Plagiarism is using anotherʹs words or ideas without proper citation. Here are some common forms of plagiarism:

  • Using another writerʹs words without proper citation. If you use another writerʹs words, you must place quotation marks around the quoted material and include a footnote or other indication of the source of the quotation.
  • Using another writerʹs ideas without proper citation. When you use another authorʹs ideas, you must indicate with footnotes or other means where this information can be found. Your instructors want to know which ideas and judgments are yours and which you arrived at by consulting other sources. Even if you arrived at the same judgment on your own, you need to acknowledge that the writer you consulted also came up with the idea.
  • Citing your source but reproducing the exact words of a printed source without quotation marks. This makes it appear that you have paraphrased rather than borrowed the authorʹs exact words.
  • Borrowing the structure of another authorʹs phrases or sentences without crediting the author from whom it came. This kind of plagiarism usually occurs out of laziness: it is easier to replicate another writerʹs style than to think about what you have read and then put it in your own words. The following example is from A Writerʹs Reference by Diana Hacker (New York, 1989, p. 171).
    • Original: "If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists."
    • Unacceptable borrowing of words: "An ape who knew sign language unsettled linguists and startled animal behaviorists."
    • Unacceptable borrowing of sentence structure: "If the presence of a sign‐language‐using chimp was disturbing for scientists studying language, it was also surprising to scientists studying animal behavior."
    • Acceptable paraphrase: "When they learned of an ape's ability to use sign language, both linguists and animal behaviorists were taken by surprise."
  • Borrowing all or part of another studentʹs paper or using someone elseʹs outline to write your own paper.
  • Using a paper writing ʺserviceʺ or having a friend write the paper for you.  Regardless of whether you pay a stranger or have a friend do it, it is a breach of academic honesty to hand in work that is not your own or to use parts of another studentʹs paper.

Note. The guidelines that define plagiarism also apply to information secured on internet websites. Internet references must specify precisely where the information was obtained and where it can be found.

The key to avoiding plagiarism is that you show clearly where your own thinking ends and someone elseʹs begins.

Source: University of Washington Student Academic Responsibility