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STATEMENT ON PLAGIARISM & ACADEMIC FRAUD
INTRODUCTION
The History Department does not tolerate academic dishonesty
of any kind. This includes not only cheating on tests, but also any
form of plagiarism: handing in any paper you did not write, attempting
to pass off someone else's writing as your own, or using the ideas,
information, or phraseology of other writers without giving proper credit
in your text. If you are caught committing these types of fraud against
yourself, your teachers, and your fellow students, you can expect severe
consequences, ranging all the way up to expulsion from school. This
is a matter of University policy. All assignments submitted at Florida
State University are bound by the Academic Honor Code printed in the
back of the Student Handbook. Under the Honor Code, it is the
responsibility of each student to complete all assignments according
to the requirements set by the instructor and to submit only work that
is his or her own.
Students sometimes argue that their cultural or educational backgrounds
should excuse them from following the Academic Honor Code. Indeed, it
is true that different cultures handle the ownership of ideas differently.
Some cultures operate on the assumption that ideas cannot be owned,
and do not confer any special rights to those who first come up with
an idea, nor require writers to acknowledge other people's words and
ideas when they make use of them. Some countries are only now developing
laws to protect the ownership of patents and copyrights, and some foreign
universities do not prohibit plagiarism or other forms of academic fraud.
Even some students educated in the United States may have been taught
a very casual approach to the use of sources before coming to FSU. It
is well known, for instance, that some high school teachers do instruct
students to "write papers" by copying from encyclopedia articles.
Florida State University upholds a different standard. The Academic
Honor Code is based on the idea, common to all respected institutions
of higher learning in the western world, that the unique intellectual
contributions of the individual writer are most important in judging
and evaluating his or her work. Although some students come from countries
and cultures that do not recognize individual contributions to knowledge,
FSU expects these students (and all other students and faculty) to honor
the intellectual work of others while they are members of this academic
community. Though the History Department recognizes that all historical
writers make some use of the thoughts and words of others, honest historians
always acknowledge their intellectual debts and carefully document their
use of sources.
Beyond these questions of intellectual morality and justice, academic
fraud diminishes the value of a student's education. Stealing the ideas,
words, and research of others robs students of the chance to develop
the thinking, writing, and researching skills that are the major tangible
benefits -- with regard to future employment opportunities -- of humanities
education. Moreover, scrupulous citation of sources improves not only
the form but also the content of a piece of writing. As Richard Marius
of Harvard University has written, "The discrimination between your
own thoughts and the thoughts of others helps you see if you are saying
something new and interesting. If you pay strict attention to the acknowledgment
of your sources, you may discover that you have produced a paper . .
. that has failed to bring your own thoughts to the subject."
Clearly, not all academic frauds are committed with the intent to deceive.
Beginning students may make honest mistakes. Any student might carelessly
copy poorly-taken notes from some source into a paper as his or her
own words. Yet ultimately the motives of a student who misuses sources
or steals the words of others do not matter as much as the fact that
the sources were misused or words stolen. A professional writer caught
making such an honest mistake would probably have to find a new profession;
a businessperson who honestly tried to sell a product or idea that someone
else owned would be sued for millions. It is your responsibility as
a student to guard against committing academic fraud, just as it is
your responsibility as a driver to operate your vehicle safely and your
responsibility as a citizen to obey the laws, even those of which you
may be ignorant. Try telling the I.R.S. you didn't know you had to pay
taxes!
The information below clearly defines plagiarism and other academic
frauds to help you avoid making these kinds of mistakes. Sections II
& III provide the definitions and a statement of the minimal requirements
for the acknowledgement of sources. The next several sections contain
examples of the various ways in which a source can be misused, along
with examples of correct references to the same source.
This statement was adapted from a student guide prepared by Rice University,
which was in turn based on similar guides used at the University of
Virginia and Wesleyan University. Additional content assistance was
drawn from a handout distributed by Harvard University's Expository
Writing Program and from statements on academic honesty prepared at
the University of Florida and Kenyon College.
A DEFINITION OF ACADEMIC
FRAUD
There are several types of academic fraud, and they are as follows:
I. Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the use of the distinctive idea or words belonging to another
person without adequate acknowledgment of that person's contribution.
