Library Resources for the First Year Student

  Payley, Nina (Cartoonist). (2010). Mimi & Eunice, “Thief” [Comic Strip], Retrieved from http://mimiandeunice.com/2010/07/30/thief/

The heart of plagiarism is:

• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own
• to use (another's production) without crediting the source

When you choose to integrate the works of others with your ideas in an ethical way (see citation information below) you are showing respect for the skill, time, and effort needed to produce knowledge and also becoming a creator not just a consumer in the academic environment of scholarship. 

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is using the words information ideas of another without properly documenting them. The WPI Academic Honesty Policy clearly specifies that plagiarism, the misrepresentation of the work of another as your own, is an act of academic dishonesty. It is also academically dishonest to allow another person to copy your work and present it as his/her own work. Cases of deliberate plagiarism can result in loss of credit for the assignment or the course project during which the plagiarism is committed. A serious act of plagiarism can result in the student's suspension from WPI.

Students will avoid plagiarism by learning to use and document sources correctly.