Blog Post VIII

Chapter 7 described in detail important aspects of using sources within a research paper. Plagiarism is described as the worst crime that could be committed in writing and within this chapter of the BBG, it describes the different ways in which you implement the sources and the information you found to strengthen your argument. I particularly focused on the section where the chapter went over the difference in summarizing and paraphrasing. Summarizing is like how you would take notes, it should be a one sentence summary of the information presented. Paraphrasing is when you reword or rework the information presented to create a paragraph or a longer piece. I was always told to stay away from paraphrasing in my academic papers. It is too easy to plagiarize someone else’s work.

I was involved with a research at Auburn University as a part of a weed out class for psychology. At the end of the semester we were to present our research question findings. With a minimum of fifteen sources and statistics of the outcome of the experiment, it was not an assignment you can drink three Red Bulls and crank out in one night. A girl made that exact mistake. She was not careful and paraphrased her entire research project and she ended up being sent to the academic honesty board and received an F in her research class. Better safe than sorry!