As described in our Academic Catalog, plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty involving "the act of using ideas, words, or work from another source (including content creating tools) and presenting it as one's own without giving credit to the source creator(s)." Sources that are "works of original expression" and that you should cite can include books, articles, poetry, newspapers, speeches, movies, videos clips, protected pieces of art, illustrations, musical compositions, and a variety of online content.
Plagiarism can be intentional (when you knowingly try to pass off someone's else's work as your own) or unintentional (when you accidentally plagiarize, often because you are unsure of when or how things need to be cited). You can face negative consequences in college for plagiarism, even if the plagiarism was unintentional. So make sure you understand your instructors' expectations. (Is there a particular citation style you should use in their class? What is their stance on student use of generative AI?) Hopefully plagiarism will never be an issue for you, but your instructor or a librarian can help you understand how to avoid plagiarism or, if needed, what you can do differently to avoid plagiarizing in the future.
Avoiding plagiarism is easy - just give credit to others' ideas by citing everything you use! As a developing scholar, practice taking accurate and detailed notes when you are gathering information on your topic and incorporating this information into your assignment. Some tips for your notetaking include
If you plan to use ChatGPT or similar on an assignment, check with your instructor first about their expectations! This technology has only recently become widely available, and there's still a lot of discussion around when, how, and to what extent it should be used by students during their research and writing processes. Some instructors are fine with students using it, others are only comfortable with students using it for specific purposes, and some consider any use of it an act of academic dishonesty or plagiarism. If your instructor lets you use ChatGPT, you should also ask them if they want you to cite it, share your prompts, or otherwise acknowledge its use.
