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You can read or listen to this article about plagiarism. The author explains what plagiarism is and why it is wrong. It also gives you ways to avoid plagiarism and how to give credit to others. These ideas will help you avoid plagiarism when you research and write a report.

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Chris just found some good stuff on the Web for his science report about sharks. He highlights a paragraph that explains that most sharks grow to be only 3 to 4 feet long and can't hurt people. Chris copies it and pastes it into his report. He quickly changes the font so it matches the rest of the report and continues his research.

Uh-oh. Chris just made a big mistake. Do you know what he did? He committed plagiarism (say: PLAY-juh-rih-zem). Plagiarism is when you use someone else's words or ideas and pass them off as your own. It's not allowed in school, college, or beyond, so it's a good idea to learn the proper way to use resources, such as websites, books, and magazines.

Plagiarism is a form of cheating, but it's a little complicated so a kid might do it without understanding that it's wrong. Chris should have given the author and the website credit for the information. Why? Because Chris didn't know this information before he came to the website. These aren't his thoughts or ideas.

Plagiarism Steals Ideas

The word plagiarism comes from a Latin word for kidnapping. You know that kidnapping is stealing a person. Well, plagiarism is stealing a person's ideas or writing. You wouldn't take someone's lunch money or bike, right? Well, someone's words and thoughts are personal property, too.

What should Chris have done? He should have written down the name of the website and the name of the person who wrote the article. Then he could have added it and given credit to the source.

Teachers have different rules on how you list sources. Sometimes, you provide a list at the end of a report. Other times, a teacher might want you to list the source immediately after the information you took from that source. Or you might just make it part of the sentence (for example: "According to the National Institutes of Health, breathing secondhand smoke can cause problems for kids with asthma.").

All this shouldn't make you nervous to use websites, books, and other sources. It's great that you can get information from experts on stuff you don't know much about. You just have to make sure to show where the information came from. If you do that, you're in the clear.

It's not always easy to tell what's plagiarism and what's not. Sometimes, it's accidental - you really intended to do your own work, but instead ended up with some sentences that sound just like something you've read. You might not be doing it intentionally, but if you don't identify the original source, you're risking a lot of trouble.

So even if you put the information into your own words, you still should list the source. Ask yourself, "Would I know this if I hadn't read it on that website or in that book?" If the answer is no, list the source.

Plagiarism Is Lazy

Though plagiarism can be accidental, it's sometimes done on purpose and that's just being lazy. By copying whole paragraphs from different places, a kid doesn't have to spend the time thinking about the subject, gathering his or her own thoughts about it, and then putting it into original words. Cut, paste, and you're done.

But this is a shortcut that will probably catch up with a kid, even if he or she doesn't get caught for plagiarism. It's important for kids to be able to research a subject, think about it, and then come up with something interesting to say. This skill is important in elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and beyond. A kid who just lifts an entire report won't get the practice needed to become good at this.

Ask yourself, "Am I using this to avoid doing my own work? Is it easier just to copy this?" If the answer is yes, beware. You just might be plagiarizing.

What Happens if I Plagiarize?

Most schools are pretty strict about plagiarism. If you're caught, you can wind up suspended or worse. At the very least, you're probably going to fail the assignment. When you're older and in college, some schools will expel students who plagiarize. To be expelled means to be kicked out. And when you're kicked out of one college, it can be hard to get into another.

Also, when you apply for a job someday you want to be able to say, "I graduated from Supersmart University in 2020." You don't want to have to explain how Supersmart University kicked you out!

Avoiding Plagiarism

To be on the safe side, always make it clear where the information comes from. Your teacher will tell you how to do this. Sometimes, teachers ask kids to write a bibliography (say: bih-blee-OG-ruh-fee). That's a list of the sources you used for a project or report. To do that, you'll need to know the author, the title, and the date it was published. For instance, if you did a report on giraffes, you could give credit to an author this way:

Smith, Hazel B. "All About Giraffes." 2005.

