Plagiarism Quiz

  • Mary finds the following relevant passage for her paper:
          In 2007, the paleontologists Brian Roach and Daniel Brinkman of the Yale Peabody Museum reviewed the available evidence and determined that the case for pack-hunting Deinonychus was not so straightforward. Rather than working together, Roach and Brinkman hypothesized, the dinosaurs competed with each other, and the Deinonychus carcasses at the site were individuals killed in the struggle for the meaty Tenontosaurus. Naturalists have observed similar behavior among modern Komodo dragons--each lizard is working in its own interest, even as multiple animals gravitate toward the same carcass.

    She rephrases it as follows:
          Paleontologists think that Deinonychus, the raptors commonly referred to as Velociraptors, may not have hunted in packs. Instead of working together the dinosaurs competed with each other for the same prey. This is similar to Komodo dragons, where many animals will work for their own interests, while moving towards the same carcass.
  • Industry at a Glance imageSam finds this diagram for their presentation on the fruit and vegetable industry in the United States. They plan to use the diagram in the slideshow accompanying their presentation, because they feel it shows price trends and market segmentation in an interesting and easy to understand way. Sam crops this diagram, thinking that the logo and marginalia will take away from the other information on their slide. They use it for their presentation without citing it.

    After their presentation, they receive feedback from their instructor that they should have attributed the diagram, cited the article or website where they found the diagram, and mentioned the source in their presentation.
  • Ada is working on a paper for her environmental science class about the ecological impact of the loss of pollinators due to pesticide use and environmental encroachment.

    She is not sure what sort of resources she should include in her paper to specifically meet the requirements of her assignment, and is unsure who to ask.
  • In a class last semester, Vincent and his classmates examined several speeches, including John F. Kennedy’s famous inaugural address. In a different class this semester, the final project involves taking a well known text (including speeches, scripts, plays, books, poems, etc.) and analyzing the language used in it.

    Vincent intends to compare JFK’s inaugural address to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1933 inaugural address. Vincent knows he should cite FDR’s address, but is unsure about JFK’s address, because so many people are familiar with it that it may be considered common knowledge.