Citation Help: Plagiarism

Plagiarism is using someone else's words or ideas without giving them proper credit.

Plagiarism can be unintentional, such as forgetting to cite your sources in a paper or using an image without giving the creator credit, or intentional, such as buying a paper or using someone else's ideas and passing them off as your own.

Plagiarism is a serious problem, both in academia and in professional settings.

Madison College's Policy

According to the Madison College Academic Integrity webpage, students who plagiarize will be disciplined according to the 10 disciplinary sanctions for academic misconduct listed on the webpage.  This could be anything from an oral reprimand to suspension from the institution.  The procedures for allegations and appeals also appear on this page. Visit the college's Academic Integrity page for more information.

madisoncollege.edu/academic-integrity

Organize your research from the start

• Write your notes as if you are writing a paper. Make note of author and page number whenever quoting or paraphrasing, and include a full citation at the end of your notes for each reading.
• Citation management tools such as Zotero or pasting citations for your sources into a Word document are good ways to track your work.

Cite your sources and format your citations

• Creating citations as you write your paper can be a good way to avoid accidentally plagiarizing sources by failing to cite them. Double check your citations are formatted correctly. The Madison College Citation Guide has some great resources. 

Turn in your own work

• Never turn in work you have not written yourself. Madison College's Academic Integrity policy prohibits such actions, and turning in work that is not your own also has serious consequences in the corporate world.

Acknowledge the work of others

• When turning in group projects make sure you properly identify who created which parts. Look closely at assignments to see if it allows for group work or if the work needs to be yours alone. 

Ask an expert

• If you are unsure about citations, how to phrase something, or where to find research, ask an expert! Madison College Librarians are happy to help with citations and research and the Madison College Writing Center can help with citations and phrasing.