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Citation Style and Management: What is Plagiarism?

This guide is designed to help familiarize you with the various citation styles you will use here at St Albans. It is also where you can access NoodleTools, STA's citation management software

Plagiarism 101

According to Merriam-Webster Online, the definition of plagiarism is: "to steal and pass off (the words and ideas of another) as one's own."

This is the most concise definition of the word. We added our own emphasis to the word 'ideas' because part of our mission in Ellison Library is to ensure that all STA students understand the depth and scope of what constitutes plagiarism. Ideas can also indeed be plagiarized. In the United States things such as ideas, inventions and original research are considered intellectual property and are safeguarded as such by laws and statutes. 

Other fundamental keys to understanding what constitutes an act of plagiarism, according to Plagiarism.org:

  • to use (another's production) without crediting the source
  • to commit literary theft
  • to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source

A simple mantra to keep in mind: WHEN IN DOUBT ALWAYS CITE

 

 

Do the Rules and Concepts of Plagiarism Apply to Digital Media?

Yes, the fundamentals of tenets of what constitutes an act of plagiarism most definitely apply to digital media such as photographs, images, video and other forms of audio-visual content. Once again, according to Plagiarism.org, "Using an image, video or piece of music in a work you have produced without receiving proper permission or providing appropriate citation is plagiarism."

So by definition the following activities can and will be considered plagiarism:

  • Copying and pasting media into your research or homework without attribution
  • Using an image or photograph in a Google Slide presentation without proper citation 
  • Making videos while using copyrighted music or media without permission 

 

Plagiarism Quizzes

Turnitin has a excellent visual tutorial called The Plagiarism Spectrum.

Cornell University has put together a useful set of Plagiarism Exercises (open to the general public). These exercises are to be helpful for those still uncertain about the conceptual mechanics of plagiarism.

Similarly, Yale University's Center for Teaching and Learning has also assembled a Plagiarism Quiz open to the general public. 

Get certified! Indiana University has created a series of age and education-level appropriate Certification Tests. Test your knowledge and earn a certificate!

Goucher College has designed a quiz called 'Plagiarism-by-Paraphrase Risk.' This exercise can help you learn the boundaries between paraphrasing and plagiarism. As a bonus, the quiz can be taken by discipline (i.e. Science, Economics, Literature etc)

 

 

Additional Plagiarism Resources

Understanding and Preventing Plagiarism

This is a great resource that covers the basics of what constitutes plagiarism, including excellent examples of how to summarize, paraphrase and beyond.