To use as one's own the ideas or words of another is dishonest, since
with most academic writing the greater part of the thought and expression
is the property of the author himself or herself. Some ideas have such
wide currency that all may use them freely; some words - such as proverbs
and clichés - are public property. But when the writer borrows
what belongs to any other person, whether from a published or an unpublished
work, he or she must indicate the source by way of a footnote or an internal
reference. Furthermore, he or she must enclose any and all distinctive
words or phrases within quotation marks, or in the case of a longer quotation,
clearly set off the quoted passage from the rest of the text. Neglect
of these indications shall be considered academic fraud.
II. Multiple Submission
Multiple submission is the resubmission of any work by a student that
has been used in identical or similar form in fulfillment of any academic
requirement at this or another institution. To do so without prior permission
from the professor shall be considered academic fraud.
III. False Citation
A false citation is any attribution to, or citation of, a source from
which the referenced material was not in fact obtained, including use
of a quoted reference from a non-original source while implying reference
to the original source. This shall be considered academic fraud.
IV. False Data
False data are data altered or contrived so as to be deliberately misleading.
The submission of such data shall be considered academic fraud.
V. Unauthorized Collaboration
Collaboration on projects is always subject to the instructor's definition
and approval. Discussions with other students, with the instructor, and
with other faculty members can help clarify your ideas. Likewise it is
often useful to ask someone else to go over a first version of an assignment
and to make suggestions for its improvement. But when you submit academic
work (such as examinations, homework assignments, laboratory reports and
notebooks, and term papers), this work must be your work and no one else's,
unless the assignment was specifically defined as a collaborative group
project. Unauthorized collaboration shall be considered academic
fraud.
VI. Procedures and Penalties
The university's procedures for dealing with cases of academic fraud
are set forth under the heading "Academic Honor System" in the back
of the Student Handbook.
Each instructor is responsible for detecting and punishing academic
fraud in his or her courses. An instructor who suspects academic fraud
will first discuss the questionable assignment with the student; this
discussion may clear up the instructor's questions or allow the instructor
and student to resolve the matter between themselves. In minor or borderline
cases of this kind, the student may simply be required to redo all or
part of the assignment. If an informal discussion does not resolve the
problem, the instructor will withhold the student's grade for the assignment
in question until the matter can be further investigated and more formally
resolved in consultation with the department chair and/or appropriate
university officials. If necessary, the student will be given a grade
of "Incomplete" for the course while this investigation is carried out.
Penalties for academic fraud will involve, at the very least, some
combination of the following: a lower or failing grade on the assignment
in question; a lower or failing grade in the course; and additional
assignments designed to ensure that the student has turned in the same
amount of his or her own work as other members of the course.
These course-level penalties are at the discretion of the instructor,
but any such penalties that are levied must be put in writing, signed
by both the instructor and the student, and reported to the department
chair, dean, and the University Judicial Officer.
A student who feels the instructor's final decision is unfair may refuse
to sign the report and appeal the decision to an Academic Honor System
Hearing Panel, as provided in the Student Handbook. Likewise,
the University Judicial Officer may decide, in a case of severe or repeated
violations of the Academic Honor Code, to conduct his or her own investigation,
and proceed with further disciplinary action. Students should be aware
that if a case of academic fraud reaches the university level, via appeal
to an Academic Honor System Panel or action by the University Judicial
Officer, the possible penalties become much more severe. Punishments
for violations of the Academic Honor Code range up to suspension or
expulsion from the University.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SOURCES
Individual professors will have varying requirements for the acknowledgment
of sources, but certain fundamental principles apply to all levels of
work. To prevent any misunderstanding, students should study and comply
with the following basic requirements:
I. Dual Submissions
Under certain conditions a student may be permitted to rewrite an earlier
work or to satisfy two academic requirements by producing a single piece
of work, more extensive than that which would satisfy either requirement
on its own. In such cases, however, the student must secure prior permission
from each instructor involved. If the student has revised an earlier essay,
the earlier essay should be submitted with the final version. If a single
extended essay has been written for more than one course, the fact must
be clearly indicated at the beginning of the essay.
