Writing Ethically: Learn It 2

What Counts as Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is often thought of as cheating, but it can also happen unintentionally due to confusion about citation, the ease of copying and pasting, or uncertainty about what needs to be cited. You can avoid plagiarism by learning citation rules, keeping track of sources, and allowing time to properly process information.

Obvious vs. Less Obvious Plagiarism 

Some types of plagiarism are easy to spot, while others are less well-known but just as serious. It’s important to understand all forms so you can avoid accidental mistakes and uphold academic integrity.

Obvious Plagiarism

  • Submitting someone else’s work as your own, whether written by another person or purchased online.
  • Reusing your previous work for a new assignment without permission or proper citation (self-plagiarism).
  • Copying and pasting entire sections of text from another source without proper citation.
  • Providing inaccurate or fake citations to make it seem like you’ve referenced sources.
  • Using another author’s exact words without quotation marks, even if cited.

Less Obvious Plagiarism

  • Paraphrasing too closely to the original by only changing a few words while keeping the structure the same.
  • Borrowing ideas, arguments, or opinions from a source without giving proper credit.
  • Blending ideas from multiple sources without proper attribution.
  • Citing a source but relying too closely on its wording rather than writing in your own words.
  • Properly citing sources but contributing little to no original work.
  • Failing to differentiate between common knowledge and information that requires citation.

Intentional vs. Unintentional Plagiarism

Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional, but both are serious.

Intentional plagiarism is clear-cut—for example, downloading a paper from a website and submitting it as your own. You knowingly copied someone else’s work and claimed it as yours.

Unintentional plagiarism is more common but still problematic. For example, if you use a paper from a website as a reference and rewrite it in your own words without proper credit, it is still plagiarism, even if you intended to create original work.

There’s nothing wrong with research or using websites to advance your thinking. You must, however, give proper credit to any sources you consult, including using quotations for any words that are not your own and crediting any ideas that come from elsewhere.

Citing Common Knowledge and Facts

Not all information requires citation. Well-known facts generally do not need citations, while any interpretation, analysis, or debated information should be cited.

Well-known facts, such as “The Civil War began in 1861” do not need citations.On the other hand, for a statement such as “The Civil War was primarily about federalism vs. states’ rights,” you probably want to cite your sources, since historians might disagree about the various causes.
If a claim could be challenged, cite your source. This shifts any debate to the expert you referenced, rather than putting the burden on you.
Is this use of information from a website plagiarism?plag pic

  1. Yes, it is plagiarism. The writer of the paper just rearranged some of the words from the website and does not acknowledge the source.
  2. No, it is not plagiarism. The paragraph written in the research paper is different than the website so the author didn’t need to cite the original.

Is this plagiarism?

Passage from a source text with an example of a student paper in which they have paraphrased the content, included a citation in parenthesis, and also included a citation in the works cited list.

  1. Yes, it is plagiarism. The student did not use quotation marks.
  2. No, it is not plagiarism. The student gave credit to the source in the text of the paper and in the list of references

Why Should You Care?

Being honest and maintaining integrity in your academic work is a sign of character and professionalism. In addition to maximizing your own learning and taking ownership of your academic success, not plagiarizing is important because

  • Your professors assign research projects to help you learn. You cheat yourself when you substitute someone else’s work for your own.
  • You don’t like it when someone else takes credit for your ideas, so don’t do it to someone else.
  • Plagiarizing comes with consequences. Depending on the offense and the institution, you may be asked to rewrite plagiarized work, receive a failing grade on the assignment, fail the entire course, or be suspended from the university.
  • Professors use search engines, databases, and specialized software to check suspicious work, so you will eventually get caught.
The following video demonstrates the practical importance of always giving credit where credit is due.

You can view the transcript for “Just Because You Put It In Your Own Words…” here (opens in new window).

Look at a few more examples of plagiarism in the following activity.