• Definition
• Tips for Faculty
• Paper Mills
• Bibliography

Definition

Plagiarize
1. To use and pass off as one's own (the ideas or writings of another).
2. To appropriate for use as one's own passages or ideas from (another).
Source: The American Heritage College Dictionary. (1997). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Plagiarism
is the act of presenting another person's literary, artistic, or musical work as one's own. For example, a student who copies from reference books has committed plagiarism. A work need not be identical to the original to be plagiarism. But it must be so similar that it has obviously been copied.

Plagiarism is regarded as unethical. The copyright laws of many nations make plagiarism and other unauthorized copying a crime punishable by fine or imprisonment. In addition, the creator of a copyrighted work may sue anyone who plagiarizes it. Educational institutions prohibit plagiarism, and a student who plagiarizes will be subject to disciplinary penalties.

Plagiarism does not include the adoption of character types, general plots, or other ideas from existing works. Nearly all writers and artists do such borrowing, but they express the ideas in new ways. (...) Plagiarism also does not normally include the copying allowed under the fair use principle of the copyright law. This principle permits limited reproduction of another's work without permission for such purposes as teaching, research, news reporting or criticism. In most cases, the author of the original work should be named.
Source: World Book 2001. (2001). Chicago: World Book.

Tips for Faculty

1. At the beginning of the semester explain to students what plagiarism is and outline penalties.
2. Include a statement on academic honesty or the college plagiarism policy in the course syllabus.
3. Assign papers in steps: require students to submit drafts, an annotated bibliography, and photocopies of sources cited. (Guides on how to create a bibliography in the MLA or APA style can be found on the Help pages.)
4. Teach proper citation techniques or have students attend a library class.
5. Avoid using the same topic year after year.
6. Assign narrowly focused topics.
7. If students select their own topics, make sure they are not too narrow.

BMCC is member of the Center for Academic Integrity. The Center offers tips for faculty on how to prevent cheating.

Paper Mills

There are dozens of pages on the Web, so-called paper mills, where students can copy complete term papers either for free or for a charge. A quick study of some of those sites shows, that most of them offer papers on typical topics. For example popular topics for literature essays that are for sale are:

• Comparisons of: characters / two works / styles / themes / symbols
• Biography and writing of authors such as Langston Hughes, Kate Chopin, and Arthur Miller
• Analysis of racial and social issues in a work
• The role of women as portrayed in a work
• The Harlem Renaissance
• The importance of a work in literary history

Bibliography

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