Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty

What Not To Do

"The submission of any work by a student is taken as a guarantee that the thoughts and expressions in it are the student's own except when properly credited to another. Violations of this principle include giving or receiving aid in an exam or where otherwise prohibited, fraud, plagiarism, the falsification or forgery of any record, or any other deceptive act in connection with academic work. Plagiarism is the representation of another's words, ideas, programs, formulae, opinions, or other products of work as one's own, either overtly or by failing to attribute them to their true source" (Section 1.0, Syracuse University Academic Rules and Regulations).

 

University regulations specify that enforcement of academic integrity standards is to be handled by particular schools and colleges within the University.  According to the College of Arts and Sciences, the following kinds of actions are examples of academic dishonesty punishable under College policies:

• Giving or receiving answers on an exam before turning in the exam
  
• Allowing another student to copy from your exam
  
• Feigning illness to avoid taking an exam or handing in an assignment on time
  
• Copying answers on an exam from unauthorized notes, electronic data storage devices, or electronic communication devices
  
• Submitting the same paper in two or more courses without permission
  
• Submitting work under one's name that was prepared by someone else
  
• Unauthorized collaboration on a course requirement
  
• Hiring another person to take an exam for you
  
• Copying text from books, articles, or the internet without properly citing the source
  
• Falsifying results of a research study
  
• Obtaining unauthorized copies of exams
  
• Falsifying or sabotaging another student's work
  
• Tampering with a student's academic record
  
• Giving a false or nonexistent citation
  
• Withholding or defacing library materials
  
• Sabotaging or "hacking" university databases
  
• Plagiarism

The Arts & Science Resource Guide on Academic Honesty  defines Plagiarism as "the use without citation of: another person's written words; a paraphrase of another person's written words; any facts (including graphs, statistics or drawings) that are not common knowledge". The following excerpt from the Resource Guide explains some of the different forms which plagiarism may take, and how it can be avoided:

"In order to avoid plagiarism, make sure that you acknowledge the source of your ideas. You must use quotation marks around all material that you are quoting exactly, and you must use footnotes or in-text references to cite all ideas and materials that you have taken from other authors, including web pages. To avoid charges of plagiarism, make sure that you acknowledge the source of your ideas. Plagiarism comes in many forms. Several examples are described below, with suggestions for proper ways to acknowledge the source of the information.

1. Word-for-Word Plagiarizing
   After composing the first sentence of a paragraph, the student copies exactly what is in the original text for the body of the paragraph, and then ends with their own sentence. Any material from the original text should be put in quotation marks with a citation to the original source.
   
2. The Mosaic
   The student lifts phrases from the original text but places them in a different order. Any of the lifted phrases should be in quotation marks with a citation to the original source.
   
3. The Paraphrase
   The student follows along with the original text but substitutes similar or equivalent terms throughout. The student should instead write the ideas in her own words, but cite the source from which she derived the ideas.
   
4. The "Apt" Term
   The student copies unique terms or phrases that appeared in the original text but are uncommon in public usage. These should be marked with quotation marks and the source cited.
   
5. The "Copy and Paste"
   The student copies text, figures, pictures, or video from electronic sources such as the internet and pastes them into their own work. A full citation to the original source should be included."
   

In short, Plagiarism is using anyone else's words or ideas without proper acknowledgement.

Click here to learn more about how to use footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical references in a written assignment.