Plagiarism, as a whole, is defined as the act of taking someone else's words or ideas and claiming them as your own without properly acknowledging the original source. Plagiarism can be either intentional or unintentional, so it is important that writers keep track of what is their original idea and what is being summarized, paraphrased, or quoted from another source. See the page "Saybrook Turnitin Policy and Plagiarism Overview" for a complete description of Saybrook's policies regarding plagiarism.
This page presents definitions of the different types of plagiarism and strategies that can be utilized to avoid unintentional plagiarism.
Direct plagiarism is a direct copy of someone else's work and do not contain in-text citations and/or quotation marks. Regarded as highly unethical, consequences of direct plagiarism are oftentimes severe.
Accidental Plagiarism occurs when a writer does one of the following:
Self-plagiarism can occur when a student submits their own previous work or mixes various parts of previous work. To avoid self-plagiarizing, a student should author new work for each submission. In some cases, a student may opt to obtain permission from all professors involved. Self-plagiarism may occur when retaking classes or when using the same paper for different classes.
Mosaic plagiarism happens when a writer uses phrases from a source without using quotation marks. In addition, the writer may also take an original sentence from the author and substitute some of the words with synonyms, keeping the same structure and meaning as the original author. Even if the source is credited, this type of plagiarism is considered academically dishonest.
Turnitin is a tool that is embedded within Canvas. When you submit an assignment, your instructor will have access to a Turnitin report. The instructor uses the report to help assess if plagiarism has occurred within the document. The Center for Writing & Academic Success provides a Turnitin Trial Submission within our Canvas Shell so that students may generate and interpret their reports prior to submitting the document to their course. For more information, check out our page "Utilizing Turnitin."
In the prewriting, outlining, and first draft stages of your writing process, take care to keep good notes of what sources you are citing and where. It is recommended that students label ideas in their notes that are their own as (ME) while noting the author and year of ideas and/or words from others. It is also recommended that source page numbers be included in the notes in case you would like to refer back to that point in the source. Maintain a list of the sources that you use as you take notes.
If there is something that you do not understand about your assignment, talk with your professor. If you are still cautious about citing ideas accurately, click here to schedule an appointment with a writing coach at Writing Services. A writing coach can work with you to identify any potential spots where unintentional plagiarism may have occurred.
In addition, you can view a recording of a workshop presented by Dr. Luann Fortune in the Center's canvas shell. First you must enroll in the course, then follow this link: Presentation: Plagiarism, Recycling, and Branding (Fortune, 2020).