Q. What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is broadly defined as presenting someone else’s ideas or work without acknowledging the source, whether intentionally or accidentally. Plagiarism in academia is considered a form of academic dishonesty. Familiarize yourself with KPU's Academic Integrity website where you will learn about the university's policy and procedures on academic dishonesty as well as resources for developing your own skills in order to avoid it in your own work.

Common examples of plagiarism:

• Copying sentences, paragraphs, data or visuals without properly citing their source
• Directly quoting material without proper use of quotation marks (even if otherwise cited appropriately)
• Paraphrasing or summarizing information from a source without proper acknowledgement
• Paying someone for writing the assignment
• Listing a source in the bibliography/reference list that was not cited in the assignment

More information can be found on the library's Academic Integrity guide.

The video below provides more details on the kinds of plagiarism commonly committed, as well as some useful tips on how to avoid doing it.