But your most important guide on sourcing is your teacher. Different teachers will have different rules. If you're confused, ask questions to make sure you understand what your teacher expects. And if you write something really great about sharks or any other topic, maybe someday someone will be quoting you in a report!

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Chris just found some good stuff on the Web for his science report about sharks. He highlights a paragraph that explains that most sharks grow to be only 3 to 4 feet long and can't hurt people. Chris copies it and pastes it into his report.

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Class code: listen1596
BrainPop is an excellent resource for videos about plagiarism and citations. This video explains plagiarism with examples from Moby and Tim. The more we learn about plagiarism the better we will be at citing our resources.

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Flickr- Ways to Avoid Plagiarism by Charlie Haskell

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Flickr- Ways to Avoid Plagiarism by Charlie Haskell

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Charlie Haskell uses this infographic to give us some examples of plagiarism. He also gives is ways to credit the author for the information. We can use Charlie's examples for our own work in class.

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Flickr- Dos and Don'ts of Digital Citizenship By Meacher Teacher

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Flickr- Dos and Don'ts of Digital Citizenship By Meacher Teacher

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This infographic gives us things to do and not to do in order to be a good digital citizen. Part of good digital citizenship is giving others credit when we use their work in our writing. This means we do not plagiarism and we do use citations to give credit for our resources in class.

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Digital Citizenship Dos and Don'ts Sketchnote

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This resource gives us a definition for a digital citizen, infographics about being a good digital citizen, and a link to a video about being a good digital citizen. All of these resources help us with our research and writing by becoming better digital citizens.

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Copy Of Digital Citizen - Lessons - Tes Teach

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Digital Citizenship Resources - Mrs. Fox's Class.Digital Citizenship - Lessons - Tes Teach.Digital Citizenship.Digital Citizenship & Safety

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Wonderopolis gives us a video and an article about a copyright. This information is important to know because we do not want to use things that have been copyrighted without permission. It is also important to know how about fair use of something that is copyrighted. We need to look for the copyright symbol when we are searching for things on the internet to use in our work.

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Do you ever make homemade cards for your friends and family members for special occasions, such as birthdays or anniversaries? A short paired with an drawing can make someone's day and turn into a they'll treasure forever.

After you give your homemade card to a loved one, you probably don't give it much thought. But what if that person made copies of it and started to sell them on the Internet? What if people loved your words and so much that they paid thousands of dollars for copies of your work?

Would you feel like that money rightfully belonged to you? Of course, you would! Who wouldn't? After all, you are the one who created it. And guess what? That money would belong to you thanks to the protections afforded to artists under copyright law.

Copyright law protects the creators of " works of authorship," which is a that covers many different forms of , including poems, stories, books, songs, paintings, sculptures, dances, and more.

Those drawings you made in art class? That paper you wrote for your English class? That rap you made up with your best friend? Those are all examples of " works of authorship," and you automatically own the copyright to your creations.

But what exactly does it mean to own the copyright in your creations? Copyright law gives authors of works the to make or distribute copies of their work or to perform or display their work publicly. Authors also enjoy the to make " derivative works," such as adapting a work to another type of .

Copyright law makes it illegal for others to do these things without an author's permission. Authors regularly grant others permission to do these things, usually in exchange for some type of payment. For example, the author of a book may sell to a movie studio the to make a movie of his or her book.

There are a few exceptions to and limitations upon copyright law. The primary limitation is a doctrine known as "fair use." Fair use allows copying of copyrighted material as long as it is done for a limited and " transformative " purpose. This usually takes the form of commenting upon, criticizing, or parodying an artistic work. Fair use usually arises as a defense to a copyright , and courts must balance many factors when deciding whether a particular use was fair use or not.

Unlike a patent, which is an intellectual property protection that an must file for, copyright protection attaches automatically to a creative work as soon as it is put into form. That means as soon as ink hits paper, paint hits canvas, or words are typed into a word processor, copyright protection exists. In other words, a patent protects an , whereas copyright protects the expression of that .

