Clackamas Community College Statement on Plagiarism

According to the CCC Instructional Standards and Procedures, “A student who submits the work of another as her/his own or deliberately fails to properly credit words or ideas borrowed from another source is guilty of plagiarism.” According to the Clark College Policy on Plagiarism, which I support, the following are guidelines you must adhere to regarding plagiarism:

What you need not acknowledge:

1. Common knowledge. If most readers like yourself would likely know something, you need not cite it.

2. Facts available from a wide variety of sources. If a number of textbooks, encyclopedias, or almanacs include the information, you need not cite it.

3. Your own ideas and discoveries.

What you must acknowledge:

1. Any direct quotation. You must place the exact words quoted in quotation marks.

2. Paraphrases and summaries that provide background information, present facts not commonly known, and explain various positions on your topic.

3. Arguable assertions. If an author presents an assertion that may or may not be true, you must cite the source.

4. Statistics, charts, tables, and graphs from any source. You must credit all graphic material, even if you yourself create the graph.

Purchasing research papers and submitting them is plagiarism. Asking another party to write a paper for you is cheating, and, in this case, will be considered plagiarism. Resubmitting or rewriting a paper from another course for a new grade without alerting me is plagiarism. If you are guilty of plagiarism, you will automatically fail the course.

Remember—if you have any questions regarding plagiarism—ask me.