What is plagiarism?

Scroll for an in-depth explanation of what plagiarism is and what its repercussions are in academia.

Why does it matter?

Scroll for an explanation of why academics care about plagiarism and why it should matter to you.

What does it look like?

Scroll for examples of the kinds of plagiarism and why they are each problematic.

How do I avoid it?

Scroll for strategies on how to avoid plagiarism through citations and correct paraphrasing.

What is plagiarism?

According to The Chicago School Academic Catalog and Student Handbook​ (2017), plagiarism is

intentionally or unintentionally representing words, ideas, or data from any source as one’s own original work. The use or reproduction of another’s work without appropriate attribution in the form of complete, accurate, and properly formatted citations constitutes plagiarism. Examples o​f plagiarism, include but are not limited to, copying the work of another verbatim without using quotation marks, revising the work of another by making only minor word changes without explanation, attribution, and citation, paraphrasing the work of another without the appropriate citation. A student is expected to produce original work in all papers, coursework, dissertation, and other academic projects (including case studies from internship or practicum sites) and to follow appropriate rules governing attribution that apply to the work product.Carelessness, or failure to properly follow appropriate rules governing source attribution (for example, those contained in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association), can be construed to be plagiarism when multiple mistakes in formatting citations are made in the same paper. Further, a single example of failing to use quotation marks appropriately may be considered plagiarism.

PLAGIARISM AND ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AT TCSPP

​Potential disciplinary outcomes for academic integrity violations at TCSPP include, but are not limited to, requirement of an Academic Development Plan, disciplinary action, and/or dismissal from TCSPP. Visit The Chicago School Academic Catalog and Student Handbook​ for full TCSPP policy on plagiarism and academic integrity.

Directly copying.

When another author’s ideas are directly copied into your writing without: (a) quotation marks around the quote; (b) an in-text citation; and (c) a page number. This claims the text as your own, breeching academic integrity. See more below.

Claiming something as fact.

When you do not provide a citation for: (a) information that is not commonly known; (b) statistics or data; or (c) an arguable claim that requires evidence. While not directly copying another’s words, the use of information that has probably been acquired from informational reading (online, Wikipedia, etc.) is still considered dishonest. See more below.

Failing to paraphrase.

A source can be incompletely paraphrased when: (a) you include ‘just a small number’ of words from the source without indicating which words are not yours; (b) you use the original sentence structure but insert synonyms; or (c) you do not provide a citation for source text that your paraphrased. See more below.