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Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious issue of academic misconduct and is detailed in ATI's Student Handbook and OSU's Code of Student Conduct. A video entitled "Academic Misconduct and Plagiarism" is available.

Tips for students to avoid plagiarizing:

  • Cite everything that is not your own idea, no matter where you found it
  • Cite all direct quotations and put them in quotation marks
  • If you paraphrase a source, you must still cite it because it is not your own idea
  • Never copy and paste someone else's work (another student's paper or website text) and claim it as your own
  • Never purchase a paper someone else has written and turn it in as your own

What is not plagiarism (i.e. does not require citation):

  • Widely accepted facts and common knowledge (pollution is bad for the environment, the sky is blue, etc.)
  • Your own experiences, observations, and thoughts
  • Results from an experiment you conducted

Possible consequences of plagiarism:

  • not actually learning the information
  • reputation of dishonesty
  • failing grade on the assignment
  • failing grade in the course
  • suspension and/or expulsion from OSU
  • legal consequences for criminal activity
  • negative impact on future employment

If you need assistance with copyright/plagiarism/citation, please ask your instructor or a librarian.