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Online Writing Lab
Tutorials: Using Sources
Avoiding Plagiarism
What Is Plagiarism?
As defined by the Undergraduate Bulletin,
in speaking or writing, plagiarism is the act of passing someone else's work off as one's own. In addition, plagiarism is defined as using the essential style and manner of expression of a source as if it were one's own. If there is any doubt, the student should consult his/her instructor or any manual of term paper or report writing. Violations of academic honesty include: [sic]
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Presenting the exact words of a source without quotation marks;
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Using another student's computer source code or algorithm or copying a lab report; or
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Presenting information, judgments, ideas, or facts summarized from a source without giving credit. (17-8)
In other words, plagiarism is literary theft. It is passing off someone else’s words or ideas as your own, either intentionally or unintentionally.
Plagiarism comes in many forms. It can be turning in a paper that someone else wrote, omitting quotation marks around another writer’s words, or failure to cite the sources of the ideas you used in your writing. All failure to give proper credit for someone else’s work is plagiarism, even if it is accidental.
©
2005-2008, Southeast Missouri State University
Last Updated August 26, 2008
by Allen Gathman