Some instances of plagiarism are intentional - the student knows they are breaking the Academic Honor Code with their actions. However, many times, students plagiarize on accident.
Examples of intentional and accidental plagiarism:
Intentional Plagiarism | Accidental Plagiarism |
Evan doesn't have time to write his paper, and he's panicking because he can't afford to lose his scholarship. He finds a website where he can buy a custom paper. He promises it'll just be this once. | Siena used a direct quote in her paper, including the citation. However, her professor wants to talk to her about possible plagiarism because she did not use quotation marks around the direct quote. |
Avery found a blog post that says exactly what they want to say in their paper. It's not a well-known blogger, so they figure they won't get caught if they just pretend it's their original words. | Chris referenced the website he cited in the text of his paper, but he did not include a full citation in his bibliography/works cited. |
Stephanie has been sick for 2 weeks, and she has a paper due in a few days. Her roommate, Jenn, feels bad for her and offers to write her paper. | When citing her sources, Madison only included the authors' names (omitting the titles of articles/books, web addresses, etc.). |
Submitting a paper you wrote for another class is plagiarism. You can only reuse a paper if you have your professor's permission. Most professors will not let you simply resubmit a paper from a previous class; however, they may work with you to expand upon your original paper in place of writing a whole new paper.
In a rush or panic
Whether due to procrastination or life happening, we all sometimes find ourselves in a rush or panic to complete an assignment or task.
When this happens, try these tips:
Of course, planning ahead so that you do not find yourself in a rush or panic is best. Eckerd has many free resources to help:
Don't want to put in the time or effort
There are many reasons you may feel unmotivated to put in the time or effort to complete an assignment, including:
Lack of confidence in your own ideas
Many college students are hesitant to express ideas in their own words because they feel that they are not qualified - after all, journal articles are written by experts, so who are you, a First Year Student, to interpret experts' ideas or add your own to the conversation?
As a college student, you are learning how to be a scholar. The best way to learn is by doing - when you incorporate experts' ideas into your own, you are practicing at participating in the scholarly conversation. As you practice more, you will build confidence.
Don't know how to properly cite
Many cases of plagiarism are unintentional, or accidental, because students do not know how to properly cite their sources.