Plagiarism means presenting someone else’s work in any format as your own original work without appropriate acknowledgement of the author or its source. It can also be deliberate cheating or copying and pasting from sources without correct acknowledgement.
Plagiarism is a type of student misconduct and a breach of academic integrity. It can take many forms these days, but the college has systems in place to actively check and act upon any instances of plagiarism in students’ work. Taft College treats any form of plagiarism very seriously.
Penalties for plagiarism are harsh and can result in you:
Forms of plagiarism
Some examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to:
Other forms of behavior that breach academic integrity and are regarded at Taft College as student misconduct include, but are not limited to:
Writing assignments involves bringing together two sources of ideas:
There needs to be a balance between your own ideas and the ideas of the writers you have read.
When you use others’ ideas, you can:
You should summarize much more often than you quote or paraphrase because when you summarize, you show that you:
Correct referencing techniques require that you acknowledge the source of your information in two places:
The purpose of referencing is:
There are many different referencing styles; those commonly used at Taft College are:
In The Prince, Machiavelli says that a prince should "endeavor to avoid those things which would make him the object of hatred and contempt" (64).
Booth (2011) stressed simplicity in the creation of instructional objects.
The power of technology goes beyond individual inventions because technology "begets more technology." It is, as Diamond puts it, an "autocatalytic process" (301).
You don't need to provide a reference for common knowledge – that is, information shared by many people. It is sometimes difficult to know what is and what is not common knowledge in your field of study. If you read or hear the same information many times from different sources, it is probably common knowledge. Common knowledge usually includes major historical events, famous people and geographic areas that are known about by educated people throughout the world, not just in the country in which they occurred.
If the information is not common knowledge, you should provide a reference. This shows your reader that the idea is held by an expert in the field. It also demonstrates to your lecturer that you have been reading academic texts.
When in doubt, provide a reference.
To quote correctly, be sure to:
To paraphrase correctly, be sure to:
To summarize correctly, be sure to:
To in-text reference correctly, be sure to:
It is quite acceptable to discuss your studies with other students and to ask other people for certain kinds of help. However, it isn’t acceptable to ask other people to do your work for you. It is important to avoid any form of plagiarism and/or cheating.
Still not sure if you are doing the right thing? Here are some scenarios that may help you decide.
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SCENARIO |
RATIONALE |
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My roommate and I write our assignments together and since we’re in different sections of the same course, we can just hand in the same assignment and change the name on the cover sheet.
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If it’s an individual assignment, it should be your own individual work. If not, this is considered cheating.
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I’ve seen notices around the campus advertising help with assignment writing. If I pay what they ask, that’s not plagiarism, is it? It’s not like I’m stealing.
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It’s passing someone else’s work off as your own. This is an example of cheating.
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I have a really good memory. I remember most of what I read although I can’t always remember where I read it. My essays are usually full of memorized passages. That’s not plagiarism, is it?
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If you are using someone else’s words, you should put those words in quotation marks and provide reference details. If not, this is plagiarism.
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This is my first year at Taft College. My friend took this class last year. I read his final paper for the class, and it was really good. I copied a few paragraphs because he explained the problem and solution so well. That’s not really plagiarism, is it? |
Copying from a friend’s assignment is considered to be cheating.
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I always do the research for my assignments and make notes on what should be in the answer, but I get my sister to write the final report because her English is much better than mine. That’s acceptable, isn’t it?
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If someone else writes an assignment for you, it is their work not yours. You are passing off someone else’s words as your own. This is considered cheating.
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My boyfriend has had some family problems this semester and has had to make several trips home. Because of that, he’s had to work more hours in his part-time job. To help him out, I wrote part of his assignment for him. I won’t be in trouble, will I?
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A student who assists another student beyond the boundaries of legitimate co-operation can also be penalized. This is a form of collusion and is considered cheating.
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SCENARIO |
RATIONALE |
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My roommate and I are doing the same subjects and so we talk about what we’re reading and learning about in class.
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Discussing your subject is a good way of consolidating your learning.
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I’m not always sure if I’ve structured my assignment in the way required, so I sometimes make an appointment to see a tutor to get some guidance.
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If you’re unsure about how to structure an assignment, it’s a good idea to get some advice.
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Sometimes I make careless spelling mistakes when I type my assignments. I can’t always find them when I read my assignments because I’m usually concentrating on the meaning. It’s OK to ask someone to proofread my assignment for typing mistakes, isn’t it?
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Asking a friend to proofread is not plagiarism or cheating. In fact, it’s a good idea to ask someone else to check your writing for typing mistakes.
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All borrowed information must be cited—even if researchers put the information in their own words. Ethical researchers always give credit to the source where they found the information. The three methods of presenting borrowed information are quotation, paraphrase, and summary. The examples below use MLA in-text citations and refer to an MLA works cited entry (see below).
And for what? To put the money in a bank.
Nonprofit insurance companies (or hospitals) have no shareholders to give the profits to. They make money to build
bigger buildings and to pa top executives more, and that is it. For those who want to make a lot of money, health care is a great place, because very few people are willing to say no when it comes to their health, regardless of the cost involved. Today, the market has never been better for making money. Health care companies keep coming up with new procedures, products, and ills--and they keep persuading us we have to have them. So we keep buying them.
Frankly, since someone else has always been picking up the tab, few of us have had reason to care until recently.
But now the bill s falling back onto our own plate.
Quotation
Patrick Rooney and Dan Perrin assert, "For those who want to make a lot of money, health care is a great place, because very few people are willing to say no when it comes to their health, regardless of the cost involved [...] But now the bill is falling back on [the public's] own plate" (12).
NOTE: Ellipsis dots are used to denote omissions in quotations. Three dots are used to signify that part of a sentence is missing, and four are used when the end of at least one sentence has been omitted. Brackets are used to show any changes in a quote. The changes should never change the meaning of the original passage.
Paraphrase
Rooney and Perrin claim that the "health care" industry is enticing for those who re seeking big salaries. Since patients rarely refuse treatment, no matter how much that treatment may cost, the medical industry can be very profitable. However, now those cost are a much bigger concern for consumers (12).
NOTE: Selected words or phrases may be quoted in paraphrase or summary.
Summary
Rooney and Perrin argue that the "health care" industry is exceedingly profitable (12).
NOTE: A source introduction of the author or authors clearly identifies the beginning of borrowed information and eliminates the need for the authors' names in the parenthetical in-text citation at the end of the information. This is an example of using an apt phrase from the original text and adding your own analysis with correct citation information.
Works Cited Entry: A corresponding entry on the works cited page should always be included:
Rooney, J. Patrick, and Dan Perrin. America’s Health Care Crisis Solved: Money-Saving Solutions, Coverage for
Everyone. John Wiley & Sons, 2008. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost),
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=231272&site=ehost-live.
(Note: check with your professor regarding including the permalink for an eBook)
Examples for in-text referencing are taken from A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing.
This guide was modified from UTS: Avoiding Plagiarism: Real-life Scenarios https://avoidingplagiarism.uts.edu.au/