PLAGIARISM

What is "Plagiarism"?

Plagiarism means:
 

1.	the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.

2.	something used and represented in this manner.

In general, schools give an automatic zero grade for plagiarized work, although the accompanying sanctions might differ between schools:

In the English Department of Oxnard High School for example, the following policy and corresponding penalties are provided:

Cheating and/or plagiarism are regarded as very serious offenses. Copying or paraphrasing material/text from the work of another student, from published sources (ie: Cliff Notes, Monarch Notes, books, magazines, newspapers, etc.) and/or from the Internet without proper documentation constitutes academic theft.

Plagiarism "The unauthorized use of someone else's material, which is then presented as being the result of the plagiarist's own primary research, creative impulse or insight. Plagiarism technically encompasses the borrowing of ideas of others, as well as their exact words...." Laurie Henry, The Fiction Dictionary, p. 219.

The penalty for cheating or plagiarism in each and every English class will be...

VIOLATION	PROCEDURE	RESULTING PENALTY
First offense in this class...	Teacher reports the plagiarism on a conduct report. It will be included in your discipline record.	The student will earn a ZERO for the work in question. A conference will be held with counselor. Your parent(s) will be notified of the plagiarism/cheating/academic theft.
Second offense in this class...	Teacher reports the plagiarism on a conduct report. It will be included in your discipline record.	The student will earn a ZERO for the work in question. An assistant principal will process your suspension from school as warranted. Your parent(s) will be notified of the plagiarism/cheating/academic theft and of your suspension. The required parent conference will be held before you may return to school.
Third offense in this class...	Teacher reports the plagiarism on a conduct report. It will be included on your discipline record.	The student will earn a ZERO for the work in question. An assistant principal will process your suspension from school as warranted. You will receive a FAILING GRADE for this course for the semester. Your parent(s) will be notified of the plagiarism/cheating/academic theft, of your suspension, and that you will receive an "F" for the semester. The required parent conference will be held before you may return to school.

In SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, the following policy is provided:

PLAGIARISM POLICY STATEMENT

This Plagiarism Policy Statement provides a uniform definition of plagiarism, with explanations and illustrations, for the purpose of giving law students notice of their obligation to acknowledge and cite their sources in written work submitted to the faculty for evaluation. In addition, this Policy Statement describes situations that give rise to plagiarism, offers guidelines for avoiding such situations and provides examples of plagiarism and correct citation. The examples illustrate citations in academic writing (such as seminar papers) based on conventions that apply in legal scholarship published in law reviews. Other kinds of legal writing, such as briefs, legal documents, opinion letters, examinations, etc., may require different citation rules, as specified by the faculty member to whom they are submitted. An alleged plagiarism offense may be considered by a faculty member as a sufficient basis for a failing grade and may be processed under the ethics regulation in the Student Honor Code to the extent the alleged plagiarism offense constitutes cheating as defined in the Student Honor Code.

A. PURPOSE OF STUDENT WRITING

The purpose of student writing is not only to convey information but also to provide evidence of the student’s proficiency in research, analysis and verbal style. Students submit written work for evaluation and grading. Plagiarism is wrong not only because it violates the rights of the author whose work is used without acknowledgement but also because it gives the student who plagiarizes an unfair advantage over other students.

B. STRICT ENFORCEMENT

The law school community must enforce rules against plagiarism to avoid putting honest students at a disadvantage. The perception that such a disadvantage exists strengthens the temptation to plagiarize on the false ground that “everybody does it.” Therefore, the rules set forth in this Plagiarism Policy Statement are strict and must be strictly enforced. Strict enforcement applies, because plagiarism has harmful effects on other students, even when the student who plagiarizes does so without an intention to deceive.

C. SPECIFIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF SOURCES

Student writing must contain specific and detailed acknowledgement of all sources used by the student, because the student is submitting his or her work for evaluation and grading. Unless instructed otherwise, students should not limit their acknowledgement of sources to a bibliographical list of “Works Consulted,” even though this procedure is sometimes used in academic writing not produced by students. (See, for example, the Bibliographical Note at the conclusion of this Plagiarism Policy Statement.) For evaluation purposes, the teacher must know precisely what material is original to the student and what material was obtained from other sources.

