How to Avoid Plagiarism
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is the act of taking credit for or turning in work that is not your own. Thoughts,
concepts, research that a person has published are considered to be intellectual property.
So if you use someone else’s intellectual property without giving the person credit, then you
are actually stealing someone else’s intellectual property. In an academic setting, plagiarism
is usually demonstrated by the following:
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NOT Citing Sources, and/or
NOT showing the reader where the ideas originated.
The Norwalk Community College community abides by the following code of conduct as
applied to plagiarism:
Academic Honesty/Dishonesty
Students of Norwalk Community College are expected to do their own
work on assignments, laboratory exercises, quizzes, examinations, and any
other academic work. Academic dishonesty ultimately injures the individual
and depreciates the value of grades received by other students. Cheating in
any form is viewed by the faculty, the students, and the administration as a
most serious offense.
Definition of Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to:
1. Cheating on examinations and/or quizzes.
2. Collaborating with others in work to be presented if contrary to the
stated rules of the course.
3. Plagiarizing, including the submission of others’ ideas or papers
(whether purchased, borrowed or otherwise obtained) as one’s own
work.
4. Stealing or unauthorized access to examinations or course materials.
5. Falsifying records, laboratory or other data.
6. Submitting, if contrary to the rules of a course, work previously presented
in another course.
7. Knowingly and intentionally assisting another student in any of the
above, including assistance in an arrangement whereby any work,
classroom performance, examination, or other activity is submitted or
performed by a person other than the student under whose name the
work is submitted or performed. (Student Handbook 27).
The act of plagiarizing might be intentional (one knows that one is not citing a source
correctly) or unintentional (when a writer is unaware of what needs to be cited). Whether or
not the plagiarism is intentional or unintentional, it is still illegal.
Other examples of plagiarism include:
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Copying, quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing from any source without adequate
documentation.
Purchasing a pre-written paper.
Letting someone else write a paper for you.
Paying someone else to write a paper for you.
Submitting as your own someone else's unpublished work, either with or without
permission.
What needs to be cited?
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Quotation : copying a passage exactly as it is.
Paraphrase : translating the source into your own words.
Summary : condensing a writer's complete argument and stating it in your own
words.
What does not need to be cited?
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Your own original research, such as the results from experiments, surveys or
questionnaires that you developed and conducted for your research paper;
Your own photographs, artwork, videos, creative writing (fiction, poetry, etc.); and
Your own original ideas (thesis statement, conversations, concepts that have not
been noted anywhere else).
Take the quiz to test your knowledge
Works Cited
Norwalk Community College Student Handbook. Norwalk Community College. Web. 14 October 2010.