Information Resources
Avoiding Plagiarism - A Guide for Students
What is Plagiarism?
According to the Connecticut
College Honor Code, "Plagiarism occurs when academic
work does not reflect the student's personal and original words,
word-grouping or ideas. For Example, plagiarism consists of:
- handing in a paper which is not one's own work;
- using the language of another writer without proper documentation
(e.g. footnotes, quotation marks, paranthetical documentation,
bibliography);
- using the ideas, arguments, or organization of another
writer without proper acknowledgement;
- submitting a paper as original work in one course when
the paper has already received credit in another course
(unless prearranged with the professor)".
Connecticut College Honor Code
Ignorance of plagiarism is not a defense. Make a point of familiarizing
yourself with the section on academic integrity and plagiarism
in the Student Handbook
Avoiding Plagiarism:
According to the MLA Style Manual, the best way to avoid
plagiarism is to "document everything that you borrow:
not only direct quotations and paraphrases but also information
and ideas" (Gibaldi 151). There are a number of sources
to help you properly credit your souces:
Plagiarism and the Internet:
The Internet provides access to a seemingly inexhaustable amount
of information. While there is scholarly information availalbe
on the web, when using it for research purposes you need to
critically
evaluate, and cite, the sources you find.
The ease with which text can be cut and pasted from one document
into another makes citing web sources all the more critical.
Be aware that there are services available (e.g. Turnitin.com)
that allow faculty to check papers against content found on
the Internet, including term paper mills. When using the Internet
for research, make sure you record the URL and date and time
you retrieved the information and include that in your citation.
Further Assistance:
Plagiarism is a serious issue.
If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism
or how to properly cite your sources, talk with your instructor.
Help is also available from the Writing
Center in Blaustein and the Shain Library Reference
Desk.
Source:
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly
Publishing. New York: The
Modern Language Association of America,
1998. |
