Plagiarism
A Form of
Academic Dishonesty
Plagiarism
Plagiarism, which is a form of Academic Dishonesty, is a
serious issue on university campuses, including here at
Nicholls. The penalties for plagiarism can be devastating
to the student who is caught, ranging from the grade of
“F” on an assignment, to a failing grade for the course, to
expulsion from the university, depending upon the
severity of the offense. Therefore, Ellender Memorial
Library has created this tutorial, to help you recognize
plagiarism. It will also address the penalties of
plagiarizing, and avoiding unintentional plagiarism.
PART I
First, we would like to discuss what
plagiarism is. Answering these six
true/false questions should help you
understand exactly what the word
plagiarism means.
Questions 1-6: The Definition of
Plagiarism
1. Nicholls’ definition of plagiarism is found
in The Code of Student Conduct, under
the Academic Dishonesty section.
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
Plagiarism is the 2nd item defined in
the 2003 Code of Student Conduct.
Briefly, it means “the presentation of
the works, words, or ideas of others as
one’s own” (Code, 19).
2. Turning in all or part of another
student’s computer program as part of
one’s own program is considered
plagiarism.
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
From the 2003 Code of Student
Conduct: “submitting another person’s
work as one’s own (including, but not
limited to submitting a paper…” is
considered plagiarism” (Code, 20).
3. Sharing information with a group of
students on an assignment, when the
assignment calls for individual work by
each student, is not considered
plagiarism, as neither student has
technically not done some of his/her own
work.
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
According to the 2003 Code of Student
Conduct: “allowing another student to
copy one’s own work…or any part of
an assignment…” is considered
plagiarism (Code, 20).
4. According to the Nicholls’ definition of
plagiarism, helping another student on an
essay exam is NOT considered
plagiarism.
TRUE
FALSE
Technically,
TRUE
From the 2003 Code of Student Conduct:
one form of cheating is “giving aid or
receiving aid from another student during an
exam” (Code, 19). However, there is a fine
line between cheating and plagiarism in this
case, and either can produce severe
negative consequences, such as an “F” in
the course.
5. Submitting a paper you had written for
a previous course is considered
plagiarism.
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
Although “self-plagiarism” does exist in
the academic setting, the 2003 Code of
Student Conduct makes no specific
mention of resubmitting one’s own work
as being plagiarism. However, it is good
practice to get the approval of an
instructor before doing so, both as a show
of honesty/courtesy and to make sure that
the resubmitted work fits the assignment
criteria.
6. Hiring someone to write a paper and
then taking credit for it is considered
plagiarism.
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
According to the 2003 Code of Student
Conduct, “submitting a report purchased or
retrieved from a term paper service” is
considered plagiarism.
Part II
Now that students have a better idea of what
their professors and advisors mean when they
use the word “plagiarism,” we would like to give
them a sense of what the penalties for the
offense are, whether the plagiarizing is
intentional or unintentional (such as submitting
work that is not properly documented, which is
addressed in the Code on page 19).
Questions 7-9:
Penalties for Plagiarism
7. If a student is guilty of plagiarism, that
student can be given a failing grade on the
assignment, or a failing grade for the
course.
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
According to the 2003 Code of Student
Conduct, “in cases of academic
dishonesty…the instructor may handle the
matter by invoking a maximum sanction of
immediate expulsion from the course with a
failing grade…” (Code, 20).
8. If a student is guilty of plagiarism and is
given a failing grade, either for the
assignment or the class, that student
cannot be subjected to further, more
severe penalty.
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
According to the 2003 Code of Student
Conduct, “if a more severe penalty…is
warranted, the faculty member will file
a formal charge with the Dean of the
College…or Dean of Student Life…”
(Code, 20).
9. Each professor can determine for
him/herself what the penalty for each
plagiarism incident should be, based on its
severity and extenuating circumstances,
and the professor’s decision is final.
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
According to the 2003 Code of Student Conduct, the
instructor can determine both the severity of the offense
and its penalty, but this decision is not final. In cases
where the student does not agree to the offense, “if the
student wishes to pursue the matter further, he/she may
consult the department head” (Code, 20). In extreme
cases, the Discipline Committee may become involved
as a mediator .
