Avoiding Plagiarism

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism occurs when a person represents someone else’s words, ideas, phrases, sentences, or data as one’s own work. When a student submits work that includes such material, the source of that information must be acknowledged through complete, accurate, and specific footnote references; verbatim statements must be acknowledged through quotation marks.

To avoid a charge of plagiarism, a student should be sure to include an acknowledgment of indebtedness:

• Whenever he or she quotes another person’s words directly.
• Whenever he or she uses another person’s ideas, opinions, or theories, even if they have been completely paraphrased in one’s own words.
• Whenever he or she uses facts, statistics, or other illustrative material taken from a source, unless the information is common knowledge.

Note: This Plagiarism information is from the 2004-2006 Student Handbook.