Plagiarism 101
What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism can be intentional or accidental and come in many forms. Here are some basic examples of what and when plagiarism occurs:
- Stating an other’s ideas as your own
Copying work from a friend
Buying a completed paper online
Getting “too much help”
- Poor documentation of sources
Making up a source or information
Citing the wrong source
Leaving out a citation because you can’t remember where the information came from
- Resubmitting your own old work as new work in a different class
This is “Self Plagiarism”
- Bad paraphrasing
Only changing a few words in a quotation and calling it a paraphrase
How does Plagiarism affect Casper College Students?
Plagiarism is an act of academic fraud and can come with steep penalties. Casper College “Student Handbook” has identified the following as Academic Code Violations:
- Turning in someone else’s work as your own
- Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving them credit
- Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
- Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation or not accurately presenting quoted material
- Changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit
- Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not
- Unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of papers or other academic materials or materials found on the internet
All of the above acts are various ways of committing plagiarism. Academic sanctions (disciplinary actions) for violations of the above items can be as extreme as expulsion from Casper College. Maintaining academic integrity by preventing plagiarism is important when attempting to reach your education goals.