But what if. . . ? Common excuses and why they don't fly.

Everyone else takes stuff from the internet.

What if I don't have time to write it all on my own?

What if I only copied a few words or one sentence?

What if I changed most of the words?

What if it's common knowledge?

But I did cite the source!

The original author said it perfectly.

What if I didn't realize what I did was plagiarism?

What if I am from a country where using the work of others is a common and accepted practice?

Do you really think that makes it okay to steal and lie?

It is quick and easy to enter a few keywords or phrases into a search engine and find articles and papers to download on your topic. It is just as easy for your professor to enter a few phrases or sentences from your paper into a search engine and discover that what you wrote was not your own work. Is it really worth the time and the risk to try to fool anyone?

This is not to say that you should not use resources you find online. Incorporate them into your work the same way you would any other source: through summaries, paraphrases, and quotations.

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Say you have two papers and a test this week, as well as a lab and several chapters of reading (not to mention practice and club meetings). Ask yourself this: Why are you here? Is it to play a sport, to develop a musical talent, to learn how to think? How you spend your time and where you focus your attention is ultimately your decision. When you choose to give priority to one commitment over another, you should expect your performance to reflect that. If you spend a few hours at a club meeting and decide to copy parts of your paper because you ran out of time to write it yourself, you run the risk of failing not only the paper if caught, but the entire course (or worse). If you decide to skip the club meeting to work on your paper, odds are you can find out what you missed from a friend later and will get a better grade on the assignment. On a side note, it often takes longer to try to disguise plagiarized material or "make it fit" than it would to just write the paper yourself.

So what if you do forego extracurricular activities to focus on your schoolwork and still don't have time to finish it all? Your best bet is to ask your professor for an extension. You might be surprised how sympathetic and understanding professors can be. They were all students once too, facing the same pressures and challenges. Keep in mind that most would rather give you more time to turn in something good than have to read something that sounds disjointed or thrown together (which often happens when you plagiarize).

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It doesn't matter. Stealing is stealing whether it's a candybar or a car. The punishment you receive might differ depending on the extent of the plagiarism, but no professor will let you off the hook entirely. If you didn't write it, you must cite it.

Depending on how you change the words, you could paraphrase the original text. This would be acceptable only if you cite the source. Plagiarism refers not simply to the words themselves, but to the meaning behind them. If you did not come up with the idea yourself, you must tell the reader where you found it.

Common knowledge refers to facts that can be found in a number of sources, such as dates or events (e.g. Angus King was the governor of Maine from 1994-2002). This type of information is not the product of a creative endeavor, derived from research, or the result of an individual's unique thoughts. Therefore, it is not attributable to a specific source or author. If you're not sure whether something falls under the heading of "common knowledge," however, it's is always a good idea to cite the source just in case. Better safe than sorry!

Make sure you have done so correctly. For example, if you use an exact phrase from the original text without quotation marks, you are plagiarizing even if you cite the author. If you use quotations and paraphrases appropriately, you should be fine.

Also, be careful that you do not lean too heavily on a single source. The sources you quote or paraphrase should support your own original thoughts or opinions, not comprise the bulk of your paper. The idea is that the reader should learn something new from what you've written rather than slogging through a rehashed summary of someone else's work.

Then quote it. If you can't come up with a unique perspective or original way to express the idea, then put quotation marks around it and cite it. Just make sure you are using it to strengthen your own argument or point of view, rather than simply rehashing the author's opinions.

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It is still your responsibility. No judge will let you off the hook for speeding just because you didn't see the sign posting the speed limit. There are numerous resources available to assist you: this tutorial, the Writing Center, and your professor to name a few. Help is there - just ask.

When living in or visiting another country, you would respect their rules and laws. For example, if you wanted to rent a car in England, you would follow the British traffic laws and drive on the left side of the road. Similarly, if you are going to write and study in the United States, you are expected to adhere to US copyright laws. Pleading ignorance is no excuse.

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