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Plagiarism Policy

Students are expected to carry out all aspects of academic work within the department and throughout the college with integrity. This means that written work submitted in fulfillment of course credits should be the result of a student's own thought, research and self-expression. Unless acknowledgment is given, a student's work will be assumed to be the result of his or her efforts.

The dictionary defines plagiarism as "copying or imitating the language, ideas, or thoughts of another and passing on the same as one's original work." Plagiarism is thus a form of dishonesty. It calls into question academic integrity. If a student feels unsure about whether and how to give proper recognition to other people's thoughts, research, or organization, he or she should consult with the instructor prior to the submission of written work.

To avoid plagiarism, it is important to give proper credit for another’s work. This means that when the language of someone else is copied, that language should be placed within quotation marks with an indication of its source in a footnote. To omit the quotation marks is to pass off someone else's work as one's own. If a student imitates the language or thought of some other person, then he or she is paraphrasing. In such situations, quotations marks are unnecessary but the source of the thought should be properly noted in a footnote. Ideas which are in the public domain--that is, which are circulated so widely and freely that they no longer have clear authorship--need not be subject to the above rules.

In a long paper, it is appropriate to make a general acknowledgment of indebtedness in a foreword. This acknowledgment does not, however, eliminate the need for giving specific credits in the paper.

March 11, 1985

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