Citing Sources (on the Wellehan Library's website)
What is Plagiarism?
When you conduct any type of research for a class assignment or research project, most likely you consult information written by others to substantiate your own ideas.
When you incorporate the words, ideas, charts, photographs, etc., written or create by someone else, you must provide attribution to the original author or creator.
In academic writing, you do this by following the rules of a particular citation style used in the discipline in which you are conducting your research.
If you fail to provide accurate attribution to the original author and source, you have committed plagiarism.
How does Plagiarism Occur?
Plagiarism can be either intentional or unintentional. However, unintentional plagiarism is still plagiarism.
Unintentional plagiarism occurs when a student mishandles borrowed information. For example, directly quoted information may not be enclosed in quotation marks, in-text citations may be omitted or misplaced within the text of a paper, or sources from where borrowed information came are not cited on a Works Cited or References page.
Students may believe if they paraphrase from a source that they are not required to site the source since they have used their own words. This is incorrect. Because the original idea is borrowed from another person, even paraphrased information must be given attribution.
Unintentional plagiarism may be caused by a student’s lack of understanding of the citation style that an assignment requires.
The library's website includes information about citation style.
Intentional plagiarism occurs when a student makes a deliberate effort to use the words and ideas of others as his/her own.
Saint Joseph's College Expectations.
See information from the Saint Joseph’s College catalog regarding Academic honesty, and Plagiarism. (Click on the link to be taken to the catalog.)
Academic honesty is directly related to the College’s core value of integrity, which states, “we commit ourselves to honesty in all relations….”