SPARK: Student Papers and Academic Research Kit: Plagiarism

* VCC LibGuide - Plagiarism

Plagiarism is when someone presents the work of another person as his or her own. According to VCC's "Student Educational Conduct Policy", it can lead to failing grades or even expulsion. It is essential that you cite your sources for all your research and assignments.

Plagiarism is using the words, work or ideas of another author without proper acknowledgement (intentionally or unintentionally).

Plagiarising includes:

• cutting and pasting from another author or work, including from the web, without attribution
• rewording another writer’s ideas or work, without acknowledgement
• representing the work of others as your own

If you are aware of what constitutes plagiarism and employ strategies to avoid it, you are much less likely to run into problems. A few strategies to help ensure that you will be able to properly acknowledge other authors include:

• keeping careful track of the sources you read
• when taking notes while reading, identifying clearly the sources of ideas you want to use in your writing

See the Making Notes module for more information about useful note-taking strategies and the Academic Integrity module for more on plagiarism.