Beal University Library

What is plagiarism anyway?

According to many college and universities policies, plagiarism is defined as "any attempt to convey another’s work as one’s own original thought. It is the use of another person’s or organization’s words or concepts without giving the appropriate credit to that person or organization." It can be intentional or accidental, but plagiarism is always a serious offense. Some examples of plagiarism include:

• Using someone else's words without giving them credit
• Paraphrasing without giving the original author credit
• Using media (video/images/sound/etc) without crediting the creator
• Purchasing or using someone else's paper and submitting it as your own
• Submitting a paper you wrote for another class
• Having someone rewrite part of your paper and submitting it as your own
• Using an incorrect or incomplete citation

What can happen if I plagiarize?

Plagiarism is taken very seriously. Students who plagiarize are subject to academic sanctions that can include a warning, failing the assignment, failing the course, academic probation, mandatory integrity workshops, suspension, or dismissal from the school. This will depend on the severity of plagiarism. Obviously, we don't want any of this to happen, so it's much easier to avoid plagiarizing in the first place!

Thanks to Hodges University.

• Common Knowledge 

  You may have heard that you don't have to cite information that is "common knowledge" -- but what is that? Check out this guide from MIT to learn more.

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