Exercise 11.1

1. Doris Kearns Goodwin is a prize-winning historian.

This statement does not require documentation because it’s a fact. It can be found in many sources.

1. Doris Kearns Goodwin’s The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys is a 900-page book with about 3,500 footnotes.

This does not require documentation because its just what you know about this specific book. Its content which can be verified by anyone

1. In 1994, Lynne McTaggart accused Goodwin of borrowing material from a book that McTaggart wrote.

This requires documentation because this is reporting what happened from the source. It is a judgement which is not the authors.

1. My own review of the background suggests that Goodwin’s plagiarism was unintentional.

This does not require documentation because it is someone’s personal review. It is a personal judgement.

1. Still, these accusations left Goodwin to face the “slings and arrows” of media criticism.

This requires documentation because it is a paraphrase from the original source and contains the authors quotations in it.

1. As Goodwin explains, “The more intensive and far-reaching a historian’s research, the greater the difficulty of citation.”

This requires documentation because it a quotation from a source. It is an in- text citation, thus they are the authors words and needs to be documented.

1. In her defense, Goodwin argued that the more research a historian does, the harder it is to keep track of sources.

This requires documentation because it is a summary of the authors work. It is a summary of the what the author is trying to say. Not someones words

1. Some people still remain convinced that Goodwin committed plagiarism.

This does not require documentation because this are individual’s personal judgements about the author. It is their opinion and has nothing to do with the source. There is no adequate information to back their judgement.

1. Goodwin believes that her careful research methods, which she has described in exhaustive detail, should have prevented accidental plagiarism.

This requires documentation because it is the words of the writer that has been summarized for better understanding. They are the authors ideas been said.

1. Some of Goodwin’s critics have concluded that her reputation as a historian was hurt by the plagiarism charges.

This should not be documented because it is a conclusion from various individuals. It is their judgement on how the author took the plagiarism charges.

Exercise 11.2

Two pieces of information to be documented are:

1. The Center for Academic integrity found last year that more than 70 percent of college students admitted to having cheated at least once, more than 60 percent admitted to plagiarizing, and nearly 40 percent said they have plagiarized from the Internet.
2. Students Judicial Services at the University of Texas defines plagiarism as “representing as your own work any material that was obtained from another source, regardless of how or where you acquired it.” This includes borrowing ideas or even structures.  

Two pieces of information Not to be documented are:

1. We live in the era of cut and paste, thanks to the Internet, which provides students with countless materials to plagiarize.
2. In the end, the plagiarizer has the most to lose, whether he or she gets caught or not.