Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Prevention Resources: 1. What is Plagiarism?

Academic honesty or academic integrity is a set of values held by the academic community. These values are defined by the International Center for Academic Integrity as "commitment, even in the face of adversity, to...honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility."

There are four basic types of academic dishonesty: cheating, facilitation, plagiarism, and fabrication. Sometimes plagiarism is used as a catch-all term for all kinds of academic dishonesty. Plagiarism is using somebody else's ideas or expression of ideas (writing, art, music, speech, etc.) and representing them as your own.

More specifically, plagiarism is the "unattributed use of a source of information that is not considered common knowledge. Three acts are considered plagiarism: (1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, (2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and (3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words."
~~Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual

The 13 common types of plagiarism: Identity Theft, Copycat, Cherry-pick, Mitosis, Recycle, Remix, Ghost Citation, Half-n-half, Warp, Mosaic, Reflection, Miscue, & Half-hearted.

American National University Library: Types of Plagiarism. (2014). "Did I Plagiarism? The Types and Severity of Plagiarism Violations. [Infographic].

Get to know the Academic Honesty Policy at your school. Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional. Review your institutions rules and make sure you understand them to help you avioid unintential plagiarism.