“The key to avoiding plagiarism is that you show clearly where your own thinking ends and someone else’s begins.” – From Academic Honesty, by the UW Tacoma Office of the Registrar

How often have you found yourself sitting in class and your instructor warns you “not to plagiarize” on your paper?  They mention “academic honesty”, and take some time to explain to you that using another person’s words is cheating.

And then … how often have you heard what they say … and then stared at a computer and have no idea which parts of the scholarly article you just read you can or cannot use?

Don’t worry! Understanding what plagiarism is, and, more importantly, your role as a scholar in your own right, is a complicated thing.  But it doesn’t have to be that frustrating.

Let’s start with a definition.  Merriam-Webster defines “to plagiarize” as

“to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own: use (another’s production) without crediting the source”

Simple enough, right? The takeaway there seems to be: 1) don’t steal words and 2) credit the source.  The definition makes it sound like a formula: you read an article, you credit the source, and you are good to go.  But why shouldn’t you plagiarize?

Scholars build their careers by creating new ideas and writing about them.  They spend years (decades, sometimes!) researching in their field of expertise, and get promoted in their job based on what they publish.  The work they publish is vetted by their peers, and has to meet a bar of expertise and quality in their field.  Scholarly articles, in fact, are slow conversations with other scholars, where

“ideas are formulated, debated, and weighed against one another over extended periods of time” – From ACLR Information Literacy Standards

If, when we are writing our term papers, we just take a scholar’s words and don’t give them credit, it really is an act of disrespect.  Moreover, the papers we write can be a part of that conversation and creation of ideas.  While we may not be experts (yet), our voices and perspectives matter, and it is therefore super important to distinguish what is our opinion and how it fits in with the ideas already extant in your area of interest (these are the things you cite!).

By understanding how ideas are created, that information had value, and how the work you are doing is a conversation with some of the brilliant minds in your field, learning how not to plagiarize will be a whole lot easier.

Now that you know why to avoid plagiarism, take a look at this page on plagiarism published by UW Tacoma.  It can give you some concrete steps on how to avoid it! And here’s a funny video about plagiarism made by the University of Alberta to add some levity to it all!

(Remember, you can always stop by the TLC or to get information on citation!)