Essay Writing: Plagiarism

Avoid plagiarism! Cite your sources! 

Using in-text citations:

• shows the reader that you have done your research
• shows that you know how to credit the sources of your information.
• points your reader to the full citation on your References page for more information.

Defining and Understanding Plagiarism:

 important in the research and writing process.

From the Plagiarism.org Website:

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to "plagiarize" means

• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own
• to use (another's production) without crediting the source
• to commit literary theft
• to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source

In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward.

ALL these are considered plagiarism:

• turning in someone else's work as your own
• copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
• failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
• giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
• changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit
• copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not (see our section on "fair use" rules)

THE MONROE COLLEGE CODE OF ACADEMIC & SCHOLARLY INTEGRITY

Monroe College is an academic community. Its fundamental purpose is the pursuit of knowledge in preparation for a career and for life. Essential to the success of this educational mission is a commitment to the principles of academic integrity. Every member of the college community is responsible for upholding the highest standards of honesty at all times. Students, as members of the community, are also responsible for adhering to the principles and spirit of the following Code of Academic and Scholarly Integrity.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY DEFINITIONS

Activities that have the effect or intention of interfering with education, pursuit of knowledge, or fair evaluation of a student’s performance are prohibited. Examples of such activities include, but are not limited to, the following definitions:

A. CHEATING: Using or attempting to use unauthorized assistance, material, or study aids in examinations or other academic work or preventing, or attempting to prevent, another from using authorized assistance, material, or study aids. Ex: using a cheat sheet in a quiz or exam, altering a graded exam and resubmitting it for a better grade, etc.

B. PLAGIARISM: Using the ideas, data, or language of another without specific or proper acknowledgment. Ex: copying another person’s paper, article, or computer work and submitting it for an assignment, cloning someone else’s ideas without attribution, failing to use quotation marks where appropriate, etc.

C. FABRICATION: Submitting contrived or altered information in any exercise. Ex: making up data for an experiment, fudging data, citing nonexistent articles or sources, etc.

D. MULTIPLE SUBMISSION: Submitting, without prior permission, any work submitted to fulfill another academic requirement at Monroe or any other institution.

E. COPYRIGHT: All students, faculty, and staff must comply with U.S. Copyright Law, in particular the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. Section 1, et seq., as amended.

ADMINISTRATIVE DISMISSAL

Students are expected to comply with the rules of conduct, academic regulations, and established policies and practices of the College and the KGS. Should a situation occur whereby a student violates the Guidelines, codes, and regulations, or fails to comply with requests of administrative authorities, or plagiarizes, he or she may be dismissed from the College or the KGS. Students have the right to appeal a dismissal to the Dean of the College or the Dean of Graduate Programs.