East Coweta High School

English Department - Department Policies


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Plagiarism and Cheating

 

One huge misconception that students have is that rewriting something is not plagiarism because they are “putting it in their own words.”  Well, if the source is not officially acknowledged, IT IS PLAGIARISM.  Copying and pasting actually accounts for only a small percentage of plagiarism.  The majority of plagiarism is a result of text manipulation.  The accessibility of the Internet makes plagiarism very tempting, and unintentional plagiarism springs from this as well.  Simply stated, plagiarism is using someone’s work without giving the appropriate credit.  This can mean several things:

 

 1.  Copying and pasting text from on-line media, such as encyclopedias is plagiarism.

 

 2.  Copying and pasting text from any website is plagiarism.

 

 3.  Transcribing text from any printed material, such as books, magazines, encyclopedias, or newspapers,

is plagiarism.

 

 4.  Simply modifying text from any of the above sources is plagiarism.  For example, replacing a few

select words using a Thesaurus does not constitute original work –

 

      Anytime you quote, summarize, or paraphrase, you must acknowledge the original source.  Even if you

summarize or paraphrase, if you do not directly credit your source through a citation YOU ARE

PLAGIARIZING!

·         If you quote a source, you must quote exactly, word for word.  Cite the source in the paper with a footnote or parenthetical citation.

·         Summaries and paraphrasing must also be cited.  Cite these exactly as you would a quote.  Summaries and paraphrasing are merely condensed versions of someone else’s work.  You must give him/her credit for the information.

 

 6.  Using photographs, video, or audio without permission or acknowledgment is plagiarism.

 

 7. You may use such a photographic, video, or audio source with or in a paper or multimedia presentation

that you create as long as you do not profit from it or use it for any purpose other than the original

assignment.  You must include the source in your bibliography.

 

 8.  Using another student’s work and claiming it as your own, even with permission, is academically

unethical and is treated as plagiarism.  This is known as “collusion.”

·         Allowing own coursework to be copied by another student

·         Copying another student’s coursework with or without his/her knowledge

·         Submitting a piece of coursework as an individual piece of work when it has actually

been written with another student

·         Doing another student’s coursework for him/her

·         Copying from a neighbor during an examination without the neighbor realizing it

·         Submitting coursework from an outside source (e.g. a former student offers to sell

pre-prepared essay)

·         Premeditated collusion between two or more students to communicate answers to each

other during an examination

·         Obtaining test information from other students

 

 9.  Acquiring work from commercial sources is academically unethical and is treated as plagiarism.

 

10. Translation from one language to another is not using your own words.  Translations fall under the

                guidelines for quotations, summaries, and paraphrasing.

 

11. Using an essay that you wrote for another class/another purpose without getting permission from the

                teacher/professor of both the current class and the class for which the original work was used is

                SELF-PLAGIARISM and is basis for consequence or penalty.  You may use your previous work

                as a basis for new research but include the original work in your bibliography.

 

Penalties for Plagiarism in ECHS English Department

 

***Students found plagiarizing or cheating on any English assignment will receive a grade of zero for that assignment.***