string.绑票的人用一根绳子把这孩子勒死了。

3 citation   

n.引用，引证，引用文；传票

参考例句：

• He had to sign the proposition for the citation.他只好在受奖申请书上签了字。
• The court could issue a citation and fine Ms. Robbins.法庭可能会发传票，对罗宾斯女士处以罚款。

4 instructors   

指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The instructors were slacking on the job. 教员们对工作松松垮垮。
• He was invited to sit on the rostrum as a representative of extramural instructors. 他以校外辅导员身份，被邀请到主席台上。

5 plagiarizing   

v.剽窃，抄袭( plagiarize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was accused of plagiarizing his colleague's results. 他被指控剽窃同事的成果。
• Moderates are plagiarizing his ideas in hopes of wooing voters. 温和派为讨好选民在盗用他的观点。 来自辞典例句

6 plagiarized   

v.剽窃，抄袭( plagiarize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The poem employs as its first lines a verse plagiarized from a billboard. 这首诗开头的几行抄袭了一个广告牌上的一节诗。 来自辞典例句
• Whole passages of the work are plagiarized. 那作品整段整段都是剽窃的。 来自辞典例句

7 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

8 citations   

n.引用( citation的名词复数 )；引证；引文；表扬

参考例句：

• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Some dictionary writers use citations to show what words mean. 有些辞典的编纂者用引文作例证以解释词义。 来自辞典例句

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。