Plagiarism & Copyright

Plagiarism is not giving proper credit for

• another person's idea, opinion, or theory;
• any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings-any pieces of information-that are not common knowledge;
• quotations of another person's acutal spoken or written words; or
• paraphrase of another person's spoken or written words.

Passages are considered plagiarism if they contain the following:

• the writer has only changed around a few words or phrases, or changed the order of the original's sentences, or
• the writer has failed to cite a source for any of the ideas or facts.

Acceptable paraphrasing

• accurately relays the information in the original but uses your own words;
• lets reader know the source of the information;
• records the information in the original passage accurately; and
• gives credit for the ideas in the passage.

• Put in quotations everything that comes directly from the text ,especially when taking notes.
• Paraphrase, but be sure you are not just rearranging or replacing a few words. Instead, read over what you want to paraphrase carefully, cover up the text with your hand, or close the text so you can't see any of it (and so aren't tempted to use the text as a "guide"). Write out the idea in your own words without peeking.
• Check your paraphrase against the original text to be sure you have not accidentally used the same phrases or words, and that the information is accurate.
• Definition of common knowledge: facts that can be found in numerous places that are likely to be known by a lot of people. The rule of thumb is if the information can be found in three or more references (e.g., encyclopedias), you do not need to cite the sources.

(These previous points were gleaned from Indiana University's web site on plagiarism. http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml)

The Lone Star College System Catalog contains the Academic Integrity procedures for the district. Plagiarism is encompassed in Academic Integrity.

Lone Star College System is committed to a high standard of academic integrity in the academic community. In becoming a part of the academic community, students are responsible for honesty and independent effort. Failure to uphold these standards includes, but is not limited to, the following: plagiarizing written work or projects, cheating on exams or assignments, collusion on an exam or project, and misrepresentation of credentials or prerequisites when registering for a course. Cheating includes looking at or copying from another student's exam, orally communicating or receiving answers during an exam, having another person take an exam or complete a project or assignment, using unauthorized notes, texts, or other materials or an exam, or obtaining or distributing an unauthorized copy of an exam or any part of an exam. Plagiarism means passing off as one's own the ideas or writings of another (that is, without giving proper credit by documenting sources). Plagiarism includes submitting a paper, report or project that someone else has prepared, in whole or in part. Collusion is inappropirately collaborating on assignments designed to be completed independently. These definitions are not exhaustive.

When there is clear evidence of cheating, plagiarism, collusion or misrepresentation, a faculty member will take disciplinary action including but not limited to: requiring the student to retake or resubmit an exam or assignment, assigning a grade of zero or "F" for an exam or assignment, or assigning a grade of "F" for the course. Additional sanctions including being withdrawn from the course/program or being expelled from school may be imposed on a student who violates the standards of academic integrity. (Lone Star College System Catalog 2004-2005, pp. 49-50)

For more information please consult the latest issue of the Lone Star College System Catalog.