Plagiarism is the representation of another person's words and ideas as your own. This misrepresentation is a breach of ethics that seriously compromises a person's reputation. Professional careers have been ruined by revelations of plagiarism. Researchers, therefore, must scrupulously acknowledge sources to give proper credit for borrowed materials. The following rules should be observed to make sure that the distinction between your own words and ideas and those of others is justly maintained. (Of course, submitting a paper that is completely the work of another person is plagiarism in its most extreme form.)

• Words, phrases, and sentences of another person should be enclosed in quotation marks and cited in proper form.
• Paraphrases and summaries of the ideas of others, should be properly cited. These paraphrases and summaries should not represent merely the rearrangement of sentence elements but should be rewritten in your own style.
• Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries should be introduced with the name of the writer being cited.
• Every item cited in this paper (i.e., all sources of others' words and ideas) should appear in the bibliography in proper form.
• Citations should contain all the information required by standard conventions and specially indicate the location of the material cited. Page numbers should be checked for accuracy before a paper is submitted; the reader must be able to find the source of the material quoted, paraphrased, or summarized. Forms for citations and bibliographies should conform to those specified in The Bedford Guide for College Writers.

If you plagiarize all or part of an assignment, you can expect severe penalties, ranging from failure in that assignment to being recommended for a hearing before a judiciary body of the University. In most cases, a letter will be placed in your permanent file.

More on Plagiarism....