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Comic: Plagiarism

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What is plagiarism anyway? In today's blog post, here's a comic about what plagiarism is, and how to avoid it.

Narration: Sometimes I think people view plagiarism like an unseen horror movie monster: they know it's bad and should be avoided, but aren’t clear on the specifics. Image: There is a red question mark centered in the center of the page. Around it, is text that states as follows:”Plagiarism is: stealing? Not using quotes? Bad. It’s Def Bad!”
Panel 2: Narration: This is Understandable: What does stealing an idea even look like? Image: A man with pale skin wearing a black and white striped shirt, a black domino mask, and a black hat, is running away. He is dressed to look like an classic bank robber. He is holding under his arm an empty thought bubble. Robber Speech Bubble: “You’ll never catch me copyright lawyers!” Panel 3: Narration: Webster’s defines “Plagiarize” as “to steal and pass off (the ideas or works of another) as one’s own” “without crediting the source” Image: A larger man with brown skin, short hair and a tank top points up at the narration bar. Man’s Speech Bubble: Oh hey! A citation!
Narration: Sounds simple enough. Credit others for their work. Image: A man with dark brown skin and dreads, wearing a long sleeved shirt, gestures to a fat woman with curly gray hair, a long sleeved shirt, a skirt and some jewelry. She looks confused, scratching the back of her head. Gesturing Man speech bubble: Behold! My source! Confused women speech bubble: This seems excessive…
Panel 5: Narration: But like many things in life, the devil is in the details. Image: A horned demon, which looks like a mix of a goat, and a dragon with three eyes, clawed hands, sharp teeth and a pointed tail spreads their arms in delight. They hold a red pitchfork and wear a white suit with a yellow tie. Behind them is fire.
Panel 6: Narration: It can be shockingly easy to plagiarize unintentionally. Image: A woman with light brown skin and brown/blonde hair in a ponytail gestures to a pile of empty thought bubbles. She wears a green blouse and blue jeans and looks defensive and confused. Standing across from her is an older bald man with dark brown skin, simple glasses, and a mustache. He is wearing a suit with a yellow tie and belt. His hands are on his hips. Woman’s Speech bubble: I don’t know where these uncited sources came from! Older man’s Speech bubble: That’s what they all say!
Panel 7: Image: A picture of Rebecca, a librarian, with pale skin, dark brown curly hair, and glasses speaks to the viewer. Speech Bubble: I think the best way to explain what is and isn’t plagiarism is to provide examples.
Panel 1: Narration: So let’s start with some common examples of plagiarism: Image: Rebecca chases after a humanoid cat, who is dressed as a cat burglar. The cat is gray, wearing a little black hat, with light gray fur that darkens like a cat burglar mask over their eyes. The cat is holding a speech bubble where the text is obscured by their arm, and the end of the speech bubble looks ripped. One of Rebecca’s speech bubbles includes only the tail, implying the cat stole her original speech bubble and is running off with it. The cat is labeled as “The Copycat Plagiarist” Rebecca speech bubble: My speech bubble! Cat speech bubble: Mine now!
Panel 2: Image: Rebecca is in the background, clearly irate, her hands stretched out. Her speech bubble is once again missing with only the tail remaining. In the foreground, the cat is speaking to the viewer. He holds a hammer, and his own speech bubble features two wooden boards that connect the tail and the bubble itself. Narration: Most folks know that copying someone’s words directly is plagiarism. Cat Speech Bubble: For example, copying and pasting text directly from Wikipedia. Panel 3: Narration: But it’s also plagiarism to take someone’s words and just change a few words or change the order (2). Image: Rebecca and the cat are facing each other. Rebecca looks irate and the cat is looking up, innocently. Their respective speech bubbles have highlighted text showing where the cat is taking text from Rebecca. Rebecca’s Speech Bubble 1: If it’s someone else’s idea or thoughts, it still needs a citation.” Cat’s Speech bubble 2: “It still needs a citation if it’s someone else’s concept or outlook.”
Panel 4: Narration: The best way to avoid both these issues is a proper citation. But what does a proper citation look like? Image: A man with brown skin, short brown hair, a blue tank top, and 5 o'clock shadow, shrugs in the middle of the panel, surrounded by question marks.
Panel 5: Narration: First, when using information from a source, you should cite it. These often are in the reference section. Image: A piece of paper that says “References” at the top of the page is shown, with a warm glow behind it, showing its importance. Panel 6: Narration: But the reference section isn’t the only step: when we paraphrase, quote, refer to or use ideas from a specific piece of work, we need to show readers which reference we’re using. That’s where in-text citations come in. Images: In the background, the cat looks bored, staring into the distance. In front of him, Rebecca holds out her hand to cut him off and yells. Cat speech bubble: “Lame” Rebecca Speech Bubble: “Quiet You!”
