What is Plagiarism?
The presentation of ones work as your own.
It is Plagiarism if You....
- Copy words and present them as your own writing.
It is the worst form of plagiarism to copy part or all of a paper from the Internet, from a book, or from another source without indicating in any way that the words are someone else's. To avoid this form of plagiarism, the paper must BOTH place the quoted material in quotation marks AND use an acceptable form of documentation to indicate where the words come from.
- Copy words, give the source, but do not indicate that the copied words are a direct quotation.
Simply listing the source in a footnote or bibliography is insufficient. You must also indicate that the words themselves are quoted from someone else. To avoid this form of plagiarism, put all quoted words in quotation marks or block quotations.
- Copy words, change them a little, and give the source.
Repeating someone else's writing in different words so it's not a direct quotation is called "paraphrasing." Paraphrasing is fine when you indicate the source and the new expression is actually your own. When the expression remains substantially similar to the source as a whole or in one of its parts, it's plagiarism. To count as "your own words," your writing must be significantly different from your source that a reasonable reader would consider it a new piece of writing. To avoid this form of plagiarism, compare what you have written with the original source and revise as needed until the expression is truly your own.
- Present someone else's ideas as your own, even if you express them in your own words.
It is plagiarism to present someone else's original arguments, lines of reasoning, or factual discoveries as your own, even if you put the material in your own words. To avoid this from of plagiarism, cite the source.
Self-Plagiarism
Self-plagiarism means re-using your own work without acknowledging that it comes from a previous paper or book. Some might ask why self-plagiarism is a problem, and while it may not be as serious as stealing someone else's work, it can still be an issue. For instance, if someone repeatedly uses the same information in a series of books or articles without attributing it to a former book or paper, it might seem that he has produced more work than he really has.