Plagiarism is defined in the UM Student Conduct Code as representing another person's words, ideas, data, or materials as one's own. Consequences include failing an assignment, failing a course, or even expulsion.

Attention to plagiarism has been growing over recent years, with accusations of plagiarism in academia by both professors and students rising. With quick and easy access to centuries' worth of publications in online databases and indexes and the creation of services like turnitin.com and the Internet Archive, it's possible now to catch instances of plagