Econ 480—Senior Seminar

Handout:  Understanding what constitutes plagiarism

 Most people understand the concept of plagiarism in its most egregious form—that is, directly copying the work of someone else without attributing its source.  Examples of this include cutting-and-pasting from a webpage and buying a paper online.  But more subtle plagiarism must also be avoided in order to preserve academic and intellectual integrity.

 Mosaic plagiarism is when someone summarizes an author’s work in a way that retains the character and substance of the original author’s argument and/or uses particular phrases that come from the original material.

Read the following passage:

Whatever the circumstances for establishing an independent central bank may be, the maintenance of its independence requires supporting societal preferences. An independent central bank facilitates the emergence of anti-inflation lobbies by way of imposing hard budget constraints, which force financial intermediaries to internalize the costs of risky lending and thus allocate credits efficiently. Efficient allocation of resources, in turn, drive inefficient enterprises out of the market, helping reduce both budget deficits and thereby the pressures for monetary expansion. (p. 459)

footnote: Taken from Neyapti, B. (2003). Budget deficits and inflation: The roles of central bank independence and financial market development. Contemporary Economic Policy, 41, 458-481 

Here is an incorrect summary of this passage:

Supporting societal preferences must be in place for a central bank to maintain its independence.  Such a central bank can impose hard budget constraints, thereby generating political support for its anti-inflation policies.  Financial intermediaries will lend to efficient enterprises, forcing inefficient enterprises out of the market, reducing the budget deficit and therefore the impetus for monetary expansion.

footnote: Taken from Neyapti, B. (2003). Budget deficits and inflation: The roles of central bank independence and financial market development. Contemporary Economic Policy, 41, 458-481

IMPORTANT NOTE:  This is plagiarism even if you include a footnote at the end of this paragraph indicating that it is from Neyapti (2003, p. 459).  You can quote the passage directly, but be judicious when using direct quotes:  a paper with all quotes cannot receive a passing grade because you haven’t done your own analysis.  Summarize or paraphrase the passage correctly and then include a footnote.    For more information on plagiarism and how to summarize correctly:

http://www.depauw.edu/admin/arc/writing_center/plag.asp
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_quotprsum.html

For more information on how to do citations, consult:
http://www.depauw.edu/admin/arc/writing_center/document.asp
http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/apa/index.html
http://www.liunet.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citation.htm