A Situational Definition of Plagiarism

Introduction | A Situational Definition of Plagiarism | What's Citation For? | How Do I Know When I'm in Trouble?
How Do I Protect Myself? | Why Shouldn't I Cheat?

the representation of the words or ideas of another as one's own in any academic exercise. To avoid plagiarism, every direct quotation must be identified by quotation marks or by appropriate indentation and must be promptly cited in the text or in a footnote. Acknowledgment is required when material from another source stored in print, electronic, or other medium is paraphrased or summarized in whole or in part in one's own words. To acknowledge a paraphrase properly, one might state: "to paraphrase Plato's comment . . ." and conclude with a footnote identifying the exact reference. A footnote [or endnote] acknowledging only a directly quoted statement does not suffice to notify the reader of any preceding or succeeding paraphrased material. Information which is common knowledge, such as names of leaders of prominent nations, basic scientific laws, etc. need not be footnoted; however, all facts or information obtained in reading or research that are not common knowledge among students in the course must be acknowledged. In addition to materials specifically cited in the text, only materials that contribute to one's general understanding of the subject may be acknowledged in the bibliography.

Plagiarism can, in some cases, be a subtle issue. Any questions about what constitutes plagiarism should be discussed with the faculty member (4).

As writing teachers, we recognize the challenge that faced the nameless authors of this definition. There is no greater academic misdeed in the academy than plagiarism, since the entire system of awarding higher degrees is dependent upon the university's ability to reliably certify individual achievement. Plagiarism calls that entire system into question, for it allows one student to lay claim to achievements and abilities that properly belong to someone else. The authors of this definition clearly felt the heavy weight of trying to provide a full description of this serious infraction and saw their task as providing guidance for how to avoid plagiarism.

As teachers, we understand the work of the writing classroom to be teaching students how to do more with the words of others than just following the appropriate citation conventions. In the real world of writing, thinking, and learning, determining what constitutes plagiarism is often "a subtle issue" and our job as teachers is to help you think about these subtleties. At the extremes, it is easy to distinguish plagiarism from originality: at one end, there's the student who hands in someone else's paper; at the other end, there's the student who works entirely on his own and hands in a paper that reflects his own ways of thinking about the assigned topic. But, in between, there's a wide spectrum of other situations that can give rise to plagiarism or original writing that responds to the thoughts and words of others. How do you tell the difference?

We think there's more to understanding plagiarism than learning how to avoid it. We believe that it is important to learn how to collaborate productively. Indeed, we think that one of the most important lessons to take from the writing classroom is how to use the words of others. So, rather than put together a series of tutorials on have to avoid the perils of plagiarism, we feel that it is more valuable to offer you ways to think about the act of citation as an invitation to show just what you can do with the words of others.

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What's Citation For?