Library FAQs

Plagiarism is when you present someone else's work or ideas as your own.  

More specifically, "in an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately  uses someone else's language, ideas, or other original (not common knowledge) material without acknowledging its source." (Council of Writing Program Administrators)

Plagiarism is considered academic dishonesty. Plagiarism is viewed as a serious form of academic misconduct, so it's essential to acknowledge and include citations for information taken from other authors or sources.  

When is it plagiarism?  Plagiarism can be:

• Copying someone's words (like from a book, article, or website) or other creative work (like an image or video) without giving them credit.
• Using or repeating someone's ideas or concepts without giving them credit. This includes paraphrasing to avoid giving credit. Even if you change the words, you have to give credit for people's ideas. 
• Intentionally presenting someone else's work as your own. This includes turning in a paper written by someone else as if you wrote it yourself, and applies whether you bought the paper from a "paper mill," paid someone to write the paper for you, or got the paper for free from another student or on the internet.
• Misrepresenting someone's ideas or concepts or quoting someone's words incorrectly or out of context.
• Handing in a paper you wrote for another class and expecting to get credit twice for the exact same work. If you would like to turn in a more in-depth paper for two classes instead of a shorter one for each class, talk to your teachers ahead of time to see if they would allow this arrangement.
• Failing to acknowledge the contribution of others in work produced collaboratively.

When is it not plagiarism? 

You do not need to give credit for statements that are considered to be "general knowledge." These are ideas that are generally accepted and that are found in a wide variety of sources. For example:

• The terrorist attacks of 9/11/01 changed the American psyche.
• The Civil War was the bloodiest in U.S. history.
• Elimination of illegal drug use has proven to be an elusive goal.

The Provost’s Office stresses the importance of distinguishing plagiarism from misuse of a source: “Generally speaking, a student who attempts to cite a source but does so poorly (e.g., not putting quotes around an exact quotation but giving credit to the author) has not plagiarized, but that student has misused a source.” This distinction is further informed by the Council of Writing Program Administrators, who states, “students are not guilty of plagiarism when they try in good faith to acknowledge others’ work but fail to do so accurately or fully. These failures are largely the result of failures in prior teaching and learning; students lack the knowledge of and ability to use the conventions of authorial attribution.”

For help:

The good news is that librarians are available to help you - visit Ask a Librarian to connect with help. 

In addition, this visual guide from Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) can help you avoid plagiarism.

More tips and resources are also available in the library's student guide about plagiarism and academic integrity.  The library also has a recent book that may be useful: Plagiarism in higher education: Tackling tough topics in academic integrity.