D. CITATION FORMS AND METHODS

Citations are usually provided by footnotes, except in briefs and other documents submitted to courts, where citations are usually embedded in the text. Procedures for citing sources in law review articles and other writing intended for publication or for submission to courts are described in The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (17th ed. 2000), and in the ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation (2nd ed. 2003). Other reference works describe proper citation methods to be used in student writing. See, for example, Elizabeth Fajans and Mary R. Falk, Scholarly Writing for Law Students (2nd ed. 2000). (These books are frequently updated. Be sure to use the most recent edition.)

E. QUOTATION AND PARAPHRASE

When a student uses the exact words of another author or duplicates a chart, diagram, table or other production of another author, the student must indicate that such duplication has occurred. Thus it would be insufficient to use another author’s words (or substantially the same words) and merely acknowledge in a footnote that the other author was a source of the idea expressed. Direct appropriation of another author’s words must be indicated by quotation marks, a block quotation or other formatting, and a footnote or other reference must identify the source from which the quoted material was taken. Duplication of charts, diagrams, tables and other material from a source must also be acknowledged, for example by a textual reference (“Reproduced below is Professor Smith’s diagram.”) by a caption (“Figure 3. N. J. Smith’s Diagram of Litigation Alternatives”), or by other means. In addition, a footnote or other reference must identify the publication where the diagram or other material was found.

Paraphrase occurs when a student expresses in his or her own words information found in a source. The student must cite the source of the information, even though the student has restated the information in different words not used by the original author.

F. CITATION OF AUTHORITY

Students sometimes plagiarize because they fear that complete acknowledgement of their sources will deprive them of any claim to be “original,” and that originality (in the sense of ideas not previously expressed by anyone else) is the principal criterion of excellence in writing. Whatever the case might be in other disciplines, such originality is seldom attainable in law.

Legal writing normally contains a citation to authority for every proposition stated in the text. The amount of citation in legal writing may appear excessive to entering law students familiar with the different citation rules used for most undergraduate writing assignments. Because law is not only an academic discipline but also (and primarily) a social institution for governing behavior, law must have recourse to principles established by authority in the society to be governed. The fact that authority (whether accepted or challenged) has great importance in law may account for the expectation that legal writers should cite every authority they used and should also find authority to support their own original ideas.

Students should not fear that citations will deprive them of their claim to originality. Excellence in legal writing owes less to novelty than to critical analyses of the existing authorities that constitute or interpret the law. It is an original contribution to find and cite authority for a proposition that legal scholars and judges would reject without authority. The student who cites authority for each proposition in his or her paper can make an original contribution by effective selection of material, especially where critical choices must be made among inconsistent authorities that support or disapprove the propositions under consideration. The soundness and persuasiveness of a student’s choices among different authorities are the hallmarks of good legal writing.

G. AVOIDING PLAGIARISM BY TAKING CAREFUL NOTES

Students must take careful notes when doing legal research in order to retain information they will need later on to acknowledge their sources. It is a dangerous practice to “read around” for background information or intellectual stimulus and make only general notes that combine information from the sources with your own emerging ideas. The use of such impressionistic notes in writing a paper may result in plagiarism, if the notes do not distinguish your own ideas from the ideas found in sources and do not preserve information needed to cite the sources. A student’s notes should be sufficient to identify material used for background information or intellectual stimulus as well as material to be cited as authority.

H. PROCRASTINATION LEADS TO PLAGIARISM

Time management is important both in law school and in practice. In the practice of law, poor time management results in ineffective representation of clients, malpractice and violations of professional conduct rules. In law school, poor time management leads to academic dishonesty, including plagiarism.

It takes time to assimilate legal authorities, choose among them, analyze them and produce a clearly written response. If such time is not available, plagiarism may result from poor note taking and hasty writing. Plagiarism often results from desparation. Students who do not manage their time effectively and are faced with multiple deadlines they cannot meet are vulnerable to the temptation to plagiarize on the ground that they have no other choice.

I. SEEK HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT

Students who find themselves unable to meet deadlines because of poor time management, personal problems or other unanticipated disruptions should seek help from their instructor or the Assistant Dean of Students. There is always an alternative to plagiarism. Ask for an extension. If none is granted, seek other remedies. If none are found, accept the penalty for submitting your work late. Penalties for academic deficiencies are much less serious than penalties for plagiarism.

Reference links:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plagiarism
http://www.ouhsd.k12.ca.us/sites/ohs/depts/engl/plagiarism_policy.htm
http://law.slu.edu/policies/plagiarism.html