II. Written Work
A. Quotations: Any quotation - however small - must
be placed in quotation marks or clearly indented beyond the regular
margin and single-spaced in a double-spaced paper. Any quotation must
be accompanied (either within the text or in a footnote) by a precise
indication of the source - identifying the author, title, place and
date of publication, and page numbers. Any sentence or phrase that is
not the original work of the student must be acknowledged.
B. Paraphrasing: Any material summarized or paraphrased
from a source must be specifically acknowledged in a footnote or in
the text, as would a direct quotation. A thorough rewording or rearrangement
of an author's text does not relieve one of this responsibility. A writer
should be diligent in taking adequate reading notes so that debts of
phrasing may be acknowledged where they are due; it is not necessarily
a sufficient or valid excuse to claim that the phrases or ideas of a
text were unknowingly duplicated simply because of a time lapse between
the reading of a source and the writing of a paper.
C. "Mosaic": A mosaic is a special case of paraphrasing
without adequate acknowledgments; it is a form of plagiarism. A mosaic
is a piecing together of ideas and quotations made in the course of
one's research. A mosaic plagiarist may change words, rewrite sentences,
add phrases or paragraphs of his own, and take material from many different
sources. With proper notation, this work may be creative and original
by reason of the sources that are woven together and skill with which
they are presented. Nearly all research papers are to some extent mosaic.
However, if the sources of these ideas and quotations are not carefully
identified by adequate notation, the reader will be misled into thinking
that all the information presented is the writer's own. This would be
an act of plagiarism.
To avoid this kind of problem, always keep a note of the source of
each idea while doing research so that when you write the paper you
may footnote each source as you use it. Be sure to inform your reader
as to the source of all of the ideas presented, so that your reader
can appreciate the distinctive connections that you have provided.
D. Crediting Ideas and Facts: Any ideas or facts borrowed
from a particular source should be specifically acknowledged in a footnote
or in the text of the paper, even if the idea or fact has been further
elaborated by the writer. Some widely known ideas, facts, formulae and
other kinds of information are considered "common knowledge" and do not
require citation. The criteria for "common knowledge" vary among disciplines;
if doubt exists about whether a citation is needed, ask a faculty member.
The requirements for citing the sources of ideas and facts apply to unpublished
essays and notes, as well as published works. If such unpublished sources
are used, the writer must state the fact and indicate clearly the nature
and extent of his or her obligation.
III. Oral Reports
Students required to submit written notes for oral reports must clearly
acknowledge any work that is not original, in accordance with the requirements
for written work, as stated above.
CITATION BASICS
There are generally accepted ways to write out citations and credits
of sources. Below are descriptions of these; in writing papers, students
may also wish to consult some of the sources listed in Section 10, "Guides
to the Citation of Sources."
I. Footnotes. A footnote number may be placed after
any borrowed material, and footnotes should be numbered consecutively
throughout a given paper. Each number will key to a note that identifies
the author, title, place and date of publication, and page numbers of
the source of the borrowed material. Notes may be placed either at the
bottom of the page or, preferably, at the end of the paper. When a source
is cited for the first time, all the above information should be given
in the note. When citing a source for the second and subsequent times,
only a shortened reference need be used, unless multiple works by the
same author are cited.
II. Internal Reference. Mention of the author, title,
or page number of a source in the body of a paper - as opposed to such
mention in a footnote - is internal reference. When internal reference
to a source is used only once, the indebtedness of the student is slight
or casual, not extensive or vitally important, and a footnote is unnecessary.
If a work is to be quoted or referred to frequently, however, the first
mention of the source should be footnoted. The reader should then be
told in the footnote that subsequent references are to a particular
edition of the source. These references would be page numbers placed
in parentheses as needed throughout the paper.
III. Bibliography. All the sources consulted in the preparation
of an essay or report should be listed in a bibliography, unless specific
guidelines (from the academic department or instructor) request that only
works cited be so included. However, the listing of a source in a bibliography
is not considered a proper acknowledgment for a specific use of that source
within the essay or report. Failing to acknowledge a source from which
ideas have been taken is a serious misrepresentation, as is adding sources
to a bibliography that were not used.
