What Is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is "the deliberate or reckless representation of another's words, thoughts, or ideas as one's own without attribution in connection with submission of academic work, whether graded or otherwise" (Instrument of Student Judicial Governance, Section II.B.1).

Plagiarism, a form of academic cheating, is a serious violation of the Honor Code. Representing another author's work as you own undermines the academic environment on several levels:

• Plagiarism denies the original author due credit for his/her material.
• Plagiarism denies your professor the ability to accurately gauge your work.
• Plagiarism gives you an unfair advantage over other students who complete their own work honorably.
• Plagiarism denies you the opportunity to master the subject you are studying and demonstrate your competence through a fair grading process.

As students, we all have the responsibility to complete our academic work within the spirit of honesty and academic freedom that characterizes Carolina as a highly regarded institution.

If the Honor Court finds that you have committed academic dishonesty in the form of plagiarism, the usual sanctions are suspension for one full semester and a failing grade in the course in which the violation occurred. The minimum sanctions that may be imposed are probation for one full semester, which prevents involvement in many University-sponsored activities, and a failing grade on the assignment. Both suspension and probation are "penalties of record," meaning that a comment is placed on your academic transcript for the duration of the sanction and a notation is made on your disciplinary record for a period of ten years. Given the gravity of the consequences for plagiarism, it is critical that you learn proper citation methods so that you can avoid the pitfalls of plagiarism.

Internet plagiarism has become the most common type of academic dishonesty at Carolina. This includes both the deliberate or reckless use of another's words as your own as well. Both deliberate and reckless plagiarism are prohibited in the Honor Code, so it is doubly important that you carefully check your work and make sure that you understand your professor's instructions for citing materials.

There are many resources available to Carolina students who wish to learn proper citation methods. Consult your Instructor, The Writing Center (basement of Student and Academic Services Building), or the Dean of Students Office (Suite 1106 Student and Academic Services Building) for information on how to properly cite your sources.

Basic Guidelines to Follow

Quotations: When directly quoting an outside source, the borrowed text, regardless of the amount, must be surrounded by quotation marks or block quoted-single-spaced and indented beyond the normal margins. Every quote must include a source-the author, title, and page number, whether an internal reference, footnote, or endnote is used in conjunction with a bibliography page.

Paraphrasing or Citing an Idea: When summarizing an outside source or citing another person's idea, quotation marks are not necessary, but the source must be included, whether an internal reference, footnote, or endnote is used in conjunction with a bibliography page.

Working on Group Projects: In many classes, group projects are required-especially science labs, computer programming, and business courses. On many group assignments, you should consult the professor or TA to determine the amount of collaboration allowed. When preparing written reports, the names of all persons working on the project should be included.
Some Examples

Original Text: Our best teachers do not convey information by filling heads or stretching minds with some sort of illusionary basic subjects; they impart instead a way of looking, a way of perceiving, a sway of investigating the wonder of life in such a way that students learn how and what to see.

Internal Reference: "Our best teachers…impart instead a way of looking, a way of perceiving, a way of investigating the wonder of life in such a way that students learn how and what to see" (Unks 42).

Footnote/Endnote: "Our best teachers…impart instead a way of looking, a way of perceiving, a way of investigating the wonder of life in such a way that students learn how and what to see."

Paraphrase: Dr. Unks explains in his article, "But Back to What Basics," that the best teachers show students a way to perceive the wonder of life (Unks 42).

**Please note that any of the above examples require complete reference either at the bottom of the page for a footnote or on a bibliography or endnote page. In addition, even ideas should be reference. A sample reference for this example would be:

Unks, Gerald. "But Back to What Basics?" Media & Methods. Vol. 21, No. 1,
September 1984.