You've heard your teachers talk about this whenever you do a term paper, but how do you know if you are guilty of plagiarism? Have you ever taken someone's work and passed it off as your own? Have you ever taken notes, used them in a paper, and not given credit to the source of the information? Have you ever taken a good idea from somewhere and "put it in your own words'? If you answer yes to any of these questions, you may have plagiarized.
What's a serious, sincere, non-plagiarizer to do? If you are not sure and have no one to ask play it safe and cite the material. Many students believe that if something is on the Internet anyone may use it. Not so. Treat material on the Internet as you would material from a book. Give credit to the author of the page. Both print and electronic sources are covered under Copyright law even if it doesn't say so on the written or electronic page. If you need more information on this topic visit the web sites listed below. Remember, plagiarism is stealing!
http://www.warehamportal.mec.edu/lib/
