Plagiarism

A definition from the Ithaca College Policies Manual (7.1.4.1 Plagiarism)

As amended by the Ithaca College Board of Trustees May 18, 2001.

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 Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of someone else's published or unpublished ideas, whether this use consists of directly quoted material or paraphrased ideas.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.

What, then, do students not have to document? 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.

Resources With Advice on How to Avoid Plagiarism

Rather than rewrite or paraphrase what has already been written, we offer these guides as good sources to consult so you can be sure you are not plagiarizing: