There are many forms of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, or the representation of another person's words, ideas, or information as if they were your own. You may use another person's words, ideas, or information, but to do so without acknowledgment is plagiarism. Perhaps the most serious form of plagiarism is failure to acknowledge the source of a direct quotation or paraphrase. Whether accidental or deliberate, failure to acknowledge that you have borrowed another's language, ideas, or information constitutes plagiarism.
Understanding the most common forms of plagiarism will help you avoid them. Consider the examples below to learn more about each type and how to avoid committing them.
Example #1: Direct Plagiarism
Word for word borrowing from an unacknowledged source, whether intentional or not.
Student Writer
"Long ago, when there was no written history, these islands were the home of millions of happy birds; the resort of a hundred times more millions of fishes, sea lions, and other creatures. Here lived innumerable creatures predestined from the creation of the world to lay up a store of wealth for the British farmer, and a store of quite another sort for an immaculate Republican government."
Source
"In ages which have no record these islands were the home of millions of happy birds, the resort of a hundred times more millions of fishes, of sea lions, and other creatures whose names are not so common; the marine residence, in fact, of innumerable creatures predestined from the creation of the world to lay up a store of wealth for the British farmer, and a store of quite another sort for an immaculate Republican government." from A.J. Duffield, The Prospects of Peru, London: Newmann, 1881, p. 78.
Example #2: Mosaic Plagiarism
Mosaic plagiarism occurs when a writer reuses a mix of word, phrases, and ideas from a source without indicating which words and ideas have been borrowed and/or without properly citing the source.
Student Writer
"Only two years later, all these friendly Sioux were suddenly plunged into new conditions, including starvation, martial law on all their reservations, and constant urging by their friends and relations to join in warfare against the treacherous government that had kept faith with neither friend nor foe."
Source
"Contrast the condition into which all these friendly Indians are suddenly plunged now, with their condition only two years previous: martial law now in force on all their reservations; themselves in danger of starvation, and constantly exposed to the influence of emissaries from their friends and relations, urging them to join in fighting this treacherous government that had kept faith with nobody--neither with friend nor with foe." from H. H. Jackson, A Century of Dishonor, a Sketch of the United States Government's Dealings with Some of the Indian Tribes, New York: Harper, 1881, p. 178.
Example #3: Word Switch Plagiarism
Switching around a few words so that the sentences are not identical to the original is still plagiarism.
Student Writer
"Stars, rocks and people all emit light, and which wavelength of light will be most strongly radiated depends on the temperature of the star, rock or person. For example, the star Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion, Armpit of the Giant, is a supergiant star, 14,000 times brighter than our own sun."
Source
"All solid bodies emit light: stars, rocks and people included. The temperature of the star, rock or person determines which wavelength of light will be most strongly radiated. In the constellation Orion, the upper left star is Betelgeuse (Armpit of the giant), 520 l-y distant. Betelgeuse is a supergiant star, 14,000 times brighter than our sun, and so big, if you were to put Betelgeuse in place of our sun, its surface would reach all the way out to Jupiter. Betelgeuse's color is bright red. On the other hand, another supergiant star, Rigel, with a luminosity 57,000 times that of the sun, appears whitish-blue. The reason that Betelgeuse is red and Rigel is blue is that their surface temperatures are different. Hot stars at 30,000 degrees emit a lot more blue light than red light, and so hot stars look blue or bluish-white. Cool stars at 3,000 degrees give off more red light than blue, and so these stars look red." (C. Birnbaum, used with permission).
Example #4: Style Plagiarism
Copying the styles of an author sentence by sentence is plagiarism.
Student Writer
"The beautiful pictures that the space telescope has given us show spectacular color. But is the color real? First, we have to consider what light and color are. Different wavelengths of light correspond to different colors, and light is called electromagnetic radiation. The temperature of an object determines the color of light emitted, and all things, including people, emit light. In the constellation Orion, the star Betelgeuse is a huge, giant star, as big as the orbit of Jupiter. Betelgeuse is red. Another star in Orion, Rigel, is blue. The reason that they are different colors is that they each have a different surface temperature. Cold stars are at about 3,000 degrees and emit more red than blue light and very hot stars emit blue light since they have temperatures of about 30,000 degrees."
Source
"Especially since the launch of HST and the unprecedented clarity of the images satellites have given us, You've all seen on the news or in books, beautiful color pictures of various sights in the cosmos. But is this the way you would see these objects if you went there? Well, to tackle that question, first we have to talk about the nature of light and color. Light is made of waves of electromagnetic radiation. We perceive different wavelengths as different colors. All solid bodies emit light: stars, rocks and people included. The temperature of the star, rock or person determines which wavelength of light will be most strongly radiated. In the constellation Orion, the upper left star is Betelgeuse (Armpit of the giant), 520 l-y distant. Betelgeuse is a supergiant star, 14,000 times brighter than our sun. and so big, if you were to put Betelgeuse in place of our sun, its surface would reach all the way out to Jupiter. Betelgeuse's color is bright red. On the other hand, another supergiant star, Rigel, with a luminosity 57,000 times that of the sun, appears whitish-blue. The reason that Betelgeuse is red and Rigel is blue is that their surface temperatures are different. Hot stars at 30,000 degrees emit a lot more blue light than red light, and so hot stars look blue or bluish-white. Cool stars at 3,000 degrees give off more red light than blue, and so these stars look red." (C. Birnbaum, used with permission).
Example #5: Idea Plagiarism
Creative ideas must be attributed to the author.
Student Writer
"Infrared carbon stars show weak Ba lines and this might mean that they do not have the normal amount of s-process elements in their atmospheres, making them decidedly a different type of star."
Source
"Until now, infrared carbon stars have been classified as such due to either the presence of carbon-rich dust or to their presence in region VII of the Habing diagram. Our visible spectra show conclusively that these stars are true carbon stars and do not have any O-rich molecules in their atmospheres. Their weak Ba lines might indicate an under-abundance of s-process elements. This important result, if true, would certainly separate infrared carbon stars from the optical population." (C. Birnbaum, used with permission).