Plagiarism
Use of another person's intellectual product without
proper permission or credit is the academic offense of plagiarism,
and is a very serious offense. Plagiarism can and will result
in an F on an assignment, may result in an F in the course, and
can even lead to suspension or expulsion from CSUS, depending on
the severity of the offense. Here are some simple
guidelines:
- Never use anyone else's exact words without putting them in
quotes and citing the source, including page number. In
technical papers, we almost never use direct quotes anyway, and
in this paper, you may not use any quotes. Summarize the ideas
from a paper with proper citation instead.
- Never use anyone else's ideas without citing the source.
- You may describe someone else's work in your own words (of
course giving credit in your citations). This does not mean
changing a few words in a direct quote. It does mean reframing
the idea in new words.
- You may not use a purchased term paper. What you might not
know is that these papers are quite easily traced.
These suggestions will help you avoid unwitting plagiarism:
- NEVER cut and paste text from one of your sources into
your paper, or into your notes for the paper. Just
don't do it. EVER.
- Instead, make notes as you read your sources.
For every note, include a citation so you know where that
information came from.
- One effective way to organize your paper is to take notes on index
cards, putting a citation on the back of each one.
Later you can sort your cards into piles to organize the paper
into sections and paragraphs.
- Write from an outline organized by ideas, not authors.
If you write about ideas, instead of trying to paraphrase
authors, you are much less likely to lift text from your sources
or to plagiarize.
- DO NOT PARAPHRASE. EVER. It's just bad
writing, as well as fflirting with plagiarism.
- Here is an excellent source of information on how to avoid
plagiarism: Purdue
University Online Writing Lab