Plagiarism – Student Information

For many of your classes you will be asked to do library research in order to write or compile a term paper or other written document.  As part of learning how to do a research paper it is important to know how to use and document sources appropriately.  PLAGIARISM is the process or act of taking ideas or writings from another and passing them off as one’s own.  PLAGIARISM is fraudulent and is considered academically illegal.  The penalty for you as a student can be failure of a course.

The following are a few reminders to you as a student in avoiding plagiarist habits:

• All written work submitted for credit is accepted as the student’s own work.  It may not, therefore, have been composed, wholly or partially, by another person. 
• The wording or written work is taken as the writer’s own.  Thus, one may not submit work that has been copied, wholly or partially, from book, article, essay, newspaper, another student’s paper or notebook, or any other written or printed media source, including Internet documents.     
• Another writer’s phrases, sentences, or paragraphs may be included if presented as quotations and the source is acknowledged.
• The ideas expressed in a paper or report are accepted as originating with the writer.  Written work that paraphrases any written or printed material without acknowledgement may not be submitted for credit.  Ideas from books and essays may be incorporated into the writer’s work as starting points, governing issues, illustrations and the like, but in each case the source must be cited.
• Students may correct and revise their writing with the aid of reference books.  They may also discuss their writing with peer writing groups or with peer tutors.  However, students may not submit writing that has been revised substantially by another. 
• No written work may be submitted for credit that has been used to fulfill the requirements of another course, in whatever department, unless permission to coordinate work has been granted by both teachers.

As always, please consult with your professors for clarification of procedures for submitting academic work.