According to Alexander Lindsey, author of Plagiarism and Originality, plagiarism is defined as, “The false assumption of authorship: The wrongful act of taking the product of another person’s mind, and presenting it as one’s own.”
The Modern Language Association Handbook for Writers and Research Papers, sixth edition, by Joseph Gibaldi addresses the two iniquities of plagiarism.
“Using another person’s ideas, information, or expression without acknowledging that person’s work constitutes intellectual theft,” Gibaldi said, “and passing off another person’s ideas, information or expression as your own, to get a better grade or gain some other advantage constitutes fraud.”
A charge of plagiarism is considered a serious offense, and students must avoid even the slightest temptation to use someone else’s writings and then claim those writings as their own.
Two simple words, “works cited,” help to eliminate most of the problems that are associated with plagiarism, but the main issues that need addressing here are what works needs be cited and why.
“If you have any doubt whether you are committing plagiarism,” Gibaldi said, “cite your source.
“Paraphrasing wording, borrowing a term and even presenting a line of thinking that was another writer’s line of thinking must be cited,” he said.
Documentation is not needed in the case of well-known quotes and proverbs or anything that is common knowledge such as, Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States.
Hodges’ Harbrace Handbook is the most widely recommended handbook that addresses those issues where works cited are concerned, and while it’s not the only handbook in today’s market that deals with the subject, students should check with their professors to ascertain which book will be utilized in their fall classes.
If there are certain issues that are not directly addressed in the MLA handbooks, then consult your professors.
“Students exposed as plagiarist suffer severe penalties,” Gibaldi said.
“Those penalties, depending on the university and its policy, could range from failing an assignment or course, to expulsion from school.”
The plagiarism policy of ETSU may be found on page 38 in the 2005-2006 undergraduate catalog.
It would benefit every student to become cognizant of this all-important university policy immediately.

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