| Statement on Plagiarism | 
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When do you need documentation? For all statements of fact, opinions, ideas, statistics, allegations, etc., to which the author has no exclusive claim by right of discovery or invention. What is plagiarism? "When a student submits work purporting to be his own, but which in any way borrows ideas, organization, wording, or anything else from some other source without appropriate acknowledgment of that fact, the student is guilty of plagiarism" (University of Kentucky Statement on Plagiarism). Some forms of plagiarism: 1) Presenting a paper written by someone else as your own work. 2) Using material paraphrased or quoted from a source without footnoting that source. 3) Using the exact words of a source without using quotation marks to indicate a direct quotation. This remains plagiarism even if the material is properly footnoted. 4) Reproducing the style, organizational structure, or wording of a source, even if that source is properly footnoted; central to avoiding this error is the practice of proper paraphrasing. 5) Allowing another individual to substantially revise, rewrite, or edit your work. You may consult with the Writing lab for advice, and we will have editing sessions during which other students suggest alterations to your drafts, but YOU are to make the changes. I will require that you hand in all drafts, and I don’t want to see someone else’s handwriting doing the revision. 6) Plagiarism is not limited to these specific examples; consult the larger definition. When in doubt, consult your instructor. What if you and a source independently reach the same conclusion or have the same idea? You may claim the idea or conclusion as original to yourself, but you must also include a reference indicating that this same conclusion or idea is found in your sources. Exceptions: You do not have to footnote any information that can be considered any part of the whole body of general knowledge shared by the educated public. Rule of thumb: consider yourself a member of the "educated public." If you did not know the information before you did the research, you should seriously consider footnoting it. However, use discretion; do not footnote anything that is simply an easily verifiable fact. For example, you might not have known that Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, but it would be considered a fact that is part of the "body of general knowledge" and would not need to be footnoted. When in doubt, consult your instructor. Misrepresentation of sources: If you attribute any fact, opinion, statistic, etc., to a source when indeed that source does not contain such information, you are guilty of intellectual dishonesty in a way that is just as serious as using another’s work without proper attribution. You must paraphrase accurately and fairly; you must quote exactly and indicate any alteration of a quotation. Penalties for plagiarism: |
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