Plagiarism — English definition
Defined in 3 courses:
- Presenting someone else's words or ideas as your own without giving credit. (English 9: Experience, Perspective & Inquiry)
- Presenting someone else's words or ideas as your own without giving credit — including an uncited paraphrase. (English 10: Choices, Conscience & Consequences)
- Presenting someone else's words, structure, or ideas as your own without proper credit. (English 11: American Voices, Identity & Public Memory)
Where it is taught
- Research & Credible Sources — Research & Source-Based Writing, English 8: Trust, Community & Responsibility, Grade 8
- Citing Sources: MLA Basics — Research & Source-Based Writing, English 9: Experience, Perspective & Inquiry, Grade 9
- Integrating Evidence & Citation — Research & Source-Based Writing, English 10: Choices, Conscience & Consequences, Grade 10
- Citation & Academic Integrity — Research & Source-Based Writing, English 11: American Voices, Identity & Public Memory, Grade 11
In use
When you use what you find, you have to know the line between a true paraphrase and plagiarism.
Research & Credible Sources
Skipping citation is plagiarism: presenting someone else's words or ideas as if they were your own.
Citing Sources: MLA Basics
Skipping that credit is plagiarism: presenting someone else's words or ideas as your own.
Integrating Evidence & Citation
Questions using plagiarism
Problem 1
Answer and explanation
Yes. Changing only a few words is not the same as paraphrasing in your own words and sentence structure, and without a citation the reader would believe the idea and phrasing are the student's own.
Problem 2
Answer and explanation
Yes. Swapping a few words is not a genuine paraphrase — it keeps the source's sentence structure and phrasing, a practice sometimes called patchwriting — and without quotation marks or a citation, the reader would believe the phrasing and idea are the student's own. A real paraphrase rebuilds the idea in new words and structure and is still cited.
Problem 3
Answer and explanation
Yes. Even a genuine paraphrase uses someone else's idea, so it must be cited. Without a citation, the reader assumes the idea is the student's own, which presents another person's thinking as original work — the definition of plagiarism, whether or not it was intended.
Taught alongside
- credible source
- bias
- paraphrase
- MLA format
- in-text citation
- Works Cited
- direct quotation
- summary
- signal phrase
- patchwriting