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Plagiarism and Academic Integrity at UC Merced

An overview of academic integrity, plagiarism, and proper paraphrasing.

Definitions

  • Plagiarism is probably the most widespread form of academic dishonesty in colleges and universities around the world.
     
  • Plagiarism is:
    • Taking someone else's work and presenting it as your own.
    • Pretending that an idea is yours, when you found it in a resource created by someone else.
    • The failure to distinguish your words and ideas from those in a resource you've consulted.
       
  • Ideas developed and presented by someone else, whether presented in one's own work as an exact quote, a paraphrase, or a summary, must always be appropriately cited.
Plagiarism definitions adapted from: Harris, R. A. and Lockman, V. (2001). The plagiarism handbook: strategies for preventing, detecting and dealing with plagiarism. Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing.

Common causes of plagiarism

  • Improper paraphrasing
     
  • Incorrect, incomplete, or missing citations
     
  • Inadvertent or unintentional plagiarism
    • You forgot to write down the source of an idea or concept, and when you think about it later, you forget that it was someone else's idea first and include it in your writing as your own
    • You're pressed for time, and you start to cut corners in your writing (probably the most common reason for plagiarism)