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Preventing Plagiarism: A Guide for Students
This guide pulls together a number of resources to assist you, the student, avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism can be an intentional or accidental act, but either way you can suffer severe consequences. If you have additional questions about plagiarism, contact you class instructor or a librarian. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition defines the act of plagiarizing as: "To use and pass off (the ideas or writings of another) as one's own." or "To appropriate for use as one's own passages or ideas from (another). intr. To put forth as original to oneself the ideas or words of another." Books and resources which provide information on writing research papers and citing information generally include a definition of plagiarism: "By definition, a research paper involves the assimilation of prior scholarship and entails the responsibility to give proper acknowledgment whenever one is indebted to another for either words or ideas. ... Failure to give credit is plagiarism." "Simply put, plagiarism is using others' ideas or words as if they were your own." Ballenger, Bruce. The Curious Researcher, second revised edition, Allyn and Bacon, Boston, 1999. "To use another person's ideas or expressions in your writing without acknowledging the sources is to plagiarize. Plagiarism, then, constitutes intellectual theft. Strictly speaking, it is a moral and ethical offense rather than a legal one, since most instances of plagiarism fall outside the scope of copyright infringement, a legal offense." Gibaldi, Joseph, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 5th ed. Modern Language Association of America, New York, 1999. Although they may be worded slightly differently, they all state the same thing: Plagiarism is cheating! What is Millikin's policy on plagiarism?Cheating, Plagiarism, and Academic Dishonesty (from the Millikin University Bulletin, 2005-2006, p. 16): Cheating, one form of academic dishonesty is a serious offense. The most blatantexamples include copying answers on tests, stealing tests or answer sheets, using Another form of dishonesty, Plagiarism, is also an unacceptable practice in the academic community. Examples include copying the words of another and presenting them as one's own, using one's own words in presenting another's ideas but not documenting the source, or providing one's own material for another to submit as his or her own work. Disciplinary Action for Academic Misconduct and Academic Dishonesty If a student is suspected of cheating, plagiarizing, falsifying information, or any other dishonest act while performing academic or University work, faculty members will:
1. Make a reasonable inquiry or investigation to determine whether it is likely that the student's conduct was intentional. 2. Discuss the implications with the student(s) involved, including specific consequences of the dishonest conduct. 3. If the student's conduct was intentional, inform the student(s) that they may suffer the consequences of their actions. The student(s) may fail the course. A grade of XF will be entered into the record denoting that the grade is a result of academic dishonesty. 4. A letter will be sent to the student indicating the final decision for an XF and on what basis the decision was made. A copy of that letter will be sent to the Registrar. Upon receiving such a letter from a faculty member, the Registrar will file the letter in a secure area. The Registrar will then send a letter to the student that will contain the following information: If the Registrar receives no additional letters after the first letter, the letter will be destroyed at the time the student graduates. If a student has received only one such letter, the Registrar will not release the contents of this letter. If, however, the Registrar receives a second letter, and the student is expelled, then the letters will become a part of the permanent file for that student.
The following are all examples of plagiarism These links provide information on both avoiding and recognizing plagiarism: More in depth information is provided by the following two sites: If you would like detailed information on the U.S. Copyright Law, our Copyright Information page will provide it. Often one of the most difficult aspects of writing a paper is knowing how to properly integrate your sources into your paper. Many cases of plagiarism are unintentional and happen because the writer is unaware of how to properly incorporate and cite sources in the text of a paper. The following steps can help you make certain you have all the information you need to compile proper citations. Citation Guidelines which will help you prepare citations properly. Print versions of these, which are much more detailed, can be found in the library. |
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