Plagiarism is using others’ ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information. It is an ethical and legal issue and may be punished by the College.
Per the PGCC Student Handbook, plagiarism is defined as:
i. Intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own, including any kind of writing that is not the student’s own, whether taken from secondary sources, fellow students, or other term papers.
ii. Intentionally or knowingly assisting someone in violating any provision of this Code.
iii. Intentionally and knowingly taking and passing off as one’s own the ideas, writing, or words of another without attribution (without acknowledgement of the author who wrote the material).
iv. Duplicating an author’s words without quotation marks and accurate citation of references.
v. Duplicating an author’s words or phrases in paraphrase without accurate citation of references.
vi. Submitting a paper in which the exact words or phrases of an author are merely rearranged without quotation or citations
Source: Student Handbook: Code of Conduct Violations (1) Violations of Integrity: (i) Academic Dishonesty (a) Plagiarism
Plagiarism 2.0: Information Ethics in the Digital Age
For a generation raised on the ideology of “open source” and the ability to quickly cut and paste, the concept of plagiarism may seem foreign or passé. And that, of course, can lead to trouble. This video examines the behaviors that constitute plagiarism, their consequences, and the best ways to avoid them. Showing how accidental copying as well as willful plagiarism can occur, the program lays out the dangers of cheating, then illustrates the pitfalls of nonattribution and patch writing while showing how to properly attribute and paraphrase a lengthy quotation.
Copyright, trademark, and intellectual property concepts are clearly discussed, in addition to potential sources of noncopyrighted material. Common citation formats (APA, MLA, Bluebook, etc.) are listed along with the suggestion that the student confer with his or her instructor about them.
Series: Internet Research and Information Literacy: Effective Strategies and Cautionary Tales
Producer: Cambridge Educational
Running Time: 21 minutes
This course will provide students with all the necessary information needed to make informed decisions about academic integrity. (Adobe Flash Player required).
Useful Websites
Follow these links for more information on Plagiarism.
To learn more about Prince George's Community College's guidelines on plagiarism, read the Student Code of Conduct and its related sources found in the Student Handbook.