Avoiding Plagiarism

Cut-and-paste plagiarism (also called patchwork plagiarism) occurs when a student creates a document by copying and pasting words, paragraphs, or even complete pages from another print or online source. The student may compose an original introduction and conclusion and add a variety of effective original transitions, but part (or parts) of the paper are copied word for word without appropriate citation and documentation. A student who submits such a paper as original work—even as a rough draft—has committed cut-and-paste plagiarism and will earn zero for the assignment

Incremental plagiarism sometimes occurs through carelessness or by accident when a student quotes or paraphrases inaccurately (or unethically) or fails to cite or document a source appropriately. Ignorance of plagiarism will not excuse it. A student who submits such a paper as original work—even as a rough draft—commits incremental plagiarism and will earn a zero for the assignment.

Self-plagiarism (also called recycling fraud) occurs when one recycles identical or significantly identical portions of one’s own work without acknowledging that one is doing so or without citing the original work. Students do, on occasion, find themselves working on the same or similar topics in different courses, but all academic work submitted in a course must be work original to that course. Selfplagiarism violates personal integrity, academic ethics, and the student honor code. In universities, it can result in dismissal from a program. At FTCC, a student who submits a self-plagiarized paper as original work—even as a rough draft—will earn a zero for the assignment.

Enabling plagiarism is also an honor-code violation. A student who enables another to plagiarize, with or without permission, is subject to the same penalties as the student who commits the plagiarism. Any student found helping another to plagiarize will be held equally accountable— regardless of intention. The intent of the student is not the issue. Students are expected to control access to their online materials and accounts, and all students are accountable for all work submitted in their names. In short, those who plagiarize unintentionally face the same penalties as those who plagiarize intentionally.

Use of Writing Application Software has become commonplace. While this software may be viewed as “student hacks,” be mindful that using Artificial Intelligence to create work is not acceptable. This includes software that allows one to simply copy and paste work into an application to paraphrase material or to automatically generate material. While applications can be useful assistants, they should not do the work itself.