Plagiarism
On this page you will learn what plagiarism is and some tips to avoid plagiarizing
What is Academic Integrity?
Academic integrity is a core value of educational institutions and of students around the world. In High School, academic dishonesty is rewarded with swift discipline. At the university level, plagiarism leaves a permanent mark on your academic record and could very well mean the end of your higher education goals.
The information on this page comes from Oxford University's Plagiarism and Academic dishonesty page.
According to Oxford University, “Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement. All published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this definition.”
The Four Types of Plagiarism
Direct plagiarism is the word-for-word transcription of a section of someone else's work, without attribution, without quotation marks and without proper citation.
Self-plagiarism occurs when a student submits his or her own previous work, or mixes parts of previous works, without permission from all instructors involved. Self-plagiarism also applies to submitting the same piece of work for assignments in different classes without previous permission from both instructors.
Mosaic Plagiarism occurs when a student borrows phrases from a source without using quotation marks, or finds synonyms for the author’s language while keeping to the same general structure and meaning of the original. Sometimes called “patch writing,” this kind of paraphrasing, whether intentional or not, is academically dishonest and punishable – even if you cite your source!
Accidental plagiarism occurs when a person neglects to cite their sources, or misquotes their sources, or unintentionally paraphrases a source by using similar words, groups of words, and/or sentence structure without attribution.
What Can You Do To Avoid Plagiarism?
The best way to avoid plagiarism in any form, is to cite your sources and ensure all text that appears on the page is written/typed by you! Refer to the page on MLA citation for some detailed help on how to use citations in your academic work.
Make sure you any work you are putting to a page and turning in as your work, and written by your own hands!
Don't copy and paste, and when in doubt, just cite it! Learn all about citation by looking at the links under "Citation" in the toolbar above.