About Plagiarism
In the CMR Engineering College, plagiarism is taken very seriously, both legally and ethically. It can lead to disciplinary action such as expulsion from the college. Additionally, plagiarizing will damage your reputation and credibility as a scholar. Plagiarism can be intentional (purchasing a research paper online or sharing a test with a friend) or unintentional (improperly citing a source in a paper or using an author's words without giving her/him credit).
"Plagiarism, specifically, is a term used to describe a practice that involves knowingly taking and using another person’s work and claiming it, directly or indirectly, as your own."
Some specific forms of plagiarism
- "turning in someone else's work as your own
- copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
- failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
- giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
- changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit
- copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not" (What Is Plagiarism?)
It might seem like using the ideas of others is a problem. However, this is not the case. Scholarship is a conversation; that is, you will be expected to read, analyze, and respond to the ideas of others when writing your papers. The key to doing this without plagiarizing is to cite your sources!
Take Good Notes
- While researching, be sure to take note of important quotes and passages that you think you might use in your paper
- Note the citation information--the author, title, and page number, so that you can easily cite it in your paper
- Develop a system of note-taking that works for you
Cite Correctly
- "Any time you use words from another source, such as a Web site, book, journal article, or even a friend's English paper, you must give proper credt to the source
- Even if you don't use someone else's words, but you refer to an idea of concept from another source, you must also give credit
- 'Citing your sources' means giving all of the information about your source, such as author, title, and date of publication, so someone else can find that source again." (Penn State, 2012)
Use Quotes Effectively
- "If you use someone else's exact words, you need to put those words in quotation marks. Changing a few words here and there is not enough to avoid plagiarism. Either put the exact phrase you are quoting in quotation marks, or rewrite it entirely in your own words
- Quoting extensively from another source, even if you do it properly, is not appropriate for a research paper. Use quotations to support your arguments or clarify important points, but create your own argument using your own words."
Paraphrase Correctly
- "In a paraphrase, you rewrite what someone else has said in your own way. Just as you have a personality that is different from everyone else's, you as a writer have your own voice and style. When you write, even when you are paraphrasing, your writing should sound like it came from you, not from someone else."