Plagiarism

Northeastern University is committed to the principles of intellectual honesty and integrity and to respecting intellectual property. All members of the Northeastern community are expected to maintain complete honesty in all academic work, presenting only that which is their own work on tests and assignments.

In the spirit of the University's Academic Honesty and Integrity Policy, the Writing Programs Committee takes seriously the principle of intentionality that underwrites that policy. Once an instructor finds evidence of plagiarism, she/he is bound by the Policy to respond. We aim for a consistent response to the problem of academic dishonesty, and where possible would like to approach plagiarism assuming that the student has made an error that must be addressed.

Thus we teach proper citation methods in all required writing classes, and teach them explicitly enough for students to understand the conventions and the dangers inherent in violating conventions of citation. All instructors in first-year writing courses and AWD courses:

require students to read the definitions of plagiarism, discuss plagiarism in class, and sign the "Academic Honesty Agreement." This is to be done at the appropriate point in the writing process (in ENG 111, in the drafting process for the first assignment; in AWD, whenever students are asked to work with outside sources for the first time)
require that students cite sources appropriately at every stage of the writing process, including the earliest drafts.

If the instructor determines that the plagiarism is intentional, the student is sent to the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution (202 Ell Hall, x4390, www.osccr.neu.edu. Such intentional plagiarism would include:

Uncredited uses of published outside sources (print or internet)
Use of another student's paper in part or its entirety
Handing in a paper obtained from a paper mill (or paying for or otherwise receiving a paper written by another)

A more difficult case of academic dishonesty or plagiarism concerns the theft of ideas. In a writing class, when students are reading each other's drafts, engaging in class discussion, and listening to the instructor, it's often difficult to identify a single "source." Meaning is being made collaboratively, even intertextually, through give-and-take. It's worth citing the classroom space as a place of inspiration. Students should, when appropriate, cite each other (paraphrase and direct quotation, of verbal or written material), write an acknowledgments page, and/or cite class discussion as a source.

Finally: remember that, to quote the University's Academic Honesty Policy, "Handing in the same paper for more than one course without the explicit permission of the instructor" is considered cheating.

For more details regarding the specifics of academic dishonesty, see the Student Handbook (pdf) and the Academic Honesty and Integrity Policy.

For further reading: Plagiarism and Honor, at Virginia Tech University. This site includes very good examples of plagiarism and a sympathetic discussion of the difficulties students sometimes encounter when writing papers in the university.