English 080/111 - Plagiarism Policy
Whether intentional or unintentional, plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty in which a person uses the words, thoughts, graphic images, charts, and/or ideas of others without citing, and thus attributing, the author and source material used. Source materials include, but are not limited to, the following:
books; newspapers; pamphlets, brochures, and information sheets; periodicals and magazines; films and videos; CDs and CD-ROMs; internet and electronic sources; lectures; and interviews.
While some plagiarism is unintentional and results from the lack of knowledge of or inexperience with correct citation practices, some is intentional and deliberate. Either is subject to Saginaw Valley State University's policy regarding academic dishonesty:
No student shall cheat, plagiarize, or facilitate academic dishonesty by another student. Students are responsible for completing all kinds of assigned academic work without unauthorized aid of any kind.
The imposition of regular disciplinary penalties does not preclude an academic penalty imposed by an instructor. If a failing grade in a course is given for academic dishonesty, the Coordinator of Student Conduct will be notified in writing by the instructor or academic dean. (Saginaw Valley State University Code of Student Conduct, 2002-2003, 1.8)
Forms of plagiarism
- directly transcribing (copying) without quotation and attribution
- summarizing without attribution
- paraphrasing or patchwork paraphrasing without attribution
- patching electronic materials (including pictures, graphs, and/or charts) without attribution
Consequences of plagiarism in English 080/111
Deliberate plagiarism, whether on a paper's early draft or on a paper's final draft, will result in the grade of zero (0) on the entire assignment.
Guidelines for Students
- Read assigned material that defines and illustrates both direct and inadvertent plagiarism and actively participate in class instruction about plagiarism. Ask for examples and illustrations.
- Ask questions throughout your research and drafting processes; instructors are eager to help you responsibly use and cite research materials.
- Be sure you clearly understand the consequences of plagiarism as stated above.
- Take careful notes as you research, being sure to distinguish which materials you are paraphrasing or summarizing and which you are transcribing directly.
- Keep copies of all materials used for your research and be prepared to submit them with the drafts of your papers.
- Within the parameters of assignments, choose topics in which you are vitally interested and in which you have a personal stake.
- Allow yourself adequate time to research topics in depth.
- When in doubt about the correct use of resources, confer with your teacher.
- Avoid plagiarism by following seven important rules.
- Provide clear attribution of outside sources with parenthetical citations, lead-in or signal phrase, or a combination of both.
- Follow all quotations, paraphrases, and summaries of outside sources with appropriate and complete parenthetical citations.
- Provide documentation for all visual images, charts, and graphs from printed or electronic sources.
- Identify all words, phrases, and passages taken from sources by enclosing them within quotation marks or by using block quote format for long quotations.
- Use your own words and sentence structure when you paraphrase or summarize.
- Be sure that all summaries and paraphrases of your sources are accurate and objective.
- Include all of the sources cited in your paper in the MLA Works Cited page or the APA Reference list that follows the body of your paper (Adapted from "Avoiding Plagiarism," What Is Plagiarism? 2002).