Cheating

Plagiarism is:

• The use of material written by another person and used without proper credit in your paper
• The use of a unique or original idea by another person without proper credit in your paper
• Having someone else write your paper
• The use of a unique or original phrasing by another person without proper credit in your paper

Let's take an example:

Say that you read Philip Polpott's comment that "Americans wouldn't know what to do without the mind-control politics of advertising."

The idea that Americans are controlled by advertising is not new. Pursuing that idea in your paper wouldn't be plagiarism. However, using the phrase "mind-control politics of advertising" without crediting Polpott would be plagiarism.

And here's another example:

Say that you read Murian Wellpost's theory that Shakespeare may have had a brother no one talks about, and that this brother actually wrote Hamlet.

This idea is definitely original. You could not use it in your paper without crediting Wellpost.

If you are writing a paper and are not certain whether you are doing all you can to avoid even the appearance of plagiarism, please ask for help from me or your grader.

Here's the official version:

ACKNOWLEDGING SOURCES IN ACADEMIC WORK

Overview 1

The Honor Code of University College at Tulane defines plagiarism as unacknowledged or falsely acknowledged presentation of another person's ideas, expressions, or original research as one's own work. Such use is defined as plagiarism regardless of the intent of the student.

Two basic principles should be followed when composing an original product:

(1) when giving facts, figures, dates or other information which are not general knowledge among educated people, refer to the source of the information either in the text itself or by means of a footnote; and,

(2) when composing material that is to be submitted as your own work, clearly acknowledge any condensation or paraphrase of another's ideas or arguments.

Information and ideas may come from several sources; it is in the act of putting those ideas and facts together in new ways, or interpreting or analyzing them differently, that an original work is produced.

Several rules regarding citation of sources follow from the two principles above.

(1) Cite sources for all direct quotations. There are not exceptions to this rule. All direct quotations must be clearly attributed to the original source.

(2) Cite sources from which you paraphrase or summarize facts or ideas. This rule helps to avoid a common form of plagiarism: not only paraphrasing an unacknowledged source's idea(s), but also literally adopting ("lifting") certain specific phrases or stylistic expressions without placing quotation marks around them and explicitly acknowledging their source. When paraphrasing a source in your work, organize your summary or paraphrase in your own distinctive manner; make it a natural part of your own argument and use your own words and sentences. Most importantly, properly credit the source of each summary or paraphrase.

(3) Cite sources for ideas or information that could be regarded as common knowledge but which you did not possess before encountering it in a particular source, or you think you reader might find unfamiliar. This rule address those situations where there is no clear distinction between: (a) an idea that, while not you own, seems to be generally well-known (such as the heliocentric conception of the solar system); and (b) a well-known idea you intend to challenge or treat in a unique way or as an often misunderstood concept (such as the concept of schizophrenia). When you loosely adopt a well-known idea, you do not need to provide a formal citation for its source, although you should specify your understanding of the idea when you first use it in your work. When you make special use of a well-known idea, however, you do not need to provide a specific citation.

Usually you can differentiate between ideas that are common knowledge and those that are dependent on particular sources; nevertheless, there are cases where this distinction is troublesome. As a rule of thumb, if the material strikes you as unique or specialized, cite its source formally. If you think the material would strike your audience as unique or specialized, you should cite its source. Finally, whenever you cannot clearly decide whether or not a citation is needed based on these rules, take the safest course: assume that the material is not known to your audience and provide a source.

(4) Cite sources for graphical and other kinds of specialized or technical materials. This rule extends the application of the preceding three rules to forms of work such as laboratory reports, musical compositions, works of art, or computer software.

And finally...

Above all remember that plagiarism is a serious offense both at school and at work. Take a lesson from Stephen Wigler:

By The Associated Press
BALTIMORE (AP) -- A music critic for The Sun newspaper was fired for lifting a passage from a reference book for an opera review.

Critic Stephen Wigler was fired Wednesday after a reader pointed out that his Nov. 15 [2000] review of the Baltimore Opera's La Traviata included an unattributed excerpt from The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Recorded Opera, Editor John S. Carroll said.

Carroll apologized in a letter published Wednesday in the newspaper.

"The critic who wrote The Sun's review, when asked about the similarity, acknowledged having committed plagiarism,'' he said.

Wigler did not immediately return a call Friday.