Does a creator of an work enjoy copyright protection forever? Not quite! In most instances, copyright protection exists for the life of the creator, plus 70 years. After that time, the work passes into the public domain and can be freely used by anyone. Examples of works that are now in the public domain include Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and the "Happy Birthday" song.

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Do you ever make homemade cards for your friends and family members for special occasions, such as birthdays or anniversaries? A short paired with an drawing can make someone's day and turn into a they'll treasure forever. After you give your homemade card to a loved one, you probably don't give it much thought.

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Get Epic- Finding Information By: Kristine Spanier

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Get Epic- Finding Information By: Kristine Spanier

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Make sure to log into GetEpic with our Class Code hbd5191
This is a digital book about how we can find information, choose our resources, and use the information found. We need to make sure we give credit to those that have created the resources. This will be helpful when we research for our writing.

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Author - Kristine Spanier, MLIS

Finding Information features reading tips for teachers and parents, a table of contents, a Take Action! activity, compelling questions.

Read this Book on Epic!

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online access fun thousands children great kids ebooks books

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Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

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Author - Kristine Spanier, MLIS Finding Information features reading tips for teachers and parents, a table of contents, a Take Action! activity, compelling questions. Read this Book on Epic!

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YouTube: Citation for Beginners by Imagine Easy Solutions

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YouTube: Citation for Beginners by Imagine Easy Solutions

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This is a video about how to cite your resources. This gives you step by step instructions for including information. It gives you a definition for plagiarism and how to avoid it. It also gives you a checklist to help you cite those resources.

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YouTube: Don't Plagiarizzle- a rap song about plagiarism              by Mr. Scooter

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YouTube: Don't Plagiarizzle- a rap song about plagiarism              by Mr. Scooter

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This is a fun song about plagiarism. Mr. Scooter explains why plagiarism is not a good idea. He uses a student as an example of what not to do. This will help us remember to cite our resources and not just copy the information when we write.

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Don't Plagiarizzle - a rap song about plagiarism

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YouTube: Copyright & Fair Use (Elementary) by Mrs. Vandagriff

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YouTube: Copyright & Fair Use (Elementary) by Mrs. Vandagriff

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This video gives us information about copyright and fair use of information. They give us a definition of the copyright symbol. This is important information to know how we can use information from others. We should look for the copyright symbol to make sure to give credit to the ones that are creating our resources.

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YouTube: Copyright and Plagiarism for Kids by Shannon Bussell

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YouTube: Copyright and Plagiarism for Kids by Shannon Bussell

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This video is made for students to help them remember to cite their sources. It includes tips to help you give credit to the creators of your resources. It also includes a checklist for your citation. This will be helpful when we cite information in our writing.

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This article is from Kiddle's Kids Encyclopedia Facts. This a list of facts about copyrights and how resources are protected from being copied. We need to be careful when using information from others and make sure we give them credit for their ideas.

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A copyright is a law that gives the owner of a written document, musical composition, book, picture, or other creative work, the right to decide what other people can do with it. Copyright laws make it easier for authors to make money by selling their works. Because of copyright, a work can only be copied if the owner of the copyright gives permission.

When someone copies or edits a work that is protected under copyright without permission, the owner may sue for the value of the violation. Most such cases are handled by civil law. In more serious cases, a person who copies a work that is protected under copyright could be arrested, fined or even go to prison.

In most countries, authors automatically own the copyright to any work they make or create, as long as they do not give the copyright to someone else.

In most countries, there is no need to register the copyright, and some countries do not even have procedures to register copyrights. But, where registration is available, many authors register anyway, especially for works that are sold for money. That is because registration helps to prove that the copyright of a work belongs to a certain author.

If an author gets paid to make a work for someone else, the person who pays for making the work (for example, the author's employer) will often get to own the copyright instead of the author him/herself. For example, if a person working for a company like Microsoft creates a new computer software program at work, the Microsoft company would own the copyright.

