About Plagiarism

  • Plagiarism is presenting another person’s words or ideas as your own. Here is what the  OWL at Purdue has to say about it:

    “There are few intellectual offenses more serious than plagiarism in academic and professional contexts. Research-based writing in American institutions, both educational and corporate, is filled with rules that writers, particularly beginners, aren't aware of or don't know how to follow. Many of these rules have to do with research and proper citation. Gaining familiarity with these rules, however, is critically important, as inadvertent mistakes can lead to charges of plagiarism, which is the uncredited use (both intentional and unintentional) of somebody else's words or ideas.”

    Plagiarism includes, according to Turn-it-in.com (The Plagiarism Spectrum: Instructor Insights into the 10 Types of Plagiarism):

    1. Clone: Turning in someone else’s work, whether from a published print source or electronic source or another student, word-for-word, as one’s own.
    2. CTRL-C: Pasting in substantial portions of text from a single source without changing anything and without citing.
    3. Find-Replace: Changing key words and phrases but replicating the essential content, language, and/or structure of the source, without citing.
    4. Remix: Paraphrasing from multiple sources, made to fit together, without citing.
    5. Recycle: Borrowing from previous work written for another paper or class (some teachers allow or even encourage this, but ask first).
    6. Hybrid: Combining both perfectly cited sources and copied passages without citation.
    7. Mashup: Mixing copied material from multiple sources; no original writing and no citations.
    8. 404 Error: Including citations to non-existent or inaccurate information about sources.
    9. Aggregator: Mixing copied material from multiple sources; no original writing, but sources cited properly.
    10. Re-tweet: Including proper citation, but replicating too closely the text’s original content, wording, and/or structure.

    Do you see how we cited our sources above? In the first case, we copied word-for-word, so we used quotation marks. In the second case, we used ideas that came from someone else, but put them in our own words. In both cases, we cited our source. Your teachers will discuss and define plagiarism in class to make sure we are all on the same page, but please know that the consequences, as listed in the Student Handbook, are quite serious.

    We encourage both students and parents/guardians to contact their teachers or school librarians with any questions, comments, or concerns about the issue of plagiarism.

    Additional Resources