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.