English Department Policy On Plagiarism

To take the words or ideas of someone else and present them as your own is plagiarism and is unacceptable in academic life. The nature and causes of plagiarism may cover a range from the accidental to the dishonest. Examples of plagiarism encountered in academic writing may include the following:

--incorporating into your own writing, without proper acknowledgment, words and sentences from a print, electronic, or oral source

--paraphrasing so closely or so extensively from a source that sentences and ideas really belong to the original writer

--submitting as your own whole essays or seminar papers written by another person or taken partially or in whole from a printed source, including from the internet

--receiving so much help from another person that the work cannot honestly be called your own

By your attendance here, you’ve agreed to adhere to the Student Code of Conduct which states, in part, that “academic dishonesty, to include cheating, plagiarism, and providing false information to the college” may bring disciplinary action. The policy of the NSCC English faculty is to exercise its professional judgment as to the nature and cause of each case of suspected or proven plagiarism and to respond in a manner suited to the case. Our responses may include the following:

1) requiring that a piece of writing be revised to eliminate the plagiarism

2) denying credit for a piece of writing in which plagiarism has been found

3) recording a “0” grade in the student’s class record for this project or paper, thereby lowering the student’s final grade

4) forwarding the student’s name to the Vice President for Student Services for possible further action