SAMPLE PASSAGE FROM SECONDARY SOURCE
Repair of the public sector was Kennedy's other variation on the theme
of getting the country moving again. This had originally been Galbraith's
issue, but Kennedy studiously avoided giving him credit, since a substantial
number of citizens considered the economist a crackpot. But Kennedy
left no doubt that he too was disturbed by Republican neglect of community
well-being. Kennedy promised to clear the slums, wipe out poverty, bring
prosperity to depressed areas, provide a decent education to every school
child, restore dignity to the aged, and remove the hardships attendant
on automation. A large gap separated these goals from Kennedy's specific
proposals, which turned out to be merely the piecemeal reforms advanced
by the Democrats unsuccessfully in recent Congresses. They included
more urban renewal, federal loans to businessmen locating in depressed
areas, and higher minimum wages. Mere extensions of the welfare state
perhaps, but sufficient to permit the candidate to run in the tradition
of Wilson, Roosevelt, and Truman. Most liberals asked no more.1
1. Allen J. Matusow, The Unraveling of America,
(New York: Harper and Row, 1984), pp. 19-20.
WORD-FOR-WORD PLAGIARIZING
Incorrect Reference
Repair of the public sector was Kennedy's other route to getting
the country moving again. Originally Galbraith's issue, Kennedy studiously
avoided giving him credit, as many considered the economist a nut-case.
But Kennedy left no doubt that he too was disturbed by Republican neglect
of community well-being. Kennedy promised to improve the slums, eliminate
poverty, bring prosperity to depressed areas, provide a decent education
to every school child, restore dignity to the old, and remove hardships
attendant on automation.
Comment: This is the most obvious form of plagiarism - an outright theft.
No credit is given to Matusow for the nearly exact replication of his
work. Notice how the student has changed "crackpot" to "nut-case" and
"variation" to "route" in an awkward attempt to camouflage the copying.
Correct Reference
If the writer had enclosed all the copied text in quotation marks and
had identified the source in a footnote, the student would not have
been liable to the charge of plagiarism; a reader might justifiably
have felt, however, that the writer's personal contribution to the discussion
was not very significant.
To conform to the style guidelines of the Modern Language Association,
set off (in an indented single-spaced block of text) quotations longer
than four lines. If your professor assigns the Chicago Manual of
Style, set off quotations that run eight or ten typed lines. Other
professional associations' guidelines may have different standards.
Reproductions of shorter length should be enclosed in quotation marks.
Both types of citation require a footnote.
Instead of footnotes, many academic societies recommend a system of
references enclosed in parentheses linked to a list of works (cited
or consulted) printed at the end of the paper. Your best defense is
to follow carefully whichever style guide your professor has advised
the class to follow. If the professor has not recommended a style guide,
ask the professor which one you should use.
PARAPHRASING
Incorrect Reference
Eager to follow in the footsteps of his liberal forefathers, Kennedy
responded quickly to the call for action. Hoping to revitalize the country
through improvement in the public sector, Kennedy began to consult his
Keynesians for advice. It was not difficult to convince him that past
Republican administrations' focus on solvency had hurt the community
health.
Comment: While this student has done a good job rewording Matusow's
original work, he or she has still failed to adequately acknowledge
the original source. Although the student has provided the words (see
italicized sections), it was Matusow who provided the ideas. The omission
of any citation, footnote, or internal reference constitutes a false
claim by the writer that these ideas are his or her own.
Correct Reference
A correctly referenced paraphrase requires two indicators; one to tell
where the paraphrasing begins, followed by another to show where the
paraphrasing ends.
As Allen Matusow has noted, Kennedy's eagerness to follow in the
footsteps of his liberal forefathers led him to respond quickly to the
call for action. Hoping to revitalize the country through improvement
in the public sector, Kennedy began to consult his Keynesians for advice.
In Kennedy's eyes, it was the past Republican administration's focus
on solvency that had hurt the community health.2
2. Allen J. Matusow, The Unraveling of America,
(New York: Harper & Row, 1984), pp. 19-20.
"As Allen Matusow has noted" serves as the initial indicator with the
traditional footnote marking the end of the paraphrased material.
PARTIAL PARAPHRASING
Incorrect Reference
As Allen Matusow has noted, Kennedy's plan for revitalization was
an ambitious one that followed in the footsteps of his liberal forefathers.
By clearing the slums, eliminating poverty, bringing prosperity to depressed
areas, and removing the hardships accompanying automation, Kennedy hoped
to get Americans moving again.
