Dr. Matt Kuefler

14. PLAGIARISM

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is the use of someone else's work as your own, without proper credit. It is the number one sin of the academic world. You may not copy from another student's work, including past or present students, and you may not copy from any published work, whether published in a book, as an article, or on the world wide web. If you want to quote from someone else's work, you must give that person credit by placing all of the words you quote from them between quotation marks, even if you only use three or four words together from someone else or a couple of key words or phrases (see Writing Tip #17). At the end of the quotation you must use a foot- or endnote to describe where you got the quotation. Using someone's ideas also requires giving credit for those ideas. You do not need to put quotation marks around the words that describe the idea, if you do not quote that person's words, but you must put a footnote at the end of the sentence, again, with a description of the source of that idea (see Writing Tip #11).

The official SDSU definitions of cheating and plagiarism are as follows:

Institutions of higher education are founded to impart knowledge, seek truth, and encourage one's development for the good of society. University students shall thus be intellectually and morally obliged to pursue their course of studies with honesty and integrity. Therefore, in preparing and submitting materials for academic courses and in taking examinations, a student shall not yield to cheating or plagiarism, which not only violate academic standards but also make the offender liable to penalties explicit in Title 5.

Cheating shall be defined as the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain credit for academic work by the use of dishonest, deceptive, or fraudulent means. Examples of cheating include, but are not limited to (a) copying, in part or in whole, from another's test or other examination; (b) discussing answers or ideas relating to the answers on a test or other examination without the permission of the instructor; (c) obtaining copies of a test, an examination, or other course material without the permission of the instructor; (d) using notes, cheat sheets, or other devices considered inappropriate under the prescribed testing condition; (e) collaborating with another or others in work to be presented without the permission of the instructor; (f) falsifying records, laboratory work, or other course data; (g) submitting work previously presented in another course, if contrary to the rules of the course; (h) altering or interfering with the grading procedures; (i) plagiarizing, as defined; and (j) knowingly and intentionally assisting another student in any of the above.

Plagiarism shall be defined as the act of incorporating ideas, words, or specific substance of another, whether purchased, borrowed, or otherwise obtained, and submitting same to the University as one's own work to fulfill academic requirements without giving credit to the appropriate source. Plagiarism shall include but not be limited to (a) submitting work, either in part or in whole, completed by another; (b) omitting footnotes for ideas, statements, facts, or conclusions that belong to another; (c) omitting quotation marks when quoting directly from another, whether it be a paragraph, sentence, or part thereof; (d) close and lengthy paraphrasing of the writings of another; (e) submitting another person's artistic works, such as musical compositions, photographs, paintings, drawings, or sculptures; and (f) submitting as one's own work papers purchased from research companies.

Why does plagiarism matter so much?

The academic world is all about ideas and words to express them. This is especially true of courses in the humanities, which try to sponsor genuine reflection and written responses to that reflection. If I cannot be certain which of the words contained in your essays are your own and which belong to someone else, or which ideas are your own and which belong to someone else, then I cannot evaluate your ideas or your words. It follows then that not only can I not give an appropriate grade to you for your essay, but I cannot see how well you are understanding or interpreting your source or sources, and thus, whether you have mastered the skills that you are expected to learn in this course.

What are the consequences of plagiarism?

Work that is plagiarized even in part will be given an F, regardless of its merit. It does not matter whether you intended to plagiarize or not: what matters is the proper giving of credit to your sources of information, ideas, or words. If two substantial assignments--essays or book reviews--are plagiarized, the student will be given an F for the whole course. And depending on the circumstances, a copy of the paper and the source or sources plagiarized in it may be sent to the student judicial committee that oversees such matters and are authorized to expell students for flagrant plagiarism. That's how serious it is.