Research Process: A Step-By-Step Guide: 4b. Plagiarism

To avoid plagiarizing:

• Paraphrase the original text into your own words.
• Use quotation marks around text that has been taken directly from the original source.
• Cite every source of information you use in your paper unless it is common knowledge or the results of your own research.

Think plagiarism is just an issue for college students writing research papers? Think again!  Check out these real world examples of celebrities being accused of plagiarizing.

Posted with permission from Lehman College.

Turnitin.com helps educators check students’ work for proper citation or possible plagiarism by comparing it against three continually updated content bases:

• billions of pages of web content,
• millions of pages of proprietary content from subscription publications, and
• over 80 million student papers previously submitted to Turnitin.

Easy-to-read Originality Reports help teach students about proper citation and ensure their academic integrity.

Many instructors at the Academy of Art University use Turnitin.com to check students' work for proper citation. Your instructor will inform you if you need to submit your work to Turnitin.com for their class.

According to the Academy of Art University Academic Freedom & Academic Responsibility Policy:

"All art and design work, and all written work, must be the original work of the student. Any quotations, paraphrases, or direct appropriation of imagery or ideas from source material must be properly cited according to university, departmental, and/or instructor policy."

Plagiarism may take many forms:

• cheating,
• copying information directly without providing quotation marks,
• failing to cite sources, or
• citing sources incorrectly.

It does not matter whether you intended to plagiarize or whether the plagiarism occurred unintentionally; it still constitutes academic dishonesty. Ignorance of the rules of correct citation is not an acceptable excuse.

Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty can subject a student to disciplinary action under the university's Student Code of Conduct.