Copyright laws usually protect owners of copyright beyond their lifetime, such as until 50 years after the author's death. In some countries this period has been extended to 70 years. When the period of copyright protection has ended, the written document, musical composition, book, picture, or other creative work is in the public domain. This means that no one owns the copyright and everyone is free to copy, use and change them without having to ask for permission or pay the owner.

Copyright does not prohibit all copying or replication. There is an exception to the rules of copyright, called fair use. This means that people can copy a very small amount of a work to use in reviews or in research reports. Limited copying for educational purposes could also be justified under the fair dealing exemption.

An example of fair use is when newspaper writers quote several sentences from a copyright-protected document to tell the story. Another example of "fair use" is when a university professor quotes several sentences from a copyright-protected book in a review of the book, or in a research report. Also, it is OK for a teacher to copy material onto a blackboard or an interactive whiteboard under this exception. And it is OK for students to copy that material into their notebooks or laptops.

Using copyrighted pictures in unpublished school work, as long as the source is cited (e.g. Google or Kiddle images) also falls under the rule of fair use.

According to the US Copyright law, making 10 copies or more is considered to be commercial, but there is no general rule permitting such copying. Indeed, making copies for commercial purposes is not fair use.

EU copyright laws recognise the right of EU member states to implement some national exceptions to copyright. Examples of those exceptions are:

photographic reproductions on paper or any similar medium of works (excluding sheet music) provided that the rightholders receives fair compensation;

reproduction made by libraries, educational establishments, museums or archives, which are non-commercial;

archival reproductions of broadcasts;

uses for the benefit of people with a disability;

for demonstration or repair of equipment;

for non-commercial research or private study;

when used in parody.

Accessible copies

It is legal in several countries including the United Kingdom and the United States to produce alternative versions (for example, in large print or braille) of a copyrighted work to provide improved access to a work for blind and visually impaired people without permission from the copyright holder.

Different countries have different copyright laws. Most of the differences are about:

whether or not the government's work falls under copyright,

how much longer copyright lasts after the author dies or after the work is created or published, and

what is and what is not fair use.

Because of these differences, a certain piece of work may be under copyright in one country, and in the public domain in another.

Creativity

Some people argue that copyright laws make it easier for people to make new works and think of new ideas. After all, if authors get to make money for the time, effort and money they put in, then they will want to make more works later, and make more money.

But others believe that copyright laws make it harder to be creative. Without copyright, other people could reuse existing work, and copyright law often stops that.

Publisher control

If an author wants to sell a work, it's often easiest to give the copyright to a publisher. The publisher will do all the selling, and in return for that service, will keep part of the money. But the publisher has many different things to sell, and they may not want to sell the work the author made. Authors often find it very hard to find a publisher willing to sell their work.

But without a publisher, it can be even harder for an author to sell his or her work. In many markets, a few big publishers own the copyrights to almost everything available, and stores will not want to sell works published by small authors themselves. Many people say copyright law helps big publishers stay in control, and keeps smaller authors out of the market. ( tragedy of the anticommons).

Open content

As a solution to these problems, groups of authors have come up with the idea of open content. With open content, authors give everyone permission to copy, change and give away or sell their works, as long as they follow certain rules. These rules are explained in an open content license. Some possible open content rules are:

1. If a person changes the work, or if a person makes a new derivative work based on it, they must give the original author credit (they must say who wrote it).

2. If a person publishes the changed or derivative piece of work, they must let others use it under the same free license.

3. Under some licenses, a person cannot sell the piece of work or use it to make money.

The term for Open Content is sometimes Copyleft.

Related pages

Images for kids

European output of books before the advent of copyright, 6th century to 18th century. Blue shows printed books. Log-lin plot; a straight line therefore shows an exponential increase.

The Pirate Publisher-An International Burlesque that has the Longest Run on Record, from Puck, 1886, satirizes the then-existing situation where a publisher could profit by simply copying newly published works from one country, and publishing them in another, and vice versa.

A copyright symbol embossed on a piece of paper.

In Spanish: Copyright para niños