What Is Plagiarism and Why Does It Matter?

What Is Plagiarism? 
 
Webster’s New World College Dictionary defines plagiarism in the following manner: To take (ideas, writings, etc.) from (another) and pass them off as one's own.

What is Cybercheating? (Hint: It's another form of Plagiarism)

• Cutting and pasting someone else's webworm and submitting it as your own
• Downloading essays, papers, speeches etc. from the web and turning them in as your own
• Buying essays, papers, speeches etc. from the web and turning them in as your own

("Cybercheating," courtesy of UMass Boston, Healey Library website)  

There are two other distinct types of plagiarism: intentional and unintentional; and both are subject to disciplinary action on behalf of the faculty of St. Vincent’s College!

Unintentional Plagiarism

Many students have unintentionally plagiarized materials, not realizing that by paraphrasing or re-wording someone else’s ideas is still (in fact) stealing the idea or concept of that other person. An example of unintentional plagiarism might be the following: 

If a student were to write in a history paper: “I have a vision that some day this country will stand up and put into practice the true definition of its belief that ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’,” then that student would be plagiarizing Dr. King’s verbalized concepts – even though Dr. King’s exact wording had been altered. 

The original content of the speech reworded above is as follows:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."  - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Intentional Plagiarism

An example of intentional plagiarism occurs when anyone – other than the originator of the idea – takes credit for creating the concept or idea. An example of intentional plagiarism would be cutting and pasting a paragraph from an online article into a research paper without citing the source in the text and references page of a paper. Another example would be "borrowing" another student’s research paper for a class project and submitting it to your professor for a grade as the original author of the paper.  

When you quote, paraphrase, or borrow someone else's
ideas for a research paper you must cite your sources.
Careful documentation takes time and energy, but there's
no ethical way to avoid it.

How Can You Avoid Plagiarism?

Learn the basic rules for how to credit other people's ideas and works (a.k.a. intellectual property) and then use those rules! The following rules are cited – with permission -  from the Manhattanville College website on plagiarizing:

Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing are three methods that allow you to ethically incorporate another author's writing into your research, as long as you cite your sources accurately.

Remember these guidelines...

• Quotations must match the source word for word. They must be attributed to the original author.
• Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must be attributed to the original source.
• Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Summarized ideas must be attributed to the original source.

You must cite someone else's	You do not have to cite your own
Words you quote, summarize or paraphrase Idea (interpretation, opinion, conclusion) Data Graph Photograph Drawing Table of information Experiment Example Unique concept Apt phrase Expression of common knowledge Solution to a problem Speech Video source (film, TV program) Structure of sequencing of facts, ideas or arguments	Idea (interpretation, opinion, conclusion) Data Graph Photograph Drawing Table of information Experiment Example Unique concept Apt phrase Expression of common knowledge Solution to a problem