Definitions and Guidelines
Plagiarism
In general, plagiarism is commonly defined as using the words or ideas of another person without proper acknowledgment. The term plagiarism applies to taking improper credit for anyone’s materials from any print or electronic source, whether or not that material has been previously published or copyrighted.
It is important to note that the definition of plagiarism does not apply only to extensive borrowing (e.g., a sentence or more). Using a few words, or even one single word (if it is a key term or a freshly coined term), can be considered plagiarism, if not properly attributed to the original author. Moreover—and here is where many writers run into trouble—ideas contained in the work of another, even if they are rewritten into new words, must be attributed to their original author unless they fall into the category of common knowledge, a term which will be explained shortly.
To summarize: (1) any verbatim reproduction of the work of another, no matter how brief, must be properly documented; (2) any summary or paraphrase of the ideas of another, unless they are common knowledge, must be properly documented.
By way of example, consider the passage below taken from the following source:
Source: Buelow, J. R., Barry, T., & Rich, L. E. (2018). Supporting learning engagement with online students. Online Learning, 12(4), 313–340. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v22i4.1384
In this passage, the authors are explaining what kinds of online discussions successfully foster connection and engagement:
"...as our findings illustrate, connection to others via discussions must be authentic, with questions or topics that are challenging and not rote, and must occur in an environment in which students feel able to express differing opinions and engage with one another about nuances and divergences. This places an onus on instructors not only to draw out experiences and opinions but also to ensure that students can do so in an appropriate and respectful manner.”
Almost everybody knows that copying and pasting these exact words, without quotation marks and a reference to the original source, would be plagiarism. However, these following samples would also qualify as plagiarism.
1. The use of key phrases:
Effective discussion questions must be challenging and not rote, and students must feel comfortable engaging with each other about nuances and divergences.
2. The patchwork of borrowed words and phrases:
Connections made during a discussion must be authentic, which requires questions or topics that are challenging and an environment in which students feel able to express differing opinions. This means instructors must not only draw out experience and opinions but also ensure that students share their perspectives in an appropriate and respectful manner.
3. The unattributed use of ideas:
Online discussions will only foster student engagement if the connections students make in those conversations are truly authentic. To inspire this kind of connection, instructors must create a course environment in which students feel comfortable sharing and engaging with a wide range of differing perspectives on intellectually challenging topics.
As they presently stand, all three of the above samples exhibit incorrect (and unethical) use of a source, and would be in violation of NLU’s Academic Honesty policy. What might be done, in each case, to correct the problem? In simple terms, the writer must make it clear that they are using a source and that they are not attempting to conceal that fact.
In cases #1 and #2, the writer must first decide whether the phrases copied from the original are valuable enough as quotations to be kept as such. If so, each word or phrase must be enclosed in quotation marks and a reference must be added to indicate the source. The reference should be formatted according to the specific style (e.g. APA style) indicated by the course instructor.
For example, case #1 may be rewritten as follows, using APA style:
Effective discussion questions must be “challenging and not rote,” and students must feel comfortable engaging with each other about “nuances and divergences” (Buelow, Barry & Rich, 2018, p. 328).
In #3, the writer has decided not to use exact phrases and has instead paraphrased ideas from the original passage. In this case, no quotation marks are necessary. However, the source must still be cited, because even though the writer has not used Buelow, Barry and Rich’s exact wording, the writer has still used their ideas.
There is one situation where ideas found in the work of another do not need to be documented as a source. That is the area of common knowledge. Common knowledge is information that's considered widely known or easily verified. It might be that there's no one person or entity who first developed the idea, or maybe it's something that everyone in your audience already knows. Information that would be considered common knowledge are facts such as “Water boils at 100°C or 212°F” or “Illinois became the 21st state in 1818.” Remember to consider your audience when deciding if something is common knowledge. For example, American presidents would be considered common knowledge in the United States but may not be so in other countries.
It may sometimes be difficult to determine whether or not an idea should be cited. In all cases, a general rule applies: WHEN IN DOUBT, CITE.
Receiving and/or Giving Improper Assistance and Other Forms of Cheating
In addition to plagiarism, the academic community categorizes several other kinds of behavior as “dishonest” and liable for disciplinary or even legal action. In general, these can be divided into five types:
- Turning in an assignment (test, paper, presentation, or discussion post) that was written wholly or partly by another person or agency without so specifying (for example, turning in a paper purchased online)
- Turning in an assignment (test, paper, presentation, or discussion post) substantially edited or otherwise improved by another person without so specifying. (The relative or friend who retypes a paper and corrects all of its errors fits in here.)
- Turning in an assignment (test, paper, presentation, or discussion post) written wholly or partly for another course for which academic credit was received without so specifying.
- Cheating on an assignment (test, paper, presentation, or discussion post).
- Otherwise defeating the purpose of the course by dishonestly violating the NLU policies.
Students, like all professionals, must recognize the following fact: since the evaluation of student work results ultimately in a formal grade recorded on a student’s official transcript, any work offered in support of that grade which reflects the unacknowledged efforts of another person is an attempt at fraud and must be dealt with as such.
For resources on how to cite properly and avoid plagiarism, go to Learning Support (nl.edu/lls) and the NLU Library (nl.edu/library).