Plagiarism is the act of copying someone else’s work, borrowing someone else’s ideas, or reusing your own ideas verbatim. According to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (2010), to plagiarize means to
- steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own
- use (another production) without crediting the source
- commit literary theft : present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.
Plagiarism exists in many forms. “It may involve computer programs and files, research designs, distinctive figures of speech, ideas and images, or generally any ‘information’ which belongs to another” (UNC Charlotte, 2009). In Plagiarism.org’s article, What is Plagiarism (n.d), plagiarism is identified as
- turning in someone else's work as your own,
- copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit,
- failing to put a quotation in quotation marks,
- giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation,
- 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 (see our section on "fair use" rules).
- See more at: teaching.uncc.edu/learning-resources/articles-books/best-practice/academic-honesty-integrity#sthash.4SiyvRSI.dpuf
