Academic Integrity
The students, faculty, and staff of American Sentinel University constitute an academic community that recognizes an ethical and professional obligation to provide each student the opportunity to develop and pursue personal educational goals. However, such individual freedoms of educational pursuit are governed within the context of institutionally established regulations and expectations of student behavior. Effective education within the community depends upon honesty, integrity, and respect for the preservation, communication, and pursuit of knowledge. Any action not consistent with such principles is unacceptable and subject to corrective actions.
PLAGIARISM
Due to the explosion of information sources available through the Internet, it is becoming increasingly tempting for students everywhere to use the work of others; and improper citation is often a matter of ignorance of proper methods. However, any form of plagiarism is a serious academic violation and, worse, use of large blocks of the work of others often does not address the requirements of an assignment and does not help you learn anything new.
The Modern Language Association of America defines plagiarism as "The false assumption of authorship; the wrongful act of taking the product of another person's mind, and presenting it as one's own" (Gibaldi 66).
This definition is quite broad, and so you may find it difficult to recognize what constitutes plagiarism. However, follow this simple rule and its corollary, and you can't go wrong:
If you didn't create the content that you're using, either the exact wording or the meaning, then it needs an appropriate citation. Always distinguish between your work and the work of others.
How do you Cite Work?
There are many methods of citation. The most common forms are the MLA and APA (American Psychology Association), but a lot of different professional associations use their own style - IEEE, American Archeological Association, and many more use their own format. At American Sentinel University, we ask that you stick to MLA.
Types of Plagiarism
The MLA identifies four broad types of plagiarism, and they are paraphrased below:
- Submitting a paper written by someone else.
- Repeating or paraphrasing wording without appropriate citation.
- Taking a particularly apt phrase without appropriate citation.
- Paraphrasing an argument or presenting a line of thinking without appropriate citation. (Gibaldi, 70-73)
When you paraphrase, you reword the statements of another author, but keep the essential meaning unchanged. This is okay to do, so long as it's accompanied by the appropriate citation.
Written Assignments
A number of your courses will contain written assignments and/or research paper and projects. The reason for this is to hone your written communication skills as you progress through your program. Though you will find that you may be able to use a lot of information that is publicly available to help you complete certain assignments, you should recognize that finding this material is the start of your assignment, and not the end. You must evaluate, synthesize and then present an analysis of source information to show that you have understood, and can critically evaluate the work of others as part of the development of a cohesive body of work that satisfies the requirements of the assignment.
Penalties for Plagiarism
Plagiarism is described and discussed in ENG100, ENG105 and ENG110. These are required courses in all of AMERICAN SENTINEL's undergraduate degree programs. If you are not required to take these courses, then you have transferred in courses that are comparable to our English courses. Regardless of the method by which you have completed the basic English requirements, we assume that you have been apprised of the subject, and it is your responsibility to ensure that you have complied with our guidelines. The penalties for violation of this policy may range from a penalty assessed on the assignment in question up to and including dismissal. Please refer to AMERICAN SENTINEL's Academic Misconduct and Disciplinary Policy described in the AMERICAN SENTINEL catalogue, student handbook and Web site for a statement of the policy.
The Bottom Line on Plagiarism
Our advice on plagiarism is simple - Please don't do it! And if you're unsure about the work you're using to help you, err on the side of caution, and provide a citation. There is nothing wrong with using another's material to help you formulate your own work and ideas, just be sure to represent this as transparently as you can in your assignments.
There are a number of web sites that explain plagiarism and citation uses and abuses. Please use the following partial list as well as the citation guide Web sites provided earlier in this document to acquaint yourself with this subject.
- Plagiarism: what it is and how to avoid it
- Avoiding Plagiarism
- What is Plagiarism?
- Plagiarism - and How to avoid it [using examples]
Works cited: Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2003.
