Plagiarism Vs. Paraphrasing (4th Entry)

Credits to: Onosaka yuha ©

I still remember my first day of class at AUI. That was the day where I first heard the word plagiarism in my grammar class with Mr. Brian Seilstad; he has given us a commitment to sign where it was written: “If I’m caught plagiarizing I will automatically fail this course, and I understand that a report will be sent to the L.C Director as well”. Since then, I understood the ethics of being a student at the university and the loyalty of the academic honesty.

The best way to avoid plagiarism is to write our own ideas in our own words; nevertheless, if we want to use others ‘ideas that is still possible thanks to paraphrasing. In order to use others ‘ideas, we have to give credits to the authors by quoting them and not changing their ideas but just expressing them in a different way. We should know that even paraphrased sources must be cited. However, in some specialized fields such as science, law or business, it can be considered acceptable if the used ideas are not well paraphrased because the technical terms are considered as common knowledge.

Plagiarism is originally derived from the Latin word plagiarius (‘i.e kidnapper’); it’s undoubtedly the most common expression of academic fraud. Plagiarism is taking someone’s ideas without giving him credits to his work. It is manifested by copying a passage directly from an article, a book, an online source… without using quotation marks and clearly citing the credits in parenthetical documentation in the paper itself and on the reference page. Furthermore, even paraphrasing can be considered as  plagiarism when taking someone’s ideas and  expressing them in our own words but not respecting the paraphrasing rules, such as not using quotation marks appropriately or forgetting to cite the name of the author between parenthesis at the end. Fortunately, Plagiarism can easily be checked using some plagia-checkers such as Turnitin.com that has a huge database which guarantee to the authors who make effort writing the authenticity of their work.

Talking about punishments, plagiarism as any kind of cheating may result in severe academic penalties such as university dismissal or class failure or semester off depending on the academic honesty rules of each institution.

         Finally, to avoid involuntary plagiarism while working in a research and writing, we have to keep careful notes that constantly distinguish three types of material: our ideas, our summaries, conclusions and paraphrases of others’ ideas and facts, with their exact source phrasing (Modern Language Association, 2003) .

Works Cited Guidelines

• For more information about works cited pages, see your handbook.
• For more documentation samples, see “MLA and APA Documentation” on the drop down menu at http://lrc.nwfsc.edu. Click on “How to Write MLA Documentation of Electronic Sources.”  See the Adobe files halfway down the screen for examples of various online databases.
• The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University also has additional help at http://owl. english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/.

"Originality is undetected plagiarism."
William Ralph Inge



by Chibi BlackDoom©



by djRimzi©



       

            by xgracefulphoenixx©

Evaluating a Book (3rd Entry)

 

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island."
Walt Disney



Evaluating a book is not an easy task, and the methods of this evaluation may vary depending on the language, the culture, or the intellectual habits of each reader.  

After going through the article “How to Read a Book” written by “Paul N. Edwards” and first published in 2000 then revised in 2005 by the School of Information in the University of Michigan, I tried to understand each described step of the cited process carefully to not misunderstand any step. As it is mentioned at the end of the article, and as Paul N. Edwards’s experience shows, the techniques stated in the article should be practiced for a considerable amount of time before the reader get used to. However, even though reading in the passive way (reading the whole book from the beginning until the end…) is the most popular way of reading, I think that it’s never too late if we want to change our way of reading and to adapt an effective new way that will make us get the most out of non-fiction reading (textbooks, manuals, journal articles, academic studies…)

ð  To sum up, here is a summary for the reading techniques cited by Paul N. Edwards:

1.     Decide how much time you will spend reading the book (depending on the number of pages and the level of its language.

2.     Have a strategy and an aim (Why reading the book? And How to do so?)

3.     Question about the content of the book, in order to not get bored.

4.     Read the book three times: (Manage the reading time by dividing it into 10 time slots)

4.1.   Overview (1/10 Total Time): Read quickly, mark the phrases that seem important, generate questions.

4.2.    Detail (6/10 Total Time): Read carefully and critically, Focus on the beginning and the end of the chapter, Try to answer the generated questions from the 1^st reading.

4.3.   Notes (3/10): Make notes about the ideas you got from the two previous readings, Write down the conclusions and the evidences using software such
as
Endnote.

5.     Focus on the parts that contain a lot of information (Table of contents, Index, Abstract, Conclusion, Pictures…)

6.     Mark the most important part of your reading with a personal
text
markup
language (PTML).

7.     Gather some information about the author and the publisher to know the intellectual context.

8.     Take break while reading, and try to question your unconscious mind about what you have learned and what you still have to learn.

9.     Finally, talk to your friends and your professors about what you have read to rehearse.

Credits: TheMorbidHobbiest © 

Evaluating a Jounal Article (2nd Entry)

-The full MLA reference of the article is: MCKENNA, JOHN. "Rabat attracts renewables interest." MEED: Middle East Economic Digest 55.8 (2011): 38-39. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. Web. 19 June 2011.

