The Problem of Plagiarism

Plagiarism occurs when a writer uses the words, ideas, or information of another without giving proper credit to the source. Plagiarism comes from the Latin term plagiarius meaning, “One who abducts the child of another.” Plagiarism is a serious offense, both legally and academically. Plagiarism constitutes Academic Dishonesty and unprofessional behavior, and is not tolerated in schools or in the work place. People who plagiarize can face serious academic, legal, and financial consequences.

Examples of plagiarism include

• Using a phrase, sentence, paragraph, or passage written by someone else without enclosing the section in quotation marks and providing a citation for the source.
• Using data collected by others without acknowledging the source with a proper citation
• Listing conclusions from data that were made by others without acknowledging their source with a proper citation
• Summarizing or paraphrasing material from another's work or speech without stating the source of the material and properly citing it

Deliberate plagiarism refers to the act of passing off as one's own work the work of another. The penalties for deliberate plagiarism tend to be severe and can range from failing the assignment, to failing the course, to being expelled from school. Please review the plagiarism policy for your class located in the syllabus.

Some examples of deliberate plagiarism include

• Students who ask someone else to write their paper for them
• Students who download a paper from the Internet and submit it as their own work
• Students who copy large sections of other sources into their papers as if they had written the material themselves

Deliberate plagiarism is just plain cheating. Students in college are studying to become professionals in some field. Any student who plagiarizes a paper is not behaving ethically or professionally. This kind of behavior not only demeans the individual guilty of the behavior, but if that person is a professional, calls in question the ethics and professionalism of his or her entire professional community. It is this unethical behavior by a small minority that has so debased some professional fields that terms like "crooked politician," "dirty cop," and "sleazy lawyer" have become, in the public eye, the norm for these professions. Your professional character and reputation are being formed while you are in school. Do not allow yourself to be tempted into tarnishing them, perhaps irrevocably.

Accidental plagiarism occurs when students think they are using sources correctly, when in actuality they are not. Nearly all of these problems occur as a consequence of faulty note taking:

• Highlighting instead of taking notes.

It is very hard not to plagiarize when you are looking at the original source.

• Neglecting to keep careful track of where information was taken

If you have done a good job of research, by the time you are ready to write your paper, you will find that you know so many things about the topic that you can write the paper without referring to your notes. The problem is, you only know these things as a consequence of your research. Therefore, you must document the material. If you haven't taken careful notes, you will not be able to find the source of your information. Any information or ideas that you have read that you cannot document cannot be used in the research paper.

• Copying characteristic phrases into your notes

Some words or phrases are so characteristic of the original writer that including them in a paper immediately makes the paper feel plagiarized. If you copy those phrases into your notes or into your paper, your paper will be plagiarized.

• Paraphrases that are too close to the original

Re-writing a sentence from a source by substituting words using a thesaurus is still plagiarism.

• Failing to include internal citations for everything the student read and not just for quotations:

Some students only document words they have quoted. If you have read something and included it in your paper, even if you have re-written it in your own words, you must document it.

While a person may have plagiarized in ignorance, either unknowingly or as a result of carelessness, the consequences are still severe. It is crucial that students learn good research and note taking skills in order to avoid any plagiarism. For more, see Plagiarism and Note Taking.