Dr. Alice Trupe, Director of Bridgewater College Writing Center, works with students daily.

Contact Dr. Trupe

ON THIS PAGE:

• Drop-in Tutorials (9/15)

• BC's New Plagiarism Policy (9/21)

• Resources for Formatting Bibliographies (9/28)

• Documentation Workshops (10/25)

Prof. Anita Cook will direct the Writing Center during my sabbatical leave, January through May, 2006.

Dec. 8, 2005  Writing Center Final Exam Hours

During final exams, the Writing Center will hold extended tutorial hours, beginning at noon, on Thursday-Friday, 12/8-9, and regular tutorial hours Sunday, 12/11 (7-11 p.m.) and Monday, 12/12 (2-11 p.m.)

Oct. 25, 2005  BC Writing Center Documentation Workshops

What's a workshop?  It's a work session in which you can actively work on a project and discuss it, raising questions with qualified helpers.

What's documentation?  The term refers to the proper citing of sources--using parenthetical or numbered citations in the body of your paper to show where ideas come from and developing the corresponding bibliography.

At Writing Center Documentation Workshops, we offer help in paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting from sources, as well as aiding you in knowing when to include a citation and what order in which to list information in your bibliography.

Workshops this week are Weds., 10/26, 4-5 p.m. and Thurs., 10/27, 4-5 p.m.  More workshops will be offered Tues., 11/8, 4-5 p.m.; Weds., 11/9, 7-8 p.m.; and Weds., 11/16, 4-5 p.m.

Sept. 28, 2005  BC Writing Center Resources for Formatting Bibliographies

The Writing Center has a number of pages that can help you figure out 

• what format to use for your bibliography (Documentation FAQ and Index), 
• what information about your source you need for your bibliography (Bibliographic Information), and
• how to arrange the information for a bibliography in any of these styles: MLA, APA, CBE, and AMA.  

Our pages linked to the Bibliographic Information page focus on listing books, magazine articles, newspaper articles, journal articles, database articles, and Web sources.  We also post overviews of MLA Format and APA Format. 

Sept. 21, 2005  BC's New Plagiarism Policy

At their August 2005 meeting, the BC faculty members voted to adopt a statement on Ethics in Academic Work, intended to clarify the Honor Code's prohibition against "cheating, stealing, and lying" as it applies to academics, specifically plagiarism.  (It's a matter of ethics--if you wouldn't lie or steal, let alone cheat, you also wouldn't want to plagiarize.) The policy defines several forms plagiarism can take:

• copying and pasting text from the Web and presenting it as your own work (without quotation marks and citation in the text as well as inclusion of the source in the bibliography)
• copying wording of any text written by someone else and presenting it as your own work (without quotation marks and citation in the text as well as inclusion of the source in the bibliography)
• writing about factual information that you got from a source without citing the source, except in cases of common knowledge (established within the context of that class)
• presenting somebody else's argument, even if it's paraphrased, as if it were your own reasoning (for example, using an essay you found online and rewriting it in your own words but making the same points)
• presenting graphics other than those in the public domain (a sketch of the parts of the ear that you find on several different Web sites may be considered to be in the public domain, but a statistical table showing alcohol-related traffic dates by state like you can find on MADD's site should be cited--note that MADD gives a source for the information)

Important Points to Remember

• These guidelines apply to ALL courses and forms of presentation--Biology classes as well as English classes, PowerPoint presentations as well as research papers.
• Intent is not a factor in determining whether a passage is plagiarized, so "I didn't mean to plagiarize" is simply meaningless to anyone who is determining whether or not your work is plagiarized.  If your text matches a text online or in a book, your text is plagiarized.  It is impossible for you to independently write a paragraph that matches someone else's paragraph word for word.

So how do you avoid plagiarizing?

1. Use quotation marks around quoted material, cite your source in your text, and list your source in a bibliography.
2. Follow BC "Ethics in Academic Work" guidelines for paraphrasing (putting material from sources into your own words):

• use alternative wording to the author’s;
• use quotation marks around any phrasing you can't paraphrase;
• use your own sentence structure as well as wording;
• cite your source for paraphrased material;
• introduce the material in your own words.

3. Drop in to review your writing from sources with a Writing Center Tutor.

If you would like to get some help with writing for any class, just come to the Writing Center in Bowman 310 during tutorial hours (Sun. 7-11 p.m., Mon. through Thurs. 2-11 p.m., Fri. 2-5 p.m.) and look for a student with a sign that says "Writing Center Tutor" on a desk or computer monitor. They can be anywhere in the room, but they use the signs so you can find them. Tutors usually write their names on the chalkboard, too, so you know who to look for.

You can get help with coming up with ideas or organizing your paper or citing sources or revising for a smoother writing style--just about any kind of writing problem. Plan on going over your paper with the tutor, not dropping it off and coming back later to pick up an edited paper!

Emailing Papers or Getting Help on AIM

Email papers to writing@bridgewater.edu. We have guidelines at http://www.bridgewater.edu/WritingCenter/online_help.html.  You can chat with a tutor on Instant Messenger on Mondays 8-9 p.m., Tuesdays 8-11 p.m., or Wednesdays 8-10 p.m.  Look for BCWriter1 or BCWriter2.