Plagiarism, and how to avoid it
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| quoting | 引用原文 | yǐn yòng yuán wén |
| citation | 引用 | yǐn yòng |
| paraphrasing | 改写 | gǎi xiě |
| summarising | 概括 | gài kuò |
| reference list | 参考文献表 | cān kǎo wén xiàn biǎo |
The rule that surprises people
- In a western university, using someone's words or ideas without credit is an offence, not a formatting slip.
- The penalty can be a zero, a failed module, or expulsion — and "I did not know" is not a defence.
- GAC teaches it as content because the rule is cultural, and because breaking it unknowingly still counts.
Three ways to use a source, all cited
- Quoting 引用原文 uses the exact words in quotation marks, with a citation.
- Paraphrasing 改写 restates an idea in your own words and your own sentence structure — and still needs a citation.
- Summarising 概括 compresses a longer text to its main points, and needs a citation too.
Match each way of using a source to what it does.
All three need a citation. Only quoting needs quotation marks.
The citation is for the idea, not for the words. Students think paraphrasing removes the need to cite. It removes the quotation marks. The idea is still borrowed, so the credit is still owed.
A properly paraphrased idea does not need a citation.
Paraphrasing removes the quotation marks, not the debt. The idea is still borrowed.
What a real paraphrase looks like
Source: "Rising sea temperatures have accelerated coral bleaching across the Great Barrier Reef since 2016."
- ✗ Increasing sea temperatures have sped up coral bleaching across the Great Barrier Reef since 2016. — words swapped, structure identical, no citation. This is plagiarism.
- ✓ Since 2016, coral on the Great Barrier Reef has bleached faster, and warmer water is the cause (Hughes, 2018). — new structure, new words, credited.
Source: "Rising sea temperatures have accelerated coral bleaching since 2016." Which version is acceptable?
New structure, new words, and a citation. The others either keep the structure or omit the credit.
Paraphrase this properly, with a citation: "Cities that plant street trees can be several degrees cooler at pavement level (Li, 2020)."
Example: "Li (2020) found that street-level temperatures fall by several degrees where cities plant trees along roads."
Citations and the reference list
- A citation 引用 in the text points to a full entry in the reference list 参考文献表.
- Write the citation at the moment you copy the quotation, not later. Almost every accidental plagiarism starts as a note nobody labelled.
- Keep one consistent style through a piece of work. Which style matters less than being consistent.
When should you write the citation for a quotation?
Almost every accidental plagiarism begins as a note nobody labelled at the time.
A note-taking habit that makes plagiarism impossible.
Two columns. Left: what the source says, always in quotation marks, with the page. Right: what you think about it, in your own words.
When you write, you can only take from the right-hand column without quoting — and the left column already carries its citation.
Translating a Chinese source into English without a citation is plagiarism.
The language changed; the idea did not. Credit follows the idea.
Translating a Chinese source into English without a citation is plagiarism. So is translating an English source into Chinese and back. The language changed; the idea did not, and it is the idea that is credited.