Physical Therapy Resources: Plagiarism

Plagiarism:

According to the university policy "Plagiarize" means to take and present as one's own a material portion of the ideas or words of another or to present as one's own an idea or work derived from an existing source without full and proper credit to the source of the ideas, words, or works. As defined, plagiarizing includes, but is not limited to:

• The copying of words, sentences and paragraphs directly from the work of another without proper credit;
• The copying of illustrations, figures, photographs, drawings, models, or other visual and nonverbal materials, including recordings, of another without proper credit; and
• The presentation of work prepared by another in final or draft form as one's own without citing the source, such as the use of purchased research papers.

1. Do your own work:  The Internet has made it easy to "cut and paste" to create a paper, but don't be tempted.  When you do quote or paraphrase from another author, be sure to cite it.  Quotes should not make up no more than 20% of the paper.  The Internet has also made it easy for faculty to search for phrases in papers that they feel may be plagiarized.
2. Be organized:  As you gather research, take good notes and make sure you have complete citations.  Forgetting where you found a quote or incorrectly citing a passage may lead to plagiarism
3. Cite:  Cite all facts, figures, images, quotes, and paraphrasing.  You do not need to cite "common knowledge."
4. Cite all sources:  Most students know to cite books and journal articles.  But if information was gained from media (radio, television, etc) or a conversation, these sources will need cited as well.
5. Avoid double-dipping:  Using work that you have previously submitted in a course is considered double-dipping and plagiarism.  If you want to use previous research and expand or alter it for the current course, consult with your professor and see if that is allowable.
6. Get help:  There are a number of ways to get help.
   • Ask the library staff
   • Ask the Writing Center tutors 
   • Use Blackboard's Safe Assign