PART III
Because the issue of unintentional plagiarism
is tied so closely to students’ failure to
understand the rules of citation and
documentation when they are writing research
papers or using outside sources for their
assignments, we have prepared the next
group of questions to test their knowledge of
the correct methods of documentation.
These next few questions are specifically
geared to help students understand
exactly what information they need to
include when citing sources within a paper.
They do not deal with citation styles for
bibliographic entries, however, as Works
Cited problems lend themselves more to
being stylistic errors, and usually do not
lead to unintentional plagiarism.
Questions 10-19: Plagiarism and
In-Text Documentation
10. Students must include the author’s name
when they include verbatim information from
a written source.
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
You should always document, and place
within quotations, any verbatim information
and unique wording you borrow from
another writer or source. See sections 2.5
and 2.8 of The MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers (6th edition), or check out
this helpful link:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html
11. You do not need to cite facts, statistics,
opinions, etc., if you are not using the
author’s wording (i.e., if you are
paraphrasing or summarizing).
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
You should always “give appropriate
acknowledgment when repeating or
paraphrasing another’s wording.” See
sections 2.5 and 2.8 of The MLA Handbook
for Writers of Research Papers (6th edition),
or check out this helpful link:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html
12. Students must include the name of the
source (book, journal, magazine,
newspaper, etc.) in their in text
documentation when they include verbatim
information from a print (as opposed to
online) source.
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
According to section 5.2 of The MLA Handbook for
Writers of Research Papers (6th edition), “a citation
… contains only enough information to enable
readers to find the sources in the works-cited list,”
which usually means that author last name and page
number will suffice. Likewise, the 5th edition of The
APA Publication Manual states in section 3.39 that
“when citing print sources [writers should] give the
author, year, and page number in parentheses.” See
this helpful Long Island University website for
examples of text citation styles in the APA and MLA
formats (among others):
http://www.liunet.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citation.htm
13. Students must include the author’s
credentials when they include verbatim
information from a print (as opposed to
online) source.
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
As in the previous question, see section 5.2 of The
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th
edition). Likewise, the 5th edition of The APA
Publication Manual states in section 3.39 that “when
citing print sources [writers should] give the author,
year, and page number in parentheses.” However,
keep in mind that it may strengthen your argument if
you point out that your information comes from
experts in the field; therefore, although it is not
necessary to give a source’s credentials, it may be
helpful if you do so.
14. If using it in a paper, a student must
document factual information that can be
corroborated by several different general
reference sources.
TRUE
FALSE
Whether you said true or false, you are
technically correct. Information that can be
found in several general reference sources
may come under the heading of “common
knowledge,” which does not need to be
documented. There is no set in stone test for
what constitutes common knowledge,
although various entities have published
guidelines based on their interpretations of
what common knowledge is. For example, see
the working definition of common knowledge
at
http://library.csusm.edu/plagiarism/howtoavoid/how_avoid_common.htm
Perhaps the best advice is given by The
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research
Papers, which states that “if you have
any doubt about whether or not you are
committing plagiarism, cite your source
or sources” (6th edition, section 2.6). It
would also be good practice to simply
ask the instructor whether or not such
information needs to be documented.
15. If using it in a paper, a student must
document a summary of a chapter of a
textbook.
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
It is highly unlikely that the entire contents
of a textbook chapter would include nothing
but information that is “common
knowledge.” Therefore, a summary of that
chapter must be documented. For helpful
hints on summarizing textbook chapters,
see #5 of The Research and Reading Notes
section of Jo Ray McCuen’s Readings for
Writers website:
http://english.heinle.com/mccuen/student/note.html
16. Because the World Wide Web is not an
official publication, a student does not have
to document information which was taken
from a web site.
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
First off, you should know that sites on the Internet,
like print materials, may be copyrighted. Therefore,
you should read the web page carefully to see if its
material is protected by copyright. As The MLA
Manual points out, most sites allow for “fair use,”
which means that small bits of information can be
used without permission (6th edition, section 2.7.3).
However, the information taken from a web page
should be treated like all other information and
should be documented. Nonetheless, you should
keep in mind that authority and reliability are your
responsibility when it comes to citing web sites.
