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Most current discussions of plagiarism fail to distinguish between:
1. submitting someone else’s text as one’s own or attempting to blur the line between
one’s own ideas or words and those borrowed from another source, and
2. carelessly or inadequately citing ideas and words borrowed from another source.
Such discussions conflate plagiarism with the misuse of sources.
Ethical writers make every effort to acknowledge sources fully and appropriately in
accordance with the contexts and genres of their writing. A student who attempts (even if
clumsily) to identify and credit his or her source, but who misuses a specific citation
format or incorrectly uses quotation marks or other forms of identifying material taken
from other sources, has not plagiarized. Instead, such a student should be considered to
have failed to cite and document sources appropriately.
Disabilities and Special Needs:
Any student with disabilities or special needs should inform the instructor, who will make
accommodations so students can meet their educational goals.