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What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is any time you use someone else’s words, ideas, or visuals without giving them credit. And of course, you would never do it!

But it’s not as simple as it seems. Many people do it accidentally. Also, different forms of writing call for different conventions to avoid plagiarism and give proper credit to sources. That’s why it is important to learn about how to avoid it.

What do you know already?

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Plagiarism in Different Settings

Why is plagiarism such a big deal in academic settings? What about other settings?

Academic settings value individual work. That’s why you get your own grade for each class you take. However, there’s more to it than that! Researchers build on other research. Think about that really great source you found for your paper. You probably want more like it, so you’re going to go to the reference list and find some of what they read. As Dan Martin, a writing professor at the University of Central Florida says, Works Cited pages are “textual DNA.”

What will happen to you if you plagiarize?

You’ll probably receive a zero for that assignment or for the course. You will also have to fill out a report that will go to the Honor Court. In other words, it’s a big deal! And it’s really hard for a reader to know if you did it on purpose or not. So be careful!

Public settings don’t have the same strict citation rules that academic communities do. Think about the last time you flipped through a magazine at a doctor’s office. Did you read the article with the purpose of going to find other sources to research the topic in-depth? Probably not. However, popular sources might include lists of where to go for more information, particularly hyperlinks. They will also give credit by using tags such as “Dr. Perkins said…” These attributions are very important even if a strict MLA or APA citation is not.

If you plagiarize in a public setting, you might get fired, or sued. Companies who end up with logos too similar to other companies will see their day in court. So, consequences can range from legal ramifications to maybe losing that friend on Twitter when you didn’t @ them for the idea they clearly had first.

How to Avoid Plagiarism

Take good notes, with citations. The surest way to accidentally plagiarize is to not know if the notes you took are in your own words or not, or to not be able to find the source they came from.
Draft with citations. It’s NEVER a good idea to add these in later. You can polish the details, but go ahead and put the author’s name and page in there so you don’t lose it or miss it later.
Use quotation marks around any text that takes more than three words from the original. There are key phrases or jargon that aren’t really quotes and that you can’t change, but be sure to put quotes around anything that is more than a phrase.
Use internal citations for paraphrasing, too! You may put it in your own words, but if it isn’t your idea, add an internal citation.
Create a Works Cited page. When editing your paper, double check that every internal citation matches the Works Cited page. You can do a search for the author’s name to easily make sure you have cited both internally and in the reference list.
Images can be plagiarized too! With images, be sure you are citing the image or are using advanced image searches to set the Creative Commons license criteria. Follow the Creative Commons license guidelines for your image.

Summary

Plagiarism is a serious concern when doing academic research. The Ball State Academic Ethics Policy explains the process if you get caught plagiarizing; however, ENG 104 or 114 will teach you how to avoid accidental plagiarism and write ethically from secondary research.

NEXT: Primary Research