11 Misrepresentation: Copying and Pasting
Copying and Pasting
It is okay to use other information to support your arguments as long as you quote, paraphrase or summarize properly and cite your sources. However, copying and pasting whole chunks of information is poor scholarship and does not reflect any learning or understanding on your part. This will get you a very poor grade, even if you cite your sources. If you do not cite at all, this is also plagiarism.
Plagiarism due to copying and pasting includes:
- The Clone: directly copying and pasting an entire passage (or multiple passages) from one or from multiple sources, without citing. No original thought is added; the passages taken are word-for-word identical to the source.
- The Mosaic: directly copying and pasting passages from a single source, or from multiple sources, omitting credit, and mixing it with some original thought.
-
- Copy, Paste, Replace: Copying and pasting passages (from one or from multiple sources) then replacing a few words or mixing it around to make it sound different. Even if some original thought is added, the structure and language will largely resemble the original sources.
Plagiarism due to copying and pasting also includes:
-
-
- Reusing (or “borrowing”) a specific structure that someone else created without acknowledgement.
-
For example, using a template, outline, form, the exact same headings, same number of sentences, and covering exactly the same concepts of a sample report given to you by your instructor (unless explicitly permitted by your instructor).
