Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else's work as your own.
More formally stated it is the act of claiming language, ideas, opinions, theories, software code,
artistic material, or anything else developed by another person without acknowledging that
person as the source of the material.
In the world of cut and paste, it is incredibly easy to commit plagiarism and not even be aware of
doing so. Regardless of whether it is intentional or unintentional, plagiarism is dishonest, unfair,
and unethical.
Only information considered to be universally common knowledge, such as dates of important
events and widely known facts, can be used without citing the source.
Credit must always be given to others for:
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their words, either quoted or paraphrased
their illustrative or artistic material
facts, research findings, and conclusions
Failure to give appropriate credit is a serious offense. As a student, the consequences of
plagiarism can range from the loss of credit for a course to expulsion from school. As an adult,
the consequences of plagiarism can range from loss of professional reputation to loss of job and
destruction of your career.
Read at least one of the following web sites to better understand plagiarism and how to avoid it:
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Plagiarism and Honor, the Virginia Tech Undergraduate Honor System
The Learning Center's Plagiarism site: The Learning Center is designed to help educators and
students develop a better sense of what plagiarism means in the information age, and to teach the
planning, organizational, and citation skills essential for producing quality writing and research.
What is Plagiarism, Dartmouth College
University Libraries at Virginia Tech, information on plagiarism
http://info-skills.lib.vt.edu/using_info/2.html
copyright 2015
Link to story from America:
http://americamagazine.org/print/150525