Therefore,
you should evaluate each site carefully
before deciding to use any information
from it (see The MLA Manual, 6th
edition, section 1.4.8). For tips on citing
Internet sources using the APA format,
see The APA Publication Manual, 5th
edition, section 4.16.
17. If using it in a paper, a student must
document the following:
Columbus sailed to America in 1492.
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
This would be considered common
knowledge, as all sources, both general
and historical, agree on its truth.
18. If using it in a paper, a student must
document the following:
George Bush won the 2000 Presidential
Election.
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
This would also be considered
common knowledge, as all sources,
both general and historical, agree on its
truth.
19. If using it in a paper, a student must
document the following:
There were approximately 4,882,000
web sites in 1999.
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
This is not common knowledge. For
starters, it fits the following definition of
information that must be documented: the
information is unusual, technical, and
specific to a profession or discipline,
Part IV
The next set of questions will further test
students’ understanding of documentation
styles, but are more generic in nature than the
last set of questions. This group of questions
tests students’ knowledge of the actual styles
themselves, both for the humanities and the
sciences, as we feel that a complete
understanding of documentation is necessary in
avoiding unintentional plagiarism.
Questions 20-23:
Documentation Styles
20. All of the following are valid citation
styles: MLA, Arabian, Chicago, ALA,
Scientific.
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
While MLA and Chicago (Turabian) are indeed valid
citation styles, Arabian, ALA, and Scientific are not.
While some may argue that it is trivial to know the
names of citation styles, we disagree. If you do not
know the name of the specific style that you need to
use, then you will be unable to ask the proper
questions, and you will not know which sources you
should consult for tricky citations. Typically, MLA is
used in the humanities, although Chicago (Turabian)
is sometimes used. For the sciences and social
sciences, most professors prefer APA. Again, the
best advice is to ask the instructor or editor which
he/she prefers.
21. For papers in the humanities (English,
History, Political Science), writers should
use the APA citation style.
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
To reiterate, MLA is used in the
humanities, although Chicago
(Turabian) is sometimes used. For the
sciences and social sciences, most
professors prefer APA.
22. For papers in the sciences, writers can
use the APA citation style.
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
23. When a student is paraphrasing a
passage, he/she should keep the same
meaning and tone expressed by the
original author.
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
It is considered unethical to manipulate a
source’s intended meaning. In extreme
cases, it could be considered “falsification,”
which is referenced in the 2003 Code of
Student Conduct (Code, 19). To reiterate,
changing what a source says by omitting
words or adding words is a falsification of
findings.
Part V
This final group of questions is designed to help
students learn a few techniques whereby they
will avoid unintentional plagiarism. These
questions refer to specific methods of notetaking that will ease the tension of students’
having to determine when ideas they use in
papers need to be documented, so as to avoid
unwittingly plagiarizing a source.
Questions 24-26:
Avoiding Plagiarism
24. Cutting and pasting information from a
web page directly into a paper is a helpful
strategy if a student wishes to avoid
plagiarism.
TRUE
FALSE
FALSE
In fact, cutting and pasting from any
source will only confuse you later when
you proofread and attempt to determine
which ideas were yours, and which
ideas came from the internet source.
25. Taking meticulous notes to indicate
quotes, paraphrased information, and
original ideas is a helpful strategy if a
student wishes to avoid plagiarism.
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
The best way to avoid unintentional
plagiarism is to know exactly where your
ideas came from. There are several ways
you can take notes that will allow you to
easily differentiate your ideas from those
you found in sources. Some of the best hints
can be found at Purdue’s Department of
English website:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html
26. Multimedia items such as TV news,
radio programs, works of art, graphs,
charts, images, and photos are considered
information and must be documented.
TRUE
FALSE
TRUE
In fact, the 6th edition of The MLA Handbook
for Writers of Research papers devotes an
entire section (section 5.8) to the correct
methods of documenting multimedia
sources. The APA Manual also deals with
these types of media in section 4.16,
subsection H.
THANKS FOR TAKING
THIS TUTORIAL
We hope that these 26 questions have helped you to
better understand what plagiarism is, how it occurs,
how to avoid it, and what can happen to you when
you fail to avoid it. Keep in mind that you also must
be aware of copyright issues when using another
individual’s information in your research,
publication, etc. Both the MLA and APA manuals
offer specific information on copyright, so contact
the library if you have any doubts.