Plagiarism: What it is and How to Avoid it
It is the responsibility of students, faculty, and the library
to help maintain scholastic integrity by discouraging acts of plagiarism.
Plagiarism is the academic or literary equivalent of robbery. Plagiarism
occurs when you fail to give credit to sources used in the development
of a paper or project in an attempt to pass it off as your own work.
In college coursework we continually take in other peoples’
words and ideas through textbooks, lectures, class discussions, library
assignments, and examinations. We then take this information and incorporate
it into our written work (research papers, projects, etc.). When preparing
a written work it is very important that we always give credit where it
is due. The following points will help you avoid acts of plagiarism. These
guidelines were adapted from J. Raymond Hendrickson’s The
Research Paper.
- When writing a paper use your own words.
- When you do use another person’s words or ideas, make sure that
you use "quotation marks" and give credit to the source, either
within the text or in a footnote.
- Do not make slight variations in the language used in the text of
the material and then fail to give credit to the appropriate source.
If your expressions are essentially the same as the author’s, the
author still deserves the credit.
- If you are not directly quoting the material, you still need to document
the information and ideas that are not your own or new to you (something
you discovered in your reading or research).
- If you are uncertain about committing an act of plagiarism just add
a footnote or citation. It is better to be safe than sorry. Give credit
when you should.
- Also talk with your instructor(s) if you need assistance with this
matter. This could prevent you from repeating the assignment or receiving
a failing grade for the course.
La Salle's Academic Responsibility of Registered Students
According ot the La Salle University Handbook "Academic Responsibilities
of Registered Students":
"Student are responsible for the integrity of their academic work.
In this regard: Plagiarism is a serious violation. Plagiarism is defined
as the presentation of the ideas of another as one's own. Any use of another's
ideas without proper acknowledgement is plagiarism."
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