Plagiarism, yuck!

Try this small experiment. Copy this passage, and then paste it into a Google search:


Spain's population density, lower than that of most European countries, is roughly equivalent to New England's. In recent years, following a longstanding pattern in the rest of Europe, rural populations are moving to cities. Urban areas are also experiencing a significant increase in immigrant populations, chiefly from North Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe.


What happened when you did that? If you did it correctly, it should have returned results of the original source of that passage. It came from the U.S. Department of State website (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2878.htm).

I do that periodically, when I suspect a student's writing is not his or her own. And that is a quick and easy way to confirm that suspicion. But it is not fun for me to make this revelation. In fact, I'm actually quite relieved when my suspicion is proven wrong.

I am going to tell an honest and embarrassing story. When I was a college freshman at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I was taking Psychology 101 in a very large lecture hall, probably about 300 students. It was intimidating. We had an assignment to write a book review. We were warned about the importance of using our own words and ideas, to not plagiarize. I had heard of plagiarism before, but didn't think I was an offender. So I wasn't all that worried.

A few weeks after we had turned in our papers, the professor made an announcement that some students had plagiarized. If they were willing to come forward to him (privately), he would offer a redo. I remember thinking, "Could he be talking about me? Surely not." I was insecure and unsure, but too scared to approach him. I let it go.

The next week, when we got our papers back, I was aghast. Not only had I been caught plagiarizing, thereby failing the assignment, I also was to fail the course. I was mortified.

I remember the next day, going to the professor's office in Burnett Hall. Dr. Ross Thompson. I don't remember all of my professors' names from undergraduate, but I certainly will never forget his. I was ready to go my knees and beg him in his office for a redo. He was polite about it, but short with me. There was to be no redo. I pled ignorance. I thought attaching a list of Works Cited was all I needed, even though I used the book's exact language without direct quotations. I appealed and took it as high in the university judicial system as I could. My university handled my case with poise and professionalism, but the decision stood. I failed Psychology 101. It was a hard lesson to learn, but it was a lesson learned nonetheless.

Here is what I know now that I didn't know then:

1. Plagiarism is illegal. It is punishable by failure of the assignment, failure of the course or even expulsion from the institution. After all, you are stealing somone's property.

2. Using the thoughts or ideas of others, even in your own words, is plagiarism if you don't cite it.

3. Using the exact words (even just a couple of words) without using direct quotations and proper citation is plagiarism.

4. Directly quoting several sentences or paragraphs, while not plagiarism, is inappropriate. You must interject your own ideas and thoughts. This is especially true when the assignment length is only a paragraph or two.

To be honest, I am not a huge stickler that proper APA form is meticulously used as you quote your sources. I am not a go-to person for answers about proper APA style. I will not be counting the number of spaces you've used, or watching for periods, commas and appropriate italics. I do, however, expect some attention be given to this matter, and an attempt made at giving credit where credit is due. I think that is more than fair.

So please do not learn the hard way on this, like I did. Hopefully, somebody can learn from my mistakes before they make them for themselves. If I can help one person, then I guess it was worth the experience. Yeah, maybe not.