What Is Plagiarism

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM? Many people think of plagiarism as copying another's work, or borrowing someone else's original ideas.
But terms like "copying" and "borrowing" can disguise the seriousness of the offense According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to "plagiarize" means -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. In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward. Example All of the following are considered plagiarism: -turning in someone else's work as your own -copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit -failing to put a quotation in quotation marks -giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation -changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit -copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not (see our section on "fair use" rules) Most cases of plagiarism can be avoided, however, by citing sources. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed, and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source, is usually enough to prevent plagiarism. WHAT HAPPEN IF WE PLAGIARIZE? http://123phimhay.com/movie-info/lustful_secretary-287.html When faculty members discover plagiarism, they may choose between simply penalizing the student themselves or reporting the plagiarism to College administrators, who will determine the penalty. Faculty members make such choices at their own discretion, depending upon the circumstances of each case. It is possible for a student to be penalized both by the faculty member and by administration. In general, the severity of the penalty matches the severity of the plagiarism.
An incomplete list of some common penalties imposed by faculty (used alone or in combination): Lowering a student's grade on the assignment Giving the student a failing grade on the assignment
Lowering the student's overall course grade Giving the student a failing grade in the course Things to keep in mind: The most serious forms of plagiarism (downloading an entire paper from the Internet, having someone else write the paper, copying the whole paper from some other source or sources) frequently result in the most serious penalty (dismissal). Even the least serious forms of plagiarism (e.g., improperly documenting a quote) result in some sort of penalty from the faculty member.
HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM? 1. Explain What "Plagiarism" Means Of course, most students will tell you they already know what plagiarism means. But do they really understand the difference between a legitimate paraphrase and a plagiarized one? Or between a proper citation and an improper one? Spending some time during the beginning of the course to explain plagiarism may go a long way toward preventing future problems. (We recommend using our handout defining plagiarism.) You may also wish to distribute examples of plagiarism and legitimate citation, and then go over the differences together. This will clarify some of the common misconceptions about plagiarism and reduce the likelihood of "honest mistakes," while at the same time showing how serious you are about the issue. 2. Explain What's Wrong About Plagiarism Without instruction, it may be hard for your students to understand the seriousness of plagiarism. Their response is often, "How can copying some words actually hurt anyone?" But the reality is that plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing another's intellectual property, and lying about it afterwards, claiming the paper as one's own. This undermines the principles of trust and respect that make education possible. But when they plagiarize, students hurt more than just their instructors and the person from whom they steal. They also hurt themselves, because they fail to acquire the research, analytic, and writing skills that they would have learned by doing the assignment honestly. Finally, plagiarism also victimizes those classmates who have legitimately earned their grades and degrees, and who will be competing with the plagiarizer for school admissions and jobs. 3. Start off with Clear Expectations First, let your students know you expect them to produce thoughtful, original work. Students are often under the illusion that the goal of their assignments is to collect the best information possible. Explain to them that while good research is critical, you are even more interested in their ability to transform the information they find into an original and persuasive argument than in their ability to come up with the most or best sources. The skills they learn in working to further the ideas and arguments of others are a valuable part of what they will take away from their assignments.
Knowing this may help them understand the value of original work. You may also want to establish some rules in advance: Should your students collaborate? Will you require separate "works cited" pages and bibliographies? How many sources will they be required to consult? How many sources will they have to include in their paper? Will online sources be sufficient, or would you like your students to find printed material as well? Starting off with clear guidelines will prevent most of the confusion that leads to unintentional plagiarism, and allow no excuses for the intentional kind. 4. Require Students to Submit Thesis Statements, Introductions, Outlines, or Drafts One of the best ways to ensure that your students' work is original is to check it during the process of composition. Since rough drafts, etc., are not as readily available for copying as finished papers, the simple fact that they have to submit one will encourage most of your students to produce original work. It often takes more work to forge these materials than it does to produce them originally. Also, if you have time to comment on what they submit, you can monitor how they respond to your feedback and whether their papers show the flexibility of works-in-progress. 5. Have the Students Annotate Their Bibliography Ask your students to summarize the content and usefulness of their sources in a few sentences. Be sure to tell them that copying library abstracts or blurbs from the backs of books is not permissible. Emphasize that the annotation has to be in their own voice and words, and should specifically discuss the relevance of the source to their research. This exercise should take no time at all for students who have done their work honestly. Plagiarizers, however, will find it considerably more difficult. 6. Assign Oral Presentations Have your students answer questions about the process of researching and developing their ideas. This is also an excellent opportunity to ask them specific questions about their papers, and to bring up passages that seem suspicious. Questions like "This quotation here is a little unclear. Could you tell me a little more about the article from which you got it?" can be very effective in determining how much work the student did without offending or seeming suspicious.
What have we learn from plagiarism We learn that we want to do your own best work and to credit the author of any work you quote, paraphrase, or use as a source of information.

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WHAT IS PLAGIARISM? Many people think of plagiarism as copying another's work, or borrowing someone else's original ideas.

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