Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else's words or ideas as if they were your own - that is, without acknowledging the origin of said words or ideas.  You won't go to jail for plagiarism (although if you plagiarize from the wrong source, you might face some pretty heavy lawsuits) – but it IS a serious academic offense that can lead in some cases to dismissal from the university.  At a minimum, you can expect a failing grade for any paper in which plagiarism is detected.

It is easy to be tempted into plagiarism, especially if you come up to a deadline without having prepared adequately to write the paper.  But DON'T DO IT!  Plagiarism can taint your reputation for life - as Senator Joseph Biden discovered when he was forced to drop out of the 1988 Presidential campaign after plagiarizing a speech.

Most plagiarism is probably not intentional.  Poor record-keeping while taking notes, so that the origin of the words or ideas is obscure even to the note-taker, or insufficient research, so that only one or two chief sources supply all of a paper's ideas, can lead to plagiarism.  However, whether it is intentional or accidental, PLAGIARISM WILL REALLY MESS UP YOUR SEMESTER!  If I find that you have plagiarized on a particular assignment, I will assign you a failing grade for that assignment.

If I have reason to believe that the plagiarism was intentional, or if I catch the same person plagiarizing twice, I will fail you for the course.  Certain acts – e.g., the copying of another student’s paper, or the disappearance of a crucial source from the library – will constitute evidence that the plagiarism took place with full knowledge of the nature of the act.

Any of the following constitute plagiarism:

1. Failure to provide citations for material that clearly came from a secondary source, even if it is in your own words (these are stolen ideas).
2. Direct quotation or close paraphrases of a source's language without a textual citation, even if you include the source in your bibliography (i.e., you must have internal indications that the language came from elsewhere).
3. Direct quotations of a source’s language that are not set off by quotation marks, even if a textual citation is given. Failure to provide quotation marks implies that you are using your own language to express the ideas of the acknowledged source; you must show that it is the original language by using quotation marks.
4. Absence of a bibliography or list of works cited when such a list is appropriate, an excessive number of citations to sources that do not appear in the bibliography, or disappearance of all cited sources from the library will be interpreted as attempts to avoid being caught.  As this is evidence of intention, such offenses may be treated more severely than inadvertent plagiarism.

These are the most common specific violations; they are not the only ways you may plagiarize.  When in doubt, give the source of an idea, or bring the specific case to me - we will decide together whether it should be cited.  Even if I am wrong (which of course never actually happens  ), you will have protected yourself by talking to me first.

Prevent plagiarism by doing your work in a timely and adequate fashion, so as to reduce temptation, and by careful note-taking, so as to reduce accidents.
 

Other resources on plagiarism:

• An extended discussion on what plagiarism is and how to avoid it, from the Indiana University Writing Tutorial Services.
• Another discussion on avoiding plagiarism, from the Hamilton College Writing Center.
• Still one more take on how to avoid plagiarism, from the University of California-Davis.
• A report on the extent of plagiarism problems at U.S. colleges, from an attorney specializing in higher-education law.

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