Plagiarism 1 Responses: Not Plagiarism

Nice try!

Actually, though, this IS an example of plagiarism for the following two reasons:

• First, it’s not really paraphrased. Paraphrasing is putting an idea into your own words. In this case, the writer just swaps a few words for synonyms or changes around a couple of phrases. That’s not an acceptable way to paraphrase, and it is considered plagiarism.

• The other reason this is plagiarism is that there is no citation provided. Even when you paraphrase instead of using someone else’s exact words, you still must cite your source.

Here’s how we could correct this example to make it a true paraphrase and prevent plagiarism:

Correctly Paraphrased and Cited:

According to Jane Addams (1911), the influx of young people into the cities as a result of industrialism created an additional problem; for the first time, young women left the safety of their homes and began to work for employers they did not know (p. 5).

Addams, J. (1911). The spirit of youth and the city streets. New York, NY: MacMillan.