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Mod3-Plagiarism

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Charles "T" Jones Leadership Library

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Central Penn College Charles "T" Jones Leadership Library
Module 3: Plagiarism and Academic Integrity

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This tutorial provides basic information about plagiarism, Central Penn College's policies regarding plagiarism, and how you can avoid plagiarizing. Academic integrity is also covered here.

Plagiarism Basics

Plagiarism defined:

According to the Central Penn College Handbook, plagiarism is "presenting the published or unpublished ideas, research, or conclusions of another (including another student) as one's own, or using such ideas, research, or conclusions without attribution."

What constitutes plagiarism:

failure to cite
incorrect citation (including citing the wrong edition of a work, fabricating a citation, or leaving out necessary information)
submitting another's work as your own
using too many quotes or paraphrases

Why over-quoting/over-paraphrasing is considered plagiarism:

College writing should reflect your own ideas and opinions. In the college setting, you are expected to move beyond simply memorizing facts and repeating them in your writing assignments. Instead, you should blend what you already know with your new learning (what you learn through research or instruction), critically evaluate the information, and draw your own conclusions. You should use reliable information sources to support your arguments, but the majority of what you write should be your own.

Confused about paraphrasing?

Lehman College's Leonard Lief Library and Lehman Studios created the video below, which provides a clear and simple explanation of why paraphrasing requires a citation.

Lehman College. (2014). Just because you put it in your own words [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6T2lZ51iFI&feature=youtu.be

(Posted with permission.)

Sanctions for plagiarizing:

The Student Handbook outlines the sanctions for plagiarism, which range from grade reductions for minor first offenses to permanent academic dismissal for major subsequent offenses.

Plagiarism Decision Tree

The plagiarism decision tree can help you decide whether or not you need a citation for borrowed work.

Identifying Plagiarism

Is it plagiarism?

Decide if the paraphrase is an example of plagiarism.

Here's the original text, taken from page 5 of Jane Addams' (1911) The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets (New York, NY: MacMillan):

"A further difficulty lies in the fact that this industrialism has gathered together multitudes of eager young creatures from all quarters of the earth as a labor supply for the countless factories and workshops, upon which the present industrial city is based. Never before in civilization have such numbers of young girls been suddenly released from the protection of the home and permitted to walk unattended upon city streets and work under alien roofs..."

Paraphrase:

A further problem stems from the fact that industrialism has brought many eager young people from all around the earth as a work supply for the many factories and workshops that form the base of the current industrial city. Never in our history have so many young women been suddenly let go from the protection of their families and allowed to walk by themselves on city streets and work under the roofs of strangers.

Is it plagiarism?

Decide if the following scenario is an example of plagiarism.

Here's the original text, taken from page 63 of Peter Thiel's (2014) Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future (New York, NY: Crown Business):

"Every culture has a myth of decline from some golden age and almost all peoples throughout history have been pessimists. Even today pessimism still dominates huge parts of the world. An indefinite pessimist looks out onto a bleak future, but he has no idea what to do about it. This describes Europe since the early 1970s, when the continent succumbed to undirected bureaucratic drift. Today the whole Eurozone is in slow-motion crisis, and nobody is in charge."

You write:

According to Peter Thiel, "Every culture has a myth of decline from some golden age and almost all peoples throughout history have been pessimists."

Is it plagiarism?

Decide if the following scenario is an example of plagiarism.

You are required to cite at least 3 sources for your 10 page paper. You decide to use 10 sources. Once you finish writing your ten pages, you realize that over half of your paper is either paraphrased or directly quoted from your sources. You use many sources in order to make your paper as credible as it can possibly be. Knowledge is power, right? You carefully cite every source both in-text and on your References page.

A Pocket Style Manual by Diana Hacker and Nancy Sommers, has a companion website that you can access freely. Check the "How to use the companion Web site" page at the front of the book for instructions.

Sign up for a free student account to access hundreds of practice exercises like the one above. See the APA 35-1 to 38-8 Section for plagiarism and other APA-related practice exercises.

Academic Integrity Basics

Academic integrity defined:

Academic integrity is behaving honestly with regard to your classwork.

Basic values that demonstrate academic integrity:

Fairness
Honesty
Respect
Trust
Responsibility

Academic dishonesty defined:

According to the Central Penn College Handbook, academic dishonesty is "any action or omission by a student that constitutes plagiarism, cheating or academic misrepresentation."

Academic misrepresentation defined:

According to the Central Penn College Handbook, academic misrepresentation is "intentionally making or failing to correct false statements to a faculty member in order to gain an academic benefit, such as an extension of a deadline or additional assistance in completing an assessment."

Academic integrity is a broad, and sometimes vague subject. It's not always black and white. If you're not sure if you're violating academic integrity, talk to your instructor or a librarian for guidance.

Some examples of what constitutes academic dishonesty include:

Lying to your professor about why you submitted an assignment late (or not at all)
Cheating on your homework, quiz, or test
Submitting a paper you previously wrote for another class without permission from BOTH instructors
Having a friend complete an assignment for you or allowing a friend to turn in work that you completed
Fabricating research or statistics

Sanctions for violating academic integrity:

The Student Handbook outlines the sanctions for violating academic integrity, which range from grade reductions for minor first offenses to permanent academic dismissal for major subsequent offenses.

Identifying Violations of Academic Integrity