Plagiarism occurs when a person hands in someone else's work as their own. |
Plagiarism includes:
- direct presentation of someone else's work,
- a paraphrase of their work, or
- even direct inclusion of turns of phrase from someone else's writing.
*In the instances listed above, the plagiarism is most likely intentional.
Plagiarism also includes:
- work that cites its sources improperly. Again, this applies to sources of direct quotations, paraphrased ideas, and even turns of phrase.
*In these instances, the plagiarism may well be unintentional, but it is still plagiarism nonetheless.
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What is the significance of plagiarism, within our classroom context? |
- Through intellectual honesty, appropriately recognizing and crediting each other's ideas, we not only substantiate each other's work, but together provide a stronger basis for the development of future ideas.
- Intellectual honesty is at the core of advancement in academic scholarship at post-secondary and professional levels. Plagiarism, whether intentional or not, directly works against principles of intellectual honesty. For this reason, plagiarism at the post-secondary level is not tolerated and is subject to severe penalties.
- In school, we openly promote and support the culture of life-long intellectual honesty. If plagiarism or other forms of cheating occur at any time, there is a set of consequences that must be followed to ensure that we continue to promote a positive and honest learning climate within our classroom.
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What can I do to make sure that I am not plagiarizing? |
Avoid using other sources altogether. This way, your ideas, supporting details, and commentary are all your own, generated from your own reflections about the subject at hand.
~ OR ~
Use sources with care. Even the act of reading a source--even without taking notes from it--may lead to unintentional plagiarism if ideas from that source that have influenced your work are not credited.
Be sure to:
- become familiar with various ways in which writers approach the research process and the writing process.
- keep track of sources used by using a research sheet and/or 2Learn.ca WebTracks /
'NetLog guides.
- learn about effective note-taking and paraphrasing.
- ground your composition in your own ideas. A strong thesis can help set up your essay with a strong organizational focus. Tying each body paragraph of your essay back to the developing thesis helps to keep you focused on your ideas. Bringing in someone else's idea as support for your idea OR as a springboard for you to extend your own commentary can then be very effective.
- become very familiar with how to integrate other people's ideas into your work, by encapsulating short quotations or by including longer references through indented block quotations.
- last but not least, keep your footnotes and bibliography under development as your composition evolves.
Keep in touch with your teacher. If you have trouble developing your ideas, make an appointment with your teacher/instructor to discuss strategies that might help.
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What happens if my work is suspected of being plagiarized? |
The procedure outlined in your school or other educational institution?s plagiarism policy will be followed if your work is suspected of being plagiarized.
A recommendation: It is always a good idea for all writers to keep copies of their works-in-progress until after their compositions are returned to them, as draft writing provides evidence for the development of independent thought. This may include two or more versions of works-in-progress, saved at intervals to show the evolving document, if you are writing using a word processor.
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