North Penn High School Social Studies Department Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism is a serious matter. Students must adhere to the highest standards of ethics in all
writings for all subject areas.
The North Penn School District and the North Penn Social Studies Department define
plagiarism as the act of using another person’s ideas or writings and submitting them as one’s
own work. Both the school district and the department endorse the National Council of
Teachers of English statement below:
“Plagiarism, intentional or unintentional, is a serious offense and is punishable by law.
Before submitting any manuscript, a student should consider the following:
All or part of a manuscript which has been copied, word for word or with changes here
and there, from another writer’s work without giving specific credit to that other writer
through the use of quotation marks and bibliography is plagiarized.”
In some courses in the North Penn High School Social Studies Department, the penalty for
plagiarism is a zero (0) for the assignment. In other courses, the penalty is failure for the
quarter for in which the assignment was evaluated. In addition, any student who willingly
provides material to be plagiarized will also receive a zero (0) for that assignment. In all
instances, the students involved may also be subject to appropriate disciplinary action by an
administrator.
The North Penn High School Social Studies department will strictly enforce the plagiarism
policy. In the event that the originality of a manuscript is challenged by the teacher, the
student must follow the process below:
1) A meeting to review where the ideas in the manuscript came from must be
scheduled with the teacher within 7 to 10 school days of the teacher’s request
for such a meeting.
2) All sources used by the student must be presented to the teacher for review at that
meeting. It is the responsibility of the student to show where the information came
from. No excuses will be accepted.
3) The “burden of proof” rests with the student.
Avoid plagiarism. If in doubt as to how to word something, check with your teacher.
--------------------------------------------------------------------Student Acknowledgment of Plagiarism Policy:
“I have read and do understand the plagiarism policy of the North Penn School District
and the North Penn High School Social Studies department.”
Student signature: ________________________________
Date_________________
Further Explanation of Plagiarism
According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, plagiarism occurs when one steals and
passes off as one’s own the ideas, writings, etc., of another.
How can one avoid plagiarism? The following paragraph was taken directly from a book about
the diplomacy of President Woodrow Wilson:
Original Text
Wilson took personal responsibility for the conduct of the important diplomacy of the United States chiefly
because he believed that it was wise, right and necessary for him to do so. Believing as he did that the people
had temporarily vested their sovereignty in foreign affairs in him, he could not delegate responsibility in this field to
any individual. His scholarly training and self-disciplined habits of work made him so much more efficient than his
advisors that he must have thought that the most economical way of doing important diplomatic business was for
him to do it himself. Experience in dealing with subordinates who sometimes tried to defeat his purposes also led
him to conclude that it was the safest method, for he, and not his subordinates bore the responsibility to the
American people and to history for the consequences of his policies.
A) The next paragraph represents plagiarism of the above paragraph because it is too close to
the original text. Instead of mentioning ideas, it repeats many phrases word-for-word:
Wilson took personal responsibility for conducting diplomacy because he believed it was right for him to
do so. Believing that the people have vested their sovereignty in foreign affairs in him, he couldn’t delegate
this responsibility. His scholarly training and self-discipline made him more efficient than his advisors. He
thought that the most economical way of doing important business was to do it himself. Experience in dealing
with subordinates who sometimes tried to defeat his purposes led him to conclude that it was the safest
method because he bore responsibility to the American people for the consequences.
B) The next paragraph represents a way of paraphrasing the original to avoid plagiarism.
It conveys the main idea (that Wilson decided major foreign policy issues because he felt
personally responsible to the American people), but does not copy the wording:
Wilson felt personally responsible for major diplomacy because he believed that the voters had entrusted
him with such matters. He was more capable than his advisors in this area. He, and not his advisors, was
responsible to the people.
Source:
Benjamin, Jules R. A Student’s Guide to History, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1975.
Don’t plagiarize.
If in doubt as to how to write something, check with your teacher.