ShmoopTube

00:04

[Dino and Coop singing]

00:13

When you write a paper, it’s not enough to just say you know something. [Guy stating a fact in class]

00:17

You have to be able to prove it! [He is asked to prove it and walks away]

00:18

How do you prove it?

00:19

By doing research, and then citing your sources! [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

00:22

Oh, and word to the wise?

00:24

Your uncle’s Thanksgiving rant about taxes is not a reliable source for your paper on [Uncle waving a chicken drumstick at dinner]

00:28

U.S. economic policies.

00:30

Anyway, here’s the deal about research and citations: if you don’t do your research,

00:35

you won’t be taken seriously. [Guy holding up 'I didn't research' sign and dressed as a clown]

00:36

And if you don’t cite your sources, you’re committing a crime. [Kid being interrogated by a policeman]

00:39

Yup…you could be a hardened criminal by the time you graduate high school.

00:42

…Okay, maybe not hardened. [Kid being thrown into a cell]

00:44

Like…soft boiled, at best. [Coop with a hard boiled and runny egg]

00:46

But if you quote someone else’s words or even just use some or all of someone else’s ideas… [Student looking at Shakespeare's work in class]

00:52

… that’s called plagiarism.

00:54

And it’s not great.

00:55

Plagiarism is stealing, plain and simple. [Uncle Bob says "Just like taxes."]

00:59

It’s using someone else’s words or ideas and pretending they’re your own.

01:02

And it doesn’t matter if you got it from a book or website or anywhere else. [Someone copying and pasting text into their paper]

01:06

It’s still a crime and there’s a good chance you’ll get caught. [Policeman appears behind the computer]

01:08

Think about it – you’d never steal someone else’s cell phone and pretend it belongs

01:11

to you, right?

01:13

By the way, does it seem strange to you that Superman’s email is “clarkkent@dailyplanet.net”? [Girl running with a phone]

01:18

…Not that…we took his phone…. Okay, but seriously – plagiarism: Don’t [Lightbulb over a boys head is stolen]

01:23

even think about it.

01:24

College students have failed their assignments… [College student with a halo gets an F for his assignment]

01:26

… lost scholarships… … and even been expelled – or officially

01:29

kicked out of school – all because they were caught plagiarizing. [A big shoe kicks the student of the college]

01:32

Think about it – you’d never steal someone else’s cell phone and pretend it belongs

01:35

to you, right?

01:36

Whoops.

01:37

Guess we're plagiarizing ourselves. [Girl looks confused]

01:38

Luckily, there’s a way to avoid plagiarism: it’s called “giving credit where credit is due.” [Guy says "I would like to thank myself" and tomatoes are chucked at him]

01:43

And you do that on a “Works Cited” or “Bibliography” page.

01:46

Whether you’re writing a paper for middle school, high school, or, yes, even college… [Students working at computers]

01:50

… you’ll always include a works cited or bibliography page in order to give credit [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

01:54

to all the places you quoted or got ideas from.

01:58

Now if you'd excuse us, we have to return a certain superhero's phone to him…turns

02:02

out he gets a lot of emails about saving the world, and that ain't our scene. [Superman's phone with a text asking him to wash the dishes]

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