Comment: Though the student does make an internal reference to Allen
Matusow, this passage still represents serious plagiarism. Notice how
the student has pieced together the themes of several different thoughts
from the original. No footnote accompanies this patchwork. Furthermore,
in several places, the student has done an inadequate job of paraphrasing.
In fact, the last sentence is so similar to the original that it should
be reworked, enclosed in quotation marks, and accompanied by a footnote.
In the example below, the student has improved upon the reference in
several ways.
Correct Reference
As Allen Matusow has noted, Kennedy's plan for revitalization was
an ambitious one that followed in the footsteps of his liberal forefathers.
By "[clearing] the slums, [wiping] out poverty, [bringing] prosperity
to depressed areas, . . . and [removing] the hardships attendant on
automation," Kennedy hoped to get Americans moving again.3
3. Allen J. Matusow, The Unraveling of America,
(New York: Harper & Row, 1984), pp. 19-20.
This student has used a footnote at the end of the entire section as
a way to point out the specific location of the original ideas. Second,
the writer correctly documents the partially paraphrased quotation.
The sentence is correctly placed in quotation marks, as it is primarily
Matusow's writing. Next, the student has correctly bracketed the change
in tense of the original verbs and has inserted . . . to signal text
that has been lifted out. Finally, the correct footnote has been placed
at the end of the quoted sentence.
PLAGIARISM OF AN IDEA
Incorrect Reference
In my opinion, Kennedy hoped to revitalize the country by revitalizing
the public sector. Conservative fiscal restraint had left much of the
public sector in shambles. To combat the damage of the past, Kennedy
sought programs that would improve such interconnected areas as housing,
education, health care, and employment.
Comment: Since the student paraphrases, the plagiarism appears less
obvious than in the examples. Nonetheless, though the words are the
student's, the ideas are Matusow's. In fact, the paragraph follows an
almost identical pattern of presentation of ideas as does Matusow's
original work. The student's sentences paraphrase Matusow's first, third,
and fourth sentences. Because the student has begun the paragraph with
"in my opinion," and thereby led the reader to believe the ideas are
his or her own, the student's dishonesty is more evident; since the
ideas belong to Matusow, a footnote or internal reference should be
appropriately placed to credit the source.
Correct Reference
I agree with Matusow's argument that Kennedy hoped to revitalize
the country by revitalizing the public sector. Conservative fiscal restraint
had left much of the public sector in shambles. To combat the damage
of the past, Kennedy sought programs that would improve such interconnected
areas as housing, education, health care, and employment.4
4. Allen J. Matusow, The Unraveling of America,
(New York: Harper & Row, 1984), pp. 19-20.
The internal reference to Matusow and the footnote at the end of the
paragraph give correct attribution to Matusow and his work for the ideas,
but not to the words in the paragraph.
GUIDEBOOKS TO THE CITATION OF SOURCES
For standard forms of quotations, footnotes, and bibliographies, the
student should consult one of the following. Your instructor may designate
one of these guides to follow, but all are acceptable as long as your
citations are consistent.
Achtert, Walter S., and Joseph Gibaldi. The MLA Style Manual.
New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1985.
Campbell, William Giles, Stephen Vaughan Ballou, and Carole Slade.
Form and Style: Theses, Reports, Term Papers. 7th ed. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1986.
The Chicago Manual of Style. 14th ed. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1993.
Hacker, Diana L. A Writer's Reference. 2nd ed. New York: Bedford
Books of St. Martin's Press: New York, 1992. Pages 243-262 contain information
on Modern Language Association (MLA) style, American Psychological Association
(APA) style, and a list of style manuals for various fields.
Huckin, Thomas N., and Leslie A. Olsen. Technical Writing and Professional
Communication for Nonnative Speakers of English. International Edition.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991. Pages 662-665 cover scientific documentation
style. Other parts of this book explain many other features of English
phrasing and document structure useful to nonnative speakers who are
preparing term papers and articles in English.
Marius, Richard. A Short Guide to Writing About History. 2d
ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, And
Dissertations. Most recent edition. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
2. If there is any question as to the footnote requirements of a particular
assignment, the student should consult their instructor as early as
possible.
3. The instructor, another faculty member or the chairman of the department
may also be helpful in defining the "common knowledge" of a particular
field.
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