Unit 2

SCIENTIFIC WRITING

After completing this unit, the

students are expected to be able to:

 Understand about plagiarism

and how to avoid it.
 Know how to do
summarizing and
paraphrasing.
 Know how to do direct and
indirect quotation.
 Know how to translate from
both Bahasa Indonesia to
English and vice versa for
scientific writing.
 Know how to avoid mistakes
in writing scientific papers.

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I. Let’s watch the podcast!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF5eFeJMplA “Ten Types of Plagiasm”

II. Reading

5 Most Effective Methods for Avoiding Plagiarism

By Allison VanNest ·
Updated on 08 September 2016
Cartoon by Pirillo & Fitz

Plagiarism. It’s a concept that puts sour looks on teachers’ faces and sends shudders down
students’ spines. When you sit down to write that essay, however, you don’t have to be
afraid of unintentionally committing plagiarism. Simply take the time to understand exactly
what plagiarism is and the best methods for avoiding it. If you follow these easy tips, you
can make sure that you create work that doesn’t inadvertently steal ideas or words.

Create a Thorough Outline

An essay should not be just a collection of other people’s research; it should include your
own ideas as well. Carefully outline your paper before you start writing. Make it clear in
your outline which ideas come from you and which come from outside sources. To make
this easy, you can assign an abbreviated name to each of your sources and jot that down
next to the ideas you pull from each one. This will save you from having to sort through
all your information later.

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Even before you start your outline, when you are still in the note-taking phase, diligently
keep track of where your ideas come from. Plagiarism.org suggests that you color code
your notes and number your note pages so your information doesn’t become jumbled.

Cite Your Sources

Citing your sources might seem like a no-brainer, but properly citing your sources is
another story altogether. Double-check your bibliography to make sure that you include
all the needed information in the correct order. Some word processing programs will
automatically generate a bibliography for you, but that still requires that you input the
right information with a fastidious eye.

Keep in mind, too, that there are different types of citation. For example, MLA and APA
citation styles are different.

Scrutinize Your Sources

What are your source’s sources? To avoid plagiarism and keep your essay on the straight
and narrow, rely only on reputable sources. Here are a few things to look for when you’re
deciding if a source is worth your time:

 Is the author an authoritative voice in his or her field?

 What organization is the author affiliated with?
 Is the information up to date?
 Do you notice a lot of technical errors in the writing?

If you have any qualms about the integrity of a source, take your research elsewhere.

Don’t Write Blind

If you’re in a hurry, you may start “writing blind” — that is, you may start typing out
information using words or phrases that belong to someone else without even realizing
what you are doing. Writing blind can also lead you to pen ambiguous statements. If you
are melding your ideas with another person’s ideas, make sure that it is clear where each
idea comes from.

The best way to avoid writing blind is to let your essay rest for a while after you finish it.
That way, you can take a look at it again later and compare it with your notes, helping
you make sure that your paper is plagiarism-free.

Plagiarism is serious business. Do you have any tips or tricks that you use to ensure the
integrity of your writing?

Adapted from: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/5-most-effective-methods-for-avoiding-

plagiarism/

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Answer these questions:

1. Have you ever heard about plagiarism before? Where did you hear about it?
2. What is plagiarism in your opinion?
3. Why do you think plagiarism is wrong?
4. Have you done any plagiarism before? Explain your answer!
5. In your opinion, how to avoid plagiarism?

III. Grammar Focus

Sample Essay for Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting

Summary:

This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and
distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and
contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can
use to practice these skills.

Contributors:Dana Lynn Driscoll, Allen Brizee

Last Edited: 2016-08-10 02:07:20

The following is a sample essay you can practice quoting, paraphrasing, and
summarizing. Examples of each task are provided at the end of the essay for further
reference.

Here is the citation for Sipher's essay:

Sipher, Roger. “So That Nobody Has to Go to School If They Don't Want To.” The New
York Times, 19 Dec. 1977, p. 31.

So That Nobody Has To Go To School If They Don't Want To

by Roger Sipher

A decline in standardized test scores is but the most recent indicator that American
education is in trouble.

One reason for the crisis is that present mandatory-attendance laws force many to attend
school who have no wish to be there. Such children have little desire to learn and are so
antagonistic to school that neither they nor more highly motivated students receive the
quality education that is the birthright of every American.

The solution to this problem is simple: Abolish compulsory-attendance laws and allow
only those who are committed to getting an education to attend.

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This will not end public education. Contrary to conventional belief, legislators enacted
compulsory-attendance laws to legalize what already existed. William Landes and Lewis
Solomon, economists, found little evidence that mandatory-attendance laws increased the
number of children in school. They found, too, that school systems have never effectively
enforced such laws, usually because of the expense involved.

