The Writing Center seeks to promote and foster academic integrity alongside the NIU community. Plagiarism occurs when someone takes material from a source and uses that material in their own work without proper citation. This compromises academic integrity.
Generally speaking, most people do not intend to plagiarize anything. Most occurrences of plagiarism happen when well-meaning people simply don't know the rules of a particular citation style. However, whether unintentional or malicious, plagiarism is a serious matter that could have an effect on your academic standing. Protect yourself by brushing up on citation styles, and contact the Writing Center if you have any questions or concerns.
Contrary to what you might be thinking, plagiarism isn't always a malicious act committed by someone out to steal someone else's words. In most cases, plagiarism is the result of not knowing when citation should occur, rather than devious intentions.
To avoid plagiarism, you must understand what plagiarism is. In basic terms, plagiarism is using someone else's ideas in your work without proper citation.
Plagiarism can occur whether you use exact words from source material or a reworded paraphrase. If you use someone else’s idea in your writing, the lack of proper citation will result in plagiarism - no matter in what form the content shows up in your work.
Because most people don't intend to plagiarize, avoiding the act is remarkably easy: