1	What is plagiarism? According to Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, to plagiarize is to “steal and pass off as one’s own (the ideas or words of another); to present as one’s own an idea or product derived from an existing source”.
2	In other words, plagiarism is: cheating. copying a friend’s work. copying & pasting text and graphics from the Internet without crediting the source. copying word for word from a book without crediting the source. buying or borrowing a paper. using ideas from someone else without giving them credit.
3	It is also: careless paraphrasing. lack of proper citations. overusing direct quotations. not writing the paper in your own “voice”.
4	How serious is this? According to Donald L. McCabe, Rutgers University: “A study of almost 4,500 students at 25 schools, suggests cheating is…a significant problem in high school – 74% of the respondents admitted to one or more instances of serious test cheating and 72% admitted to serious cheating on written assignments. Over half of the students admitted they have engaged in some level of plagiarism on written assignments using the Internet.” Source: “CAI Research.” Center for Academic Integrity, Duke University, 2003 <http://academicintegrity.org/cai_research.asp>
5	You have plagiarized if you have: turned in someone else’s work as your own. failed to give credit for information you have found in books, periodicals, or the internet. failed to give credit for pictures you have used in papers or projects. turned in a past paper of your own without revising it for the assignment.
6	Why shouldn’t you do this? It is cheating – yourself and others. It can lead to consequences now and later. It is only fair to give credit to others for their work. If you cite well, it gives credibility to your work. You will learn more by doing the right thing.
7	Some famous (and not so famous) plagiarists: Senator Joseph Biden Blair Hornstine, high school valedictorian Jayson Blair, former NYT reporter Helen Keller James Cameron, filmmaker (The Terminator) Source: "Plagiarism." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 Nov 2005, 04:28 UTC. 27 Nov 2005, 23:24 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plagiarism&oldid=29110414>.
8	How do you avoid it? Make sure you take good, accurate notes. Include with every bit of information its complete source. Practice paraphrasing pieces of writing. Ask for help from your teacher, your friendly librarian, and other teachers. Check the “Avoiding Plagiarism” sources collected at the Citation page on the BHS library webpage: http://www.edzone.net/~debsherr
9	Does EVERYTHING have to be cited? NOPE! We do have something called common knowledge. If you are using facts that can be found in more than 3 sources or something as widely known as the fact that George Washington was our first president, you can safely use it with no citation.
10	Anything else? Yes, you don’t have to cite: when you are stating your opinion about something unless you include someone else’s opinion as a reference. your own experiences. if you did some original research (an experiment, survey, etc.).
11	3 Correct Ways to “Borrow” by using direct quotations when you use the exact words from your source (punctuate with quotation marks) by paraphrasing the words of your source by summarizing one or more sources
12	Avoidance Techniques: When in doubt, cite it! Learn the MLA format so you can collect all the necessary information for each citation. Proofread carefully and have someone else do so also. Don’t copy and paste; take notes. Ask for help – EARLY!