FAQs on Plagiarism

Recently, the California State University system passed an Executive Order that requires professors to submit the names of all students caught cheating to one central location on campus. The office that will hold all records of academic dishonesty is the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities.

What does the new requirement mean for you? Potentially, a lot.

Whereas in the past a professor may have kept any issues of cheating, including plagiarism, to him or herself, there will now be a central database that will result in the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities judicial officers taking further judicial action, in addition to whatever action the professor may take in regard to the grade. Repeated cases, including those in multiple departments, will result in more serious sanctions. Students found responsible for academic dishonesty may be warned, directed to educational information, placed on probation, suspended, or in most serious cases, even expelled. Actions such as probation and suspension are reflected on the student transcript. Suspension of longer than one year, or expulsion, remains on the student transcript permanently.

The vast majority of students don’t intend to cheat. In fact, some students don’t even realize they are committing plagiarism. Regardless, students are responsible for understanding what constitutes academic dishonesty. Below are a few frequently asked questions concerning plagiarism, one of the more frequent forms of academic dishonesty.

Q: What exactly IS plagiarism?
A: The short answer is that plagiarism is using another person’s work without citing that source.

• Quoting directly from any source of material including books, articles, or other students’ work and materials purchased from research consultants or others without appropriately citing the source and identifying the quoted material
• Knowingly citing an incorrect source
• Using ideas (other than information that is common knowledge) from any source of material including other students’ work and materials purchased from research consultants without citing the source and identifying borrowed material

Q: Is taking information directly off the Internet considered plagiarism?
A: Yes! Borrowing information without citation from any source is considered cheating.

Information may include art, graphics, computer programs, music, and other creative expression. The work may consist of writing, charts, pictures, graphs, diagrams, data, Web sites, or other communication or recording media.

Sources may include books, magazines, newspapers, Web sites, plays, movies, photographs, paintings, textbooks, class lectures or notes, handouts, speeches, other students’ papers, or material from a research service.

Q: What’s the best thing I can do when researching information?
A: Cite your sources.

• Within the paper: The most common citation format is to identify the source in the text, putting the author’s last name and the publication year in parentheses, with the page number of the cited material (Smith, 2005, p. 105).
  
• And in the bibliography: The author’s last name links the reader to a list of sources at the end of the paper where the full publishing information is given:
  References:
  Smith, Jessica, An Unfinished Life (Doubleday Press, 2005)
• A bibliography or works cited list without proper footnotes or references in the body of a research paper proves little, if nothing. Although it demonstrates you consulted sources while writing a paper, no one can tell which ideas are yours and which ideas belong to someone else.
• Cite your sources within the paper and in a formal bibliography at the end. Your paper needs both.

Q: Is it still considered plagiarism if I reword the source material?
A: Even when you paraphrase to restate the information, ideas or meaning of another person in your own words, you need to give credit to the original author.

Just because you used your own words does not mean the idea is original to you. If the idea is not your own, cite the source of the idea.

Any time you use information from a source, you must cite it. If in doubt, always ask your professor!

Q: How will my professor know I have plagiarized material?
A: Professors review the work of literally thousands of students, and they are experts in their subject areas, and very familiar with literature in their fields. They also have access to a computer program called Turn It In, which assesses the likelihood of plagiarism.

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NOTE: much of this information on plagiarism came from the University of Dayton Web site, which was adapted from "Avoiding Plagiarism: Mastering the Art of Scholarship," Student Judicial Affairs, University of California, Davis. October 1999.

Another useful source is the University of Texas, at Austin Web site.

For SDSU’s policies regarding student misconduct, please visit the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities Web site.

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