Is It Plagiarism? Taken from Bowling Green University Libraries

Is It Plagiarism? Taken from Bowling Green University Libraries

Instructions For each question, use the paragraph provided as the original source, and then determine whether the student work cites the passage properly or whether it represents plagiarism. Consider correct use of quotations, summary, paraphrase, and citation. The answers may surprise you! The paragraph is taken from an original source [Trevelyan, G. M. (1963). England in the Age of Wycliffe, 1368-1520. New York: Harper and Row. (Original work published 1899)]

Passage The demand for personal freedom, which had been the chief cause of revolt, was for the moment crushed. The Parliament of November gratefully confirmed the King’s repeal of the liberating charters. A unanimous vote of county and town members together contradicted all rumours that the emancipation of the serfs was seriously considered by Parliament. The Rising had failed. But the process of manumission, which had been going on for so long, continued steadily during succeeding generations. Under the Tudors the last remains of serfage were swept away, and in James the First’s reign it became a legal maxim that every Englishman was free. It must remain a matter of opinion whether this process was accelerated or retarded by the Peasants’ Rising; it is impossible to apply hard facts to the solution of such a problem. (Trevelyan, 1899/1963, p. 253)

Question 1 Student paper: The events that followed the Peasant’s Rising crushed the chief cause of the revolt: the demand for personal freedom.

Answer Plagiarism! The sentence uses identical language to that found in the passage from Trevelyan: “chief cause of the revolt” and “the demand for personal freedom.”

Question 2 Student paper: Trevelyan found it difficult to determine the effect that the Peasant’s Rising had on the development of freedom in England.

Answer Not! The sentence summarizes Trevelyan’s idea and cites the author, whose work will show up in the References List.

Question 3 Student paper: Although freedom did not come all at once for England’s serfs, George Trevelyan claims in England in the Age of Wycliffe, 1368–1520, that manumission “continued steadily during succeeding generations.”

Answer Not! Incorrect citation, though. The writer may be trying to cite the source in the text, rather than in the notes, and fails to include the page number. But since the writer does place the borrowed material in quotation marks and attempts to cite Trevelyan, the sentence does not represent plagiarism. However, poor citing in assignments will affect the grade.

Question 4 Student paper: According to George Trevelyan (1899/1963), a vote confirming the King’s repeal of the liberating charters “contradicted all rumours that the emancipation of the serfs was seriously considered by Parliament” (p. 253).

Answer Plagiarism! Although the writer correctly cites the material in quotation marks, the phrase “confirming the King’s repeal of the liberating charters” precisely tracks Trevelyan’s language but remains unattributed.

Question 5 Student paper: The idea that all Englishmen were born free did not become a common belief until the reign of James the First, according to Trevelyan (1899/1963).

Answer Not! The sentence summarizes Trevelyan’s claim and correctly indicates the source. When paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference, but APA guidelines encourage you to also provide the page number (although it is not required.)