Writing support promotes and fosters academic integrity by helping you develop responsible writing practices. Plagiarism occurs when material or ideas from a source are used without appropriate acknowledgment or citation. Using sources responsibly and giving appropriate credit are important parts of maintaining academic integrity.
Generally speaking, most people do not intend to plagiarize anything. Most occurrences of plagiarism happen when well-meaning people simply don't know the rules of a particular citation style. However, whether unintentional or malicious, plagiarism is a serious matter that could have an effect on your academic standing. Protect yourself by brushing up on citation styles, and contact the writing consultants if you have any questions or concerns.
Contrary to what you might be thinking, plagiarism isn't always a malicious act committed by someone out to steal someone else's words. In most cases, plagiarism is the result of not knowing when citation should occur, rather than devious intentions.
To avoid plagiarism, you must understand what plagiarism is. In basic terms, plagiarism is using someone else's ideas in your work without proper citation.
Plagiarism can occur whether you use exact words from source material or a reworded paraphrase. If you use someone else’s idea in your writing, the lack of proper citation will result in plagiarism - no matter in what form the content shows up in your work.
Because most people don't intend to plagiarize, avoiding the act is remarkably easy:
Huskie Academic Success Center
Founders Memorial Library, Learning Commons
815-753-6636
hasc@niu.edu