Plagiarism The dos and donts Definition u u

Plagiarism The dos and don’ts

Definition u u to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own to use (another's production) without crediting the source to commit literary theft to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.

Forms of Plagiarism u Intentional Plagiarism • 'Borrowing' Papers • Purchasing Term Papers from Paper Mills • Internet 'Cutting and Pasting'

Unintentional Plagiarism u Accidental plagiarism can occur when students do not fully understand what documentation is and how to do it. Here are some examples: • Papers written from source materials which are never mentioned in the text and are not listed in a bibliography or works cited page

Avoiding Plagiarism Allow sufficient time for the research and writing processes. u Read sources carefully and thoroughly. Reading something one time is usually not enough. u Take notes on three by five cards or in MS Word and write those notes in your own words. u

More ways to avoid plagiarism u u Be especially careful when paraphrasing. Frequently, student writer’s pick up too much of the source’s wording and style— and end up plagiarizing. Know what needs to be cited and what does not. If you are not sure if something is paraphrased in your own words well enough, cite the selection just to be safe.

Believe it or not u Changing the words of an original source is not sufficient to prevent plagiarism. If you have retained the essential idea of an original source, and have not cited it, then no matter how drastically you may have altered its context or presentation, you have still plagiarized.

Did you know? u The penalties for plagiarism can be surprisingly severe, ranging from failure of classes and expulsion from academic institutions to heavy fines.

Mahtomedi’s policy on Plagiarism u u Disciplinary Warning: This may include a conference with the administrators or parents. Loss of Credit on the Assignment: A student may lose partial or full credit for the assignment. Depending on the situation, this may jeopardize the student’s chances of passing the course. Loss of Credit for the Course Suspension: This punishment is reserved for especially severe cases of academic dishonesty.

Penalty for unintentional plagiarism u Loss of points depending on how often it is done in the paper.

Penalty for intentional plagiarism Failure of assignment u Depending on the penalty; loss of credit for entire course. u

Particulars u u Any small piece of information that is widely known to be fact such as the year the United States landed on the moon, does not need citation and would not be considered plagiarism. If you Google a piece of information such as the length of the Nile River, this also does not need citation because it is easily attained by anyone who has internet access.

More particulars u If there are differing opinions about a piece of information, then it is safe to put citation down of the source from which you got the information.

Works cited Plagiarism. org u http: //owl. english. purdue. edu u