There is no contradiction between the assertion that compulsory attendance has had little
effect on the number of children attending school and the argument that repeal would be
a positive step toward improving education. Most parents want a high school education
for their children. Unfortunately, compulsory attendance hampers the ability of public
school officials to enforce legitimate educational and disciplinary policies and thereby
make the education a good one.

Private schools have no such problem. They can fail or dismiss students, knowing such
students can attend public school. Without compulsory attendance, public schools would
be freer to oust students whose academic or personal behavior undermines the
educational mission of the institution.

Has not the noble experiment of a formal education for everyone failed? While we pay
homage to the homily, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink," we
have pretended it is not true in education.

Ask high school teachers if recalcitrant students learn anything of value. Ask teachers if
these students do any homework. Quite the contrary, these students know they will be
passed from grade to grade until they are old enough to quit or until, as is more likely,
they receive a high school diploma. At the point when students could legally quit, most
choose to remain since they know they are likely to be allowed to graduate whether they
do acceptable work or not.

Abolition of archaic attendance laws would produce enormous dividends.

First, it would alert everyone that school is a serious place where one goes to learn.
Schools are neither day-care centers nor indoor street corners. Young people who resist
learning should stay away; indeed, an end to compulsory schooling would require them to
stay away.

Second, students opposed to learning would not be able to pollute the educational
atmosphere for those who want to learn. Teachers could stop policing recalcitrant
students and start educating.

Third, grades would show what they are supposed to: how well a student is learning.
Parents could again read report cards and know if their children were making progress.

Fourth, public esteem for schools would increase. People would stop regarding them as
way stations for adolescents and start thinking of them as institutions for educating
America's youth.

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Fifth, elementary schools would change because students would find out early they had
better learn something or risk flunking out later. Elementary teachers would no longer
have to pass their failures on to junior high and high school.

Sixth, the cost of enforcing compulsory education would be eliminated. Despite

enforcement efforts, nearly 15 percent of the school-age children in our largest cities are
almost permanently absent from school.

Communities could use these savings to support institutions to deal with young people
not in school. If, in the long run, these institutions prove more costly, at least we would
not confuse their mission with that of schools.

Schools should be for education. At present, they are only tangentially so. They have
attempted to serve an all-encompassing social function, trying to be all things to all
people. In the process they have failed miserably at what they were originally formed to
accomplish.

Example Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation from the Essay:

Example summary: Roger Sipher makes his case for getting rid of compulsory-
attendance laws in primary and secondary schools with six arguments. These fall into
three groups—first that education is for those who want to learn and by including those
that don't want to learn, everyone suffers. Second, that grades would be reflective of
effort and elementary school teachers wouldn't feel compelled to pass failing students.
Third, that schools would both save money and save face with the elimination of
compulsory-attendance laws.

Example paraphrase of the essay's conclusion: Roger Sipher concludes his essay by
insisting that schools have failed to fulfill their primary duty of education because they
try to fill multiple social functions (par. 17).

Example quotation: According to Roger Sipher, a solution to the perceived crisis of

American education is to "Abolish compulsory-attendance laws and allow only those
who are committed to getting an education to attend" (par. 3).

Sources: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/03/

IV. Exercises
1. Use your own words: Change the sentence structure
Use synonyms (nouns, verbs and adjectives)

General Rule: Do not use more than five words of the source material in a row.

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Exercise 1: Find synonyms for the underlined words then paraphrase with a new
structure:

a. President McKinley and his administration, as well as many newspapers, justified

American imperialism in the Philippines on humanitarian grounds.
administration = _______________________
imperialism = ________________________________
many newspapers =_____________________
on humanitarian grounds = _____________________
American __________________ was justified by
________________________________________________________

b. China is one of the largest, most populous, most ethnically diverse countries in the
world.

________________________________________________________________________

2. Use Reporting Verbs & Phrases:

state report announce stress argue
respond claim suggest express believe
demonstrate show

According to …, In …’s view… As … explains, …

Exercise 2: Add a reporting verb or phrase to CITE the source and paraphrase the
following sentences:
TIP: underline the words you can find synonyms for – remember the Rule of 5!

Deforestation and overexploitation of vegetation may be to blame for increased drought

risks and increased flooding as good vegetation cover helps regulate, store and absorb
water flows. (David Krohn, Man’s impact on the hydrological cycle)

Exercise 3
The students bring material for translation:
1. From English to Bahasa Indonesia
2. From Bahasa Indonesia to English

Exercise 4
The students find a final paper (from their seniors) and give comments of any common
mistakes from the point view writing scientific papers.

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