The author of this article McKenna John has published many articles in the MEED (Middle East Economic Digest) related to sustainable energy in the Middle East. His article “Hydro plans slow to materialise”¹ reports on the slow progress of Iran's plans to develop its hydropower sector with the Bakhtiari Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant; likewise, his article “Riyadh's feedstock dilemma.”² informs that Saudi Arabia is planning to expand its energy generating capacity extensively to meet the growing demand of electricity. This article was published by MEED (Middle East Economic Digest) the leading source of business intelligence. First launched in 1957, MEED delivers weekly exclusive detailed features, (Trade Publication) comprehensive analysis of business and political events and market-leading special reports on core project sectors such as construction and oil and gas, as well as on emerging sectors such as aviation and telecoms.

The text "Rabat attracts renewables interest." was published in 2/25/2011. In our research paper, we will use this text for current information.  The intended audience of this text is researchers, scholars or experts in the field with an important amount of knowledge in the field.

The purpose of the article "Rabat attracts renewables interest" is to report the future plans of Morocco concerning generating 40% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

The author gets his information from MEED Projects; MEED Projects is a premium online subscriber service that tracks projects over US$50m across the Middle East and North Africa.There is no bibiliography and no footnotes. The author refers to primary material.

Now that we have assessed the source of the article "Rabat attracts renewables interest" in more detail, I think that it is a useful source that provides us with important and recent information in the field of business and economy. This article will help us discuss the impact of sustainable energy on the Moroccan economy.

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1.     MCKENNA, JOHN. "Hydro plans slow to materialise." MEED: Middle East Economic Digest 55.12 (2011): 26-27. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. Web. 19 June 2011.

2.     MCKENNA, JOHN. "Riyadh's feedstock dilemma." MEED: Middle East Economic Digest 55.15 (2011): 40-41. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. Web. 19 June 2011.

My Research Topic (1st entry)

Morocco's Ministry of Tourism  ©

         This blog is basically created to write down some reflections about my Information Literacy class and especially the research paper that represents 25% of the total grade. Because we are in a summer semester, I am running against time so the only choice I have is to make wise and fast steps to move forward hoping to earn an “A” and most importantly gain an interresting experience in my academic life as well.

As a first entry regarding my research paper, I will try to let you know briefly about the topic I chose and the reasons why I chose it.

Choosing a topic for a research paper seems easy, but I think that it’s the most crucial step in writing a research paper. After hours of hesitation, and after talking to some friends that have already done research papers in their past courses, I wrote down several topics that I was interested in such as “Nano-Technology in Morocco”,” The impact of video games on teenagers”, and “Soccer Professionalism in the Moroccan Championship”.. Finally, I ended up choosing “Sustainable Energy in Morocco” as the topic of my research paper, but after about one week my teammate and did not find enough new and reliable sources because this is a brand new field in Morocco. Consequently, and after talking to our professors we agreed on "Sustainable Tourism in Morocco" as a topic of our research for the following reasons: 

After the phosphate industry, tourism is the second largest foreign exchange earner in Morocco. Because of its strategic location close to Europe, its beautiful landscapes, its tradition, history and culture, Morocco has been attracting an increasing number a tourists. The Moroccan government invests a lot a of money in tourism to promote the tourism industry. Moreover, sustainable tourism is the involvement of local communities in the tourism activities. After searching in the library's electronic databases, we found some interesting journals & books that may help us discuss sustainable tourism in Morocco and its impacts on local communities.To conclude this first entry, I hope that with the help of our instructors Ms. Cheryl & Dr. Minnie through the semester, we will learn how to a good research paper; and by the end of the semester we will be able to do a great job with which we will earn our “A”!! ^^

  Our thesis statement is:
     

           - The purpose of this study is to increase reader’s knowledge of sustainable tourismin Morocco (the plans that Morocco has opted to improve its socio-economic situation,  the impacts of these plans on local communities. To accomplish this goal, first of all, an introduction of the history of tourism in Morocco is presented. Secondly, a definition of sustainability in tourism is described be reporting the plans. In conclusion, the positive and negative impacts of the new tourism on Morocco, its customs, and its local communities are highlighted.

The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds.

John F. Kennedy

Ouzoud Waterfalls
 captured by Yassine Gaimes ©

Welcoming message !! ^^

    
     Hi web surfer ! I'm a 19 Moroccan undergraduate student of computer science at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane.

My first blog was hosted in Skyrock.com, I used to generally upload pictures and videos but rarely articles; however, it was a good blogging experience. The main purpose of my current blog (i.e the blog you are visiting right now ^^) is to share my ideas and my thoughts in different fields mainly the ones that interrest me the most.

All what is uploaded in this blog is basically made for sharing. I am very interrested to know what you think about my writings. So, feel free to comment any article ! ^^

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