PLAGIARISM DEFINED
Plagiarism (Latin: plagiarius, kidnapper of a child) is the use of another person’s ideas or work without proper acknowledgement. If you need information about how to properly credit or document a source, consult the MLA Handbook.
If you are ever in doubt, document your source.
Plagiarism usually occurs in two forms. Examples of the first form include:
Copying or gaining any advantage from another’s work during a test or examination;
Copying an author’s text without the use of quotations marks;
Using an author’s passages with occasional omissions or changes in wording without proper acknowledgement;
Rearranging the words or sentences of one or more authors;
Using an author’s argument or points from an argument and representing them as one’s own.
The source of the plagiarized material may, for instance, be another student’s paper, an encyclopedia, a scholarly text, or an internet site; the source does not change the degree or seriousness of the plagiarism.
The second form of plagiarism occurs when students receive unacknowledged help in preparing an assignment. Such outside help includes proofreading, editing and assistance from, but not limited to, parents, proctors, tutors, or classmates. While students are encouraged to discuss assignments with faculty and other students, the work should be a student’s own. Students occasionally benefit from cooperative and collaborative learning; however, when work is submitted by teams or individuals, each student must be able to independently explain and defend the claims and ideas presented and must acknowledge the collaboration.
**** Again, if you are in doubt, acknowledge any help you receive. ****
In order to ensure adherence to this policy and to resolve questions of authorship, the Academy reserves the right to electronically screen papers and other submitted work for authenticity.
A FAILING GRADE WILL BE ASSIGNED TO ANY WORK IN WHICH PLAGIARISM OCCURS.