Plagiarism What is Plagiarism?
How does the state of North Carolina view plagiarism?
How is plagiarism defined at North Carolina State University?
What is the difference between copyright infringement and plagiarism?
More information on plagiarism
Most college students are familiar with the concept of plagiarism, i.e., taking the ideas or expression of ideas (in any fixed form such as text, images, sound, video, and so forth) without proper attribution or citation. They know that plagiarism is "bad" and that they could get in serious trouble for plagiarizing another's work. But what does this mean?
To be blunt, plagiarism is the theft of ideas. It suffocates scholarship because new ideas do not grow from the assimilation of one's unique perspective and existing ideas. Theories, discoveries, experiments, and hypotheses are simply moved from one place to the next, shifted in time and space.
What if, for example, anesthesiologists just dragged old hypotheses into successive decades? We might still be breathing in the chloroform handkerchief and biting bullets during surgery. Suppose engineers took the ideas of previous generations and put them forth as new research, stolen and unchanged? We may all still be guiding the horse and buggy, cooking over open fires, and reading by candlelight, if that much.
Plagiarism is using or passing off someone else's work as your own, whether you have taken it verbatim (exactly) or whether you have paraphrased or manipulated it. While appropriating works or ideas from other people without attribution has always been wrong, the increasing amounts of information available on the Internet or through scanning make it an even greater temptation. Works of all kinds are easily found and copied. Many students are unaware that such activities constitute plagiarism or feel that it is unlikely that they will be caught. Either misconception can lead to serious academic repercussions.
For more information on the basics of plagiarism, including specific examples, try the: University of British Columbia Biology Program Guide 2001/2002: Plagiarism and "Avoiding Plagiarism at Oregon State University".
Examples of Plagiarism:
- Reproducing someone else's work without quotation marks and/or attribution
- Paraphrasing or summarizing another's work without attribution
- Failing to cite a source for ideas or information not commonly known
- Failing to cite a source for ideas or information that is widely known
Using another student's work as your own
•How does the state of North Carolina view plagiarism?
N. C. Gen. Stat. §14-118.2 (1999)
§14-118.2 Assisting, etc., in obtaining academic credit by fraudulent means
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation or association to assist any student, or advertise, offer or attempt to assist any student, in obtaining or in attempting to obtain, by fraudulent means, any academic credit, grade or test score, or any diploma, certificate or other instrument purporting to confer any literary, scientific, professional, technical or other degree in any course of study in any university, college, academy or other educational institution. The activity prohibited by this subsection includes, but is not limited to, preparing or advertising, offering, or attempting to prepare a term paper, thesis, or dissertation for another, impersonating or advertising offering or attempting to impersonate another in taking or attempting to take an examination, and the giving or changing of a grade or test score or offering to give or change a grade or test score in exchange for an article of value or money.
Any person, firm, corporation or association violating any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. The section includes the acts of a teacher or other school official; however, the provisions of this section shall not apply to the acts of one student in assisting another student as herein defined if the former is duly registered in an educational institution in North Carolina and is subject to the disciplinary authority thereof.
What does this mean?
The state of North Carolina views certain activities as illegal:
Writing a paper for another person
Taking an exam for another person
Taking, or offering to take, a bribe to change a grade (course or test)
Any other action that would "obtain by fraudulent means" a false grade for a student.
•How is plagiarism defined at North Carolina State University?
The NC State University Student Handbook has a section called the Code of Student Conduct. This section defines academic integrity, academic dishonesty, cheating, and plagiarism. The NC State University definition of plagiarism is:
Submitting written materials without proper acknowledgement of the source
Deliberate attribution to, or citation of, a source from which the referenced material was not in fact obtained
Submitting data which have been altered or contrived in such a way as to be deliberately misleading
Some instructors may even ask that students sign an Academic Integrity Pledge such as:
Plagiarism, a form of academic misconduct subject to and outlined in NCSU's Code of Student Conduct and Regulations, can be defined as copying the language, phrasing, structure, or specific ideas of another and presenting any of these as one's own, original work. When you present the words or ideas of another (published or unpublished) in your writing, you must fully acknowledge your sources according to methods your teacher will prescribe (usually one of those detailed in your writing handbook). Since your teacher will refer cases of suspected plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty to the university's judicial system, the penalties may range from a failing grade on an assignment or in the course as a whole to suspension or expulsion from the university. Please sign and return this form, which will be kept on file.
Pledge: I have read and understand the above statement and agree to abide by the standards of academic integrity in the Code of Student Conduct and Regulations.
This pledge was taken from the Policies for English 110, 111, 112, and 113.
•What is the difference between copyright infringement and plagiarism?
Generally speaking, a copyright holder has the exclusive rights to reproduce, display, transmit, perform, and modify a work as well as the right to publicly perform a sound recording by digital transmission. There are exemptions in the copyright act that provide for certain exceptions to those exclusive rights, many in favor of limited nonprofit educational purposes.
If none of the exemptions apply, the proposed use of someone else's copyrighted work will probably be copyright infringement. If proper attribution is required and is missing, the proposed use will also be plagiarism. For example, quoting extensively from a book without the copyright holder's permission would likely be copyright infringement. Extensive quoting without permission and without attribution would be infringement and plagiarism.
Similarly, extensive quoting without permission but with attribution would not be plagiarism but would still be copyright infringement. Conversely, extensive copying with permission but without attribution would be plagiarism but not copyright infringement.
•More Information on Plagiarism
Indiana University's Writing Tutorial Services
Northwestern University Statement on Academic Integrity
Writing Center at UNC-Chapel Hill
Georgetown University Honor Council: "What Is Plagiarism?"
Practical Guides
Deterring and Detecting Plagiarism