6. Ethics
b. Plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting the words or ideas of someone else as your own without proper acknowledgment of the source. If you don't credit the author, you are committing a type of theft called plagiarism. In fact the word plagiarism comes from the Latin term for kidnapping.
Plagiarism ranges from copying word-for-word to paraphrasing a passage without credit and changing only a few words.
Below is a sentence from Daniel J. Boorstin's book "The Americans: The Democratic Experience" page 390, New York, Random House [1973]. The following three students have included a passage from this book in their papers...note the degree to which they are included.
Original Passage:
"Still, the telephone was only a convenience, permitting Americans to do more casually and with less effort what they had already been doing before."
Steve writes:
The telephone was a convenience, enabling Americans to do more casually and with less effort what they had already been doing before.
This is plagiarism in its worst form. Steve doesn't indicate that the words belong to Mr. Boorstin leaving his readers to believe the words are his. He has stolen the words and ideas and attempted to cover the theft by changing or omitting an occasional word.
Shane writes:
Daniel J. Boorstin argues that the telephone was only a convenience, permitting Americans to do more casually and with less effort what they had already been doing before.
Although Shane acknowledges the source, this is still plagiarism. The original is copied almost word for word, yet no quotation marks were supplied. Quotation marks indicate which words are used from another author's work.
Amanda writes:
Daniel J. Boorstin has noted that most Americans considered the telephone as simply "a convenience," an instrument that allowed them "to do more casually and with less effort what they had already been doing before."
Amanda has identified her source at the beginning of the paragraph, letting readers know who is being quoted and has provided a footnote directing them to the exact source of the statement. She has paraphrased some of Mr. Boorstin's words and quoted others, but makes it clear which words are hers and which belong to the author.
Excerpt, examples, and commentary above are adapted from James M. McCrimmon, Writing With A Purpose, page 499. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988.
Anoka Ramsey Community College's Student Conduct Code (Policy 3F.1.A) on Plagiarism,
"Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment or the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials."
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