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Avoiding Plagiarism Table of Contents
Plagiarism
Citing Sources
Paraphrasing
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Comments on Thor's Try
Here's what Thurber wrote: "If the patient and devoted English bloodhound is a plainclothesman, the German shepherd is a harness bull. Until six years ago, eight or more German shepherds trotted beats, each accompanied by a police officer, over in Brooklyn. The canine cops had all been presented to the Brooklyn Police Department by private citizens, but they gradually died off, or were retired, and finally no new ones appeared to take their place. They were highly proficient, perfectly trained dog cops, and they brought many a felon to justice. This squad of Brooklyn flatpaws contained one policewoman named Peggy, whose record was just as good as that of the males." ³
Here's what Thor wrote: There were some German Shepherd police dogs in Brooklyn who were highly proficient, perfectly trained dog cops, and they brought many a felon to justice. Uh-oh. Thor plagiarized Thurber in the most barefaced way. He simply copied phrases out of Thurber's prose and put it in his own paragraph without giving Thurber any credit at all. He could improve the situation a bit by putting quotes around the words that came directly from the selection and citing Thurber, like this: There were some German Shepherd police dogs in Brooklyn who were "highly proficient, perfectly trained dog cops, and they brought many a felon to justice" (Thurber 279). Give it another try, Thor.
Here's what Pascha wrote: According to James Thurber, approximately eight German shepherds walked a beat, together with police officers in Brooklyn. They were given as gifts by people, but when they died off, they weren't replaced (Thurber 279).
³ Thurber, James. Thurber's Dogs. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1926. |
