Academic Integrity

Plagiarism, derived from the Latin word plagiarius meaning “kidnapper,” is the opposite of academic integrity.  Plagiarism is when a student uses the work of someone else and claims it as their own work.  Plagiarism can take many different forms:

• Paying for or using an entire paper, assignment, project, line of code, etc. created by someone or something (ex: AI) else and claiming it is your own work
• Using ideas, thoughts, work, and/or analysis from someone (or something (ex: AI) else in an assignment without giving the original author credit (aka not citing properly)
• Submitting work you’ve done in one class for a similar assignment in another class (unless you have first gotten permission to do so from the instructor).  This is known as self-plagiarism.

Plagiarism, though most commonly talked about in reference to writing a paper, can happen in other academic disciplines.  For instance, borrowing code from another source to use in your programming assignment could be considered plagiarism, unless you properly cite the original source (ex: citing the referenced code in a comment).  At JCCC and at most other institutions of higher education, plagiarism is a serious offense and has significant consequences. 

You can view JCCC’s policy on Academic Dishonesty, Cheating or Plagiarism for more specific details.

One exception to the information listed above about citing is when you are using information that is considered common knowledge.  Information is considered common knowledge if it can be found in many different places, is a noncontroversial fact, and the average person knows the information without having to look it up.  Common knowledge can vary between cultures and disciplines.  Examples of common knowledge include:

• Information known by most people: the sky is blue, grass is green
• Information known by a specific cultural group: someone born in America would know that George Washington was the first president and that there are 50 states in the U.S.  Someone living in Kansas City would know that barbeque is an important cuisine in the city
• Information known by someone in a specific discipline: an English major would know Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice.  A chemistry major would known an atom is made up of protons, electrons, and neutrons.

Common knowledge is dependent upon context, so make sure to check with your instructor when working on an assignment to know what they consider to be common knowledge and whether or not it needs to be cited.  When in doubt, it is always best practice to cite the information!

Created by the Excelsior College Online Writing Lab