Plagiarism occurs when you take another person’s words or ideas and claim them as your own.
The most common forms of plagiarism are:
- copying or paraphrasing another author’s work without proper acknowledgement
- using the ideas or lines of reasoning of another author’s work without proper acknowledgement
- submitting work that someone else has written or substantially edited
- submitting the same work for multiple courses without approval
List from RDP Student Misconduct: Academic and Non-Academic policy
Plagiarism has severe consequences, including failure, suspension, and expulsion. In college courses, you are expected to document your sources properly and consistently.
The best way to avoid plagiarism is to cite your sources. Commonly used citation styles include APA, MLA, and Chicago.
To learn more, see the RDP Library’s Academic Integrity guide.
