Want to learn more or take a quiz to see if you really understand plagiarism ---- try these sites!
There are some common forms of plagiarism. Learning what they are is the first step towards avoiding them.
Some unintentional forms of plagiarism can happen when you forget to put the quotation marks for a direct quote around the entire quotation or if you cite sources inaccurately or incompletely.
Lastly -- Self-plagiarism: submitting your own work, in part or as a whole, for a different project then was originally intended without the permission or notification of your professors.
Tip: It is not plagiarizing when you say something that is considered common knowledge. Common knowledge is information that is generally known and usually includes things like widely known facts and dates.For example, you wouldn't need to cite a statement like -- Abraham Lincoln was our 16th President. This is a known historical fact that can be verified in many sources. This can be a fuzzy area so a good rule of thumb is to cite something if you aren't sure or ask your professor for guidance.
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition,MLA, 2009.
There are some strategies that will help you to avoid plagiarizing. Here are a few tips:
The Purdue OWL web site has a good section on how to avoid plagiarism.
The ESU Student Code of Conduct doesn't specifically use the word plagiarize but it does outline a range of things that are considered to be academic misconduct. The 5th item on that list of violations is the following:
"Presenting as one's own the ideas or works of another person(s) - scholastic, literary, or artistic - in whole or in part, without customary acknowledgement of sources"
Retrieved from the East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania 2014-2016 Student Handbook, http://www4.esu.edu/students/documents/pdf/student_handbook.pdf, Sept. 8, 2014
Many of your professors will have a statement about plagiarism included with their course syllabi. Plagiarism can result in failing a course, academic suspension or even expulsion from the University. Your Professors take this issue seriously -- so should you!
Check out the entire student code of conduct in the Student Handbook.