What is Plagiarism?
Deliberate plagiarism is copying the work of others and turning it in as your own. Whether you copy from a published essay, an encyclopedia article, or a paper from a fraternity's files, you are plagiarizing. If you do so, you run a terrible risk. You could be punished, suspended, or even expelled. In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward.
All of the following are considered plagiarism:
.Turning in someone else's work as your own
·Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
·Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
·Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
·Changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit
But can words and ideas really be stolen?
According to U.S. law, the answer is yes. The expression of original ideas is considered
intellectual property, and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Almost all forms of expression fall under copyright protection as long as they are recorded in some way (such as a book or a computer file).
Why should you use citations?
. To give credit to the sources you’ve used
· To enable others to find the same sources you’ve used
· To be part of the "scholarly conversation"