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And How to Avoid It!
Office of Student Judicial Affairs
Pueblo Community College
(January 2000)
This document is adapted from "Avoiding PLAGIARISM, Mastering the Art of Scholarship," which was produced by the Student Judicial Affairs Office of the University of California, Davis.
What is Plagiarism?
According to the PCC Student Handbook, plagiarism is "the deliberate adoption or reproduction of ideas or words or statements of another person as one’s own without acknowledgement"(8). From the Latin word plagiarius (plunderer), plagiarism is an act of intellectual theft and intellectual fraud ("Plagiarism" 888). The one who plagiarizes is stealing the work of another and then trying to deceive another into believing that work belongs to him/her.
"Work" as listed above includes "original ideas, strategies, and research"(Spatt 438), art, graphics, computer programs, music and other creative expressions. The work may consist of writing, charts, pictures, graphs, diagrams, data, websites or other communication or recording media, and may include "sentences, phrases, and innovative terminology" (438), formatting or other representations.
To acknowledge another’s work, one must cite the source. The term "source" includes published works (books, magazines, newspapers, websites, plays, movies, photos, paintings and textbooks) and unpublished works (class lectures or notes, handouts, speeches, interviews, other students’ papers or material from a research service).
Using words, ideas, computer code or any work by someone else without giving proper credit is plagiarism. Every time you use information from a source, you must cite it.
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Why Should You Be Concerned about Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is dishonest because it misrepresents the work of another as your own.
- Plagiarism is cheating,
- Plagiarism is cheating yourself. When you plagiarize, you do not develop your own writing and thinking skills, and you do not receive necessary feedback that can help you improve your skills.
- Plagiarism is a violation of the PCC Student Code of Conduct and can result in the failure of a class, removal from a program, suspension or dismissal from the college.
- Plagiarism devalues the original work of others. It you submit as your own a professional writer’s work, you have an unfair advantage over others who have done their own work.
- Plagiarism is stealing and can lead to copyright violations, which can result in fines or damages.
Plagiarism is harmful. If you pass a course, especially a writing course, because you plagiarized, you will be expected by others to have skills that you might not possess.
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How Can You Avoid Plagiarism?
Know what plagiarism is. Ignorance is not bliss, and even unintentional plagiarism is a violation. While intentional plagiarism is a more serious offense, both unintentional and intentional plagiarism can lead to serious sanctions. You can avoid plagiarism by simply citing your sources within the text (parenthetical citations) and at the end of your report ("Works Cited" page).
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How Should You Cite a Source?
Your instructor will let you know which style of documentation is required for the course – MLA, APA, Chicago Manual. Documentation consists of two parts: documentation within the text and documentation at the end of your paper. In your text, use parentheses to show your reader where you have used each piece of information from your sources. These parenthetical citations will allow your reader to refer to your "Works Cited" page at the end of your paper. The following examples use MLA style to illustrate the various ways you can credit your sources within your text and thus avoid plagiarism:
- Identify the source at the end of paraphrased or summarized information.
e.g. Plagiarism is a problem facing many universities and colleges (Williams 139)
- Identify the source in the text; then give the page number at the end of the paraphrased or summarized information.
e.g. Dr. James Williams claims that plagiarism is a problem facing many universities and colleges (139).
- Quote your source directly using a single phrase to integrate the quotation smoothly into your text.
e.g. According the Dr. James Williams, "To maintain high standards, all institutions of higher education must address the present problem of plagiarism" (139).
The second part of documentation is to include all your sources in an alphabetical reference list (called "Works Cited" in MLA) at the end of the paper. Give complete information about your sources. Use your English handbook for specific rules.
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Works Cited
Merriam-Webster’s Concise Handbook for Writers, Second Edition.
Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 1998.
"Plagiarism." Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition. Springfield,
Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 1996.
Pueblo Community College Student Handbook 1999-2000. Pueblo: PCC, 1999.
Spatt, Brenda. Writing from Sources. New York: St. Martins Press, 1983.
Vardy, Lucinda. Mother Theresa, A Simple Path. New York: Ballantine
Books, 1995.
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Guidelines for Avoiding Plagiarism
- USE YOUR OWN WORDS AND IDEAS
Your writing will only improve if you practice. Taking time to choose your own words, to order your own thoughts and to convey your own words will lead to better writing and clearer expression.
- GIVE CREDIT FOR COPIED, ADAPTED OR PARAPHRASED MATERIAL
Every time that you use another’s exact words, you MUST use quotation marks and cite the source. If you adapt a chart or paraphrase another’s idea, you must still cite the source.
- AVOID USING OTHERS’ WORK WITH ONLY MINOR, OR "COSMETIC" CHANGES
Changing only a few words or the order of sentences in a passage is not paraphrasing. It is better to copy the passage and cite it than to make only cosmetic changes to the passage, even if you cite your source.
- CITE EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT YOURS
There are no FREE SOURCES. You need to cite all words, information, ideas or statistics that you use.
- BEWARE OF "COMMON KNOWLEDGE"
Common knowledge does not need to be cited, but be sure that the information IS common knowledge. That Mother Theresa cared for the poor in India is common knowledge; that she taught geography in Calcutta from 1929 to 19481 is not.
- WHEN IN DOUBT, CITE
If you are not sure if you should cite or not, you probably need to cite!
1 Lucinda Vardey, Mother Theresa, A Simple Path (New York: Ballantine Books, 1995) p.11
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