Incorporating Borrowed Material

And Complying with Fair Use

 

The Doctrine of Fair Use allows for writers to use protected work as long as the original authors are given proper credit. However, giving proper credit alone does not necessarily constitute compliance with Fair Use and therefore the writing can fall into the realm of plagiarism.

 

  1. Close paraphrasing of an original work can constitute inadvertent plagiarism. Close paraphrasing occurs when you merely rearrange phrases from the original and/or merely substitute synonyms for the original words. For example:

 

Protected original wording: “Our first attempts to write academically can be challenging; there are so many new rules to follow and the style is so formal that it is difficult for our voices to come through.”

 

Infringement of fair use: To write academically can be challenging at first because the style is so formal, and there are so many rules to follow that we have difficulty in getting our voices to emerge.

 

Correct incorporation: Because academic writing is so different from other styles, it can be hard to adopt its formal style without losing our own voice.

 

  1. Use of more copyrighted material than is necessary can result in a “patchwork” of protected material from others and little material from your own ideas and connections. Thus your voice fails to emerge because you do not explain the borrowed material or illustrate its significance in supporting your point. Instead, you try to allow the borrowed material to “speak for itself” or you allow other authors to speak for you. Either method violates the Doctrine of Fair Use, regardless of proper attribution and documentation, and can constitute plagiarism; if few of the words are your own, you have not written anything.

 

  1. Quoting an author when paraphrasing is just as effective often results in unnecessary wordiness that adds nothing to the discussion and can be distracting to the reader. Using too many quotes also is distracting and also violates the Doctrine of Fair Use. Many academicians advise that no more than 10% of your document should consist of quoted material.

 

Avoiding improper incorporation:

 

  1. Clearly identify the beginning and ends of any borrowed material with tag-lines and in-text citations, respectively. In-text citations close paraphrased and quoted material. A tag-line is a phrase that introduces the author of the original material incorporated. A tag-line should appear frequently to insure that the reader can differentiate between your voice and that of your sources. Although quotation marks encompass direct quotes, you must introduce quotations using a tag-line as well. Keep in mind:
    1. The authors’ last names in the in-text citations and tag lines should match the names used alphabetically in the works cited.
    2. The authors named in the works cited should appear in a tag-line and/or parenthetical citation.
  2. Brief summaries that identify broad, overall ideas from an article or document generally do not require page numbers in the attribution.
  3. Paraphrased sections must include the authors’ last names and the page number/numbers (never more than two consecutive pages at a time).
  4. Quotations must be grammatically correct within the sentence in your document. You may use ellipses to indicate missing material in the middle of a quotation, but the part of the quotation used must make explicit sense to the reader.
  5. When no author is apparent, the title will substitute in the tag-line and in-text citation.