Panel 7: Narration: (There are a variety of citation styles but they all have the same purpose. Fields tend to have a citation style they prefer.) Image: A fashion runway is shown, with a red curtain in the background and stereo speakers. On the runway, the letters MLA are shown wearing clothing like a crown, jeans, shoes and a scarf.
Panel 8: Narration: In-text citations help us match a piece of information to its source. Image: A woman with light brown skin, and red hair, wears a detective outfit including a deerstalker. Behind her is a whiteboard with red string connecting various post-it notes, centered around the text “it’s connected”
Panel 9: Narration: Think of in-text citations like a map that can guide a reader to the original source. It allows folks to retrace the author’s steps. Image: A picture of a map is shown, with four land masses, a boat, and a giant octopus tentacle. There is a dotted line that connects a subscript 1 to a big red X.
Panel 10: Image: Rebecca speaks to the audience. Rebecca Speech Bubble: So how do we use in-text citations? Whenever talking about or using a specific source, add an in-text citation
Panel 11: Narration: When using a direct quote, also include quotation marks so readers know what is another person’s work and what isn’t (2). Image: A split panel is shown. On the left, is the cat, speaking to the audience, with the label of “wrong” next to him. On the right, Rebecca is shown speaking to the audience, with the label of “right” next to her. Cat speech bubble: “They said it is critical to use proper citations.” Rebecca speech bubble: “They said “It is critical to use proper citations (15).”
Panel 1: Narration: In-text citations also should be used for images, especially graphs or charts. Image 1: Three different kinds of graphs are shown: a pie chart, a line graph and a bar graph. There is also a picture of a skull with text under it that states “diagrams too!”
Panel 2: Image: Rebecca and the Cat are standing behind a wall. The cat is leaning on the wall looking frustrated, one arm raised up. To his right, Rebecca responds to him. Cat speech bubble: So I have to cite everything!? Who am I supposed to cite for basic stuff like “water is wet and I don’t like it!” Rebecca speech bubble: No, of course not. For two reasons! Panel 3: Narration: The first part “water is wet” is what we would consider common knowledge (4). Common knowledge includes facts that most people would know without looking them up. Image: In the narration, there is a little pop out bubble of Rebecca’s face to denote she is narrating. In the image, the cat, no longer humanoid, looks disgruntled as it sits under a rain cloud.
Panel 4: Narration: So a fact like “diseases can be caused by germs” doesn’t need a citation to ward off the ghost of Louis Pasteur. Image: A person with dark skin and long hair sits at a desk, looking at a computer. An exclamation mark is above their head. Above them, the ghost of Louis Pasteur floats, with his arms crossed. Ghost speech bubble: “Excuse me?!” Panel 5: Narration: The second reason is “I don’t like it” is your personal opinion you don’t need to cite yourself.* Image: Rebecca is shown trying to shove a closet door shut. Rebecca Speech Bubble: “However if you’re using something you previously published, that’s another story (and another comic).”
Panel 6: Image: The cat with his arms outstretched, yells at the audience. Cat speech Bubble 1: How am I supposed to remember all this?
Panel 7: Narration: By asking for help!There are guides for multiple citation styles in the library and online. Your librarian can also help with citation questions. Image: Rebecca speaks to the audience, gesturing to the list of floating words. The floating words are “zotero” “refworks” and “endnote” Rebecca Speech Bubble: “There are even programs made specifically to help manage citations.”
Panel 7: Narration: By asking for help!There are guides for multiple citation styles in the library and online. Your librarian can also help with citation questions. Image: Rebecca speaks to the audience, gesturing to the list of floating words. The floating words are “zotero” “refworks” and “endnote” Rebecca Speech Bubble: “There are even programs made specifically to help manage citations.” Panel 8: Narration: Just remember this tip. If you’re not sure, cite it! It’s best to give more credit than needed than to leave someone’s hard work unacknowledged. Image: Rebecca and the cat stand next to each other, glaring at one another. Rebecca holds a squirt gun which she is spraying the cat with. The cat is reaching off panel into the citations panel as if to steal one of the citations. Rebecca Speech Bubble: “Bad kitty!” Cat Speech Bubble: “Come on! I almost had it!”

Works Cited:

  1. “Definition of PLAGIARIZE.” Merriam-Webster. Published June 20, 2024. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarize
  2. Harvard College Writing Program, “What Constitutes Plagiarism?” Harvard University. Accessed June 7, 2024. https://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/what-constitutes-plagiarism-0
  3. University of Washington Health Sciences “Library AMA Style Guide: In-Text Citations.” University of Washington Health Science Library, University of Washington. Published March 1, 2024. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://guides.lib.uw.edu/hsl/ama/intext
  4. Purdue University, “Common Knowledge & Attribution - Purdue OWL®.” Purdue University. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/avoiding_plagiarism/common-knowledge_attribution.html
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