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Plagiarism occurs when sources are not properly quoted and documented. When writing essays, personal statements, and research papers, you must give credit to your sources, whether you quote them directly, summarize them, or paraphrase them.
According to the Mount Saint Mary's University Catalog, plagiarism falls into the category of Academic Dishonesty. It is a serious offense that will not be treated lightly. Consequences include any of the following: failing the assignment, a lowered and/or failing grade in the course, suspension, academic probation, or expulsion.
Mount Saint Mary's University professors use Turnitin, a program that scans students' work for excessive similarities to other published material from their database of print and online works. They can also tell if the writing style sounds like your voice or the voice of Ph.D. writing for a scholarly journal.
COMMON KNOWLEDGE
“What everyone knows” (ie. the current President of the United States). Use it freely. Common Knowledge does not need to be cited in your paper.
PERSONAL OPINION
Your own theories and opinions based on your readings, observations, and common knowledge. Use it freely. Personal Opinion does not need to be cited unless previously published by YOU. Personal Opinion MUST be supported & proven by Common Knowledge and Intellectual Property.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Any book, article, sound recording, video, lecture, etc. written by someone other than yourself, whether printed on paper or available on the Internet. (ie. a quotation from the current president’s ‘State of the Union Address’). Intellectual Property MUST be quoted or paraphrased and CITED, parenthetically, or footnoted as well as listed in the "Works Cited" or Bibliography.
Begin work on your paper as soon as you receive the assignment.
Starting early allows plenty of time to organize your research, write your paper, AND arrange for someone to edit your writing.
Take accurate notes on everything you read and where you found it.
Keep an updated list of all facts, direct quotes, and information with the full source citation. Compiling your source list as you go will save time when you're assembling your paper.
Summarize.
Describe the main points of an article in several sentences without quoting the text or asserting your personal opinion of the text. Cite your sources with parenthetical notes and in the "Works Cited."
Paraphrase.
Combine the main points of the article with your opinion. This will be more extensive than a summary. Make sure that you include a parenthetical citation whenever you share facts that were found in an article or book.
When in doubt, cite it.
If you're not sure whether or not a fact is common knowledge, include a citation. This signals the reader that this fact is not your opinion, but has its origins in someone else's work.
Researching, arguing a position, laying the foundation for scientific experiments, and all other academic pursuits begin with studying the work of others and using this work to inform our own. It is absolutely crucial to give credit to those whose work you use, and this is done using direct quotations and paraphrasing and by always citing your sources. Not to do so would be considered plagiarism. Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty are treated as extremely serious violations of ethical conduct and may result in suspension or expulsion from the University.
A quote is the exact wording used by the original author.
Example:
Paraphrasing is rewriting another's words or ideas in your own words, often summarizing or synthesizing a larger text.
Example:
For more information view these guides on quoting and avoiding plagiarism:
Some free, online sites that check for inadvertent plagiarism and/or style and organizational flaws:
These should not replace the human review process (such as asking a friend, colleague, professor, etc. to read your paper), but they can be useful for understanding the value of proper summarization and paraphrasing. This will help you to build your writing skills.
The Copyright Handbook by
Visit the guide below for more help with:
