The word plagiarism comes from the Latin word, plagiarius, which means
kidnapper.
The Official Student Handbook of Alabama State University defines plagiarism
as, "Intentionally or knowingly using sources of another in an academic exercise
without proper identification of sources."
You are plagiarizing if you:
Copy from a book or article without citing your source
Cut and paste text from a web page
Turn in a paper written by someone else
Re-use one of your own papers by turning in the same paper twice (self plagiarism)
Copy a friend's work
Paraphrase without citing your source -- If you have taken something someone else has said or written and put it into your own words
it's paraphrasing
Including what was said on a television show, radio program, lecture, etc. without citing the source
You can avoid plagiarizing by:
Starting your assignments early so you have time to do the
appropriate research
Make sure you have all of the following citation information
from the source you are using
:
Title
Author
Publication Date
Publisher
Pages the information was found on
If you are citing an article you will also need:
Volume
Issue
For web pages include:
The date you viewed the web page
The URL (address) of the web page
* Don't rely on memory. Write down all of your source information as you go along.
It's much more difficult to try to re-locate the information as you're writing your paper.
If you aren't sure if it's plagiarism, cite your source
Refer to style guides such as the APA or the MLA to correctly cite your sources. Be sure that you know which style guide your instructor wants you to use.