Plagiarism-What is It?

A definition from the Ithaca College Policies Manual

7.1.5.1 Plagiarism

Whether intended or not, plagiarism is a serious offense against academic honesty. Under any circumstances, it is deceitful to represent as one's own work, writing or ideas that belong to another person. Students should be aware of how this offense is defined. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of someone else's published or unpublished ideas, whether this use consists of directly quoted material or paraphrased ideas.

Although various disciplines follow styles of documentation that differ in some details, all forms of documentation make the following demands:

That each quotation or paraphrase be acknowledged with a footnote or in-text citation;

That direct quotations be enclosed in quotation marks and be absolutely faithful to the wording of the source;

That paraphrased ideas be stated in language entirely different from the language of the source;

That a sequence of ideas identical to that of a source be attributed to that source;

That sources of reprinted charts or graphs be cited in the text;

That all the sources the writer has drawn from in paraphrase or direct quotation or a combination of paraphrase and quotation be listed at the end of the paper under "Bibliography," "References," or "Works Cited," whichever heading the particular style of documentation requires.

A student is guilty of plagiarism if the student fails, intentionally or not, to follow any of these standard requirements of documentation.

In a collaborative project, all students in a group may be held responsible for academic misconduct if they engage in plagiarism or are aware of plagiarism by others in their group and fail to report it. Students who participate in a collaborative project in which plagiarism has occurred will not be held accountable if they were not knowledgeable of the plagiarism.

They need not cite their own ideas, or references to their own experiences, or information that falls in the category of uncontroversial common knowledge (what a person reasonably well-informed about a subject might be expected to know). They should acknowledge anything else.

Paraphrasing

How to Recognize Unacceptable and Acceptable Paraphrases. (taken from Plagiarism: What it Is and How to Avoid It). Retrieved October 29, 2001 from the Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html

Common Knowledge

You do not have to quote or cite a fact that either is documented in numerous places or widely known.

It is common knowledge, even if you didn't know it before, that Abraham Lincoln was our 16th President. It may not be widely known that Jesse Jackson was born on October 8, 1941, but that information can be looked up in any of multiple encyclopedias and biographical dictionaries. Therefore you do not need to document either of these facts.

What is not common knowledge are facts that may be difficult to document or ideas that are more interpretation than fact.

Right-wing pundit Ann Coulter has lied about her age, according to left-wing pundit Al Franken. If different sources supply different birthdates for her or if her birthdate is not easily found, you may need to cite the source if you are going to include her birthdate in your paper. If this were a formal paper, the "fact" reported by Al Franken would need to be documented more precisely.

Avoiding Plagiarism

also adapted from Plagiarism: What it Is and How to Avoid It). Retrieved October 29, 2001 from the Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html

1. If you have copied it directly, put it in quotations
2. When taking notes, make sure you mark what is copied directly and what is not.
3. When you paraphrase, you must use your own words. Do not just rearrange or replace a few words.
4. Since accidents can happen, check your quotations to be sure they are accurate and double check your paraphrases to be sure you have not repeated lengthy phrases or significant words found in the original text.

Additional Links

• Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It, from Indiana University
• Avoiding Plagiarism, from Northwestern University
• Quotation, Paraphrase, Summary, from Ohio University
• What is Plagiarism, by S.E. Van Bramer, Widener University 1995.
• On Plagiarism, a guide from 2Learn.ca, a Canadian education society aimed at high school students, but appropriate for any student.
• Plagiarism and the Web, advice from Bruce Leland, Professor Emeritus, Western Illinois University, and Online Instructor, University of Colorado. Aimed at professors interested in teaching students about plagiarism and in developing alternative ssignments.
• Plagiarism Court: You Be the Judge, a tutorial and quiz from librarian Ramona Islam of Fairfield University. Comes in flash, graphical, and text versions.
  

Citing Sources and Information on Paraphrasing:

• Ready Reference Online Style Manual Page from Ithaca College Library
• MLA style manual and guide to scholarly publishing / Joseph Gibaldi. New York : Modern Language Association of America, 1998. REF DESK PN147 .G444 1998
• Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, c2001. REF DESK BF76.7 .P83 2001

Author: James Bondra, with additions by John Henderson
Links and content checked June 15, 2004
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Ithaca College Library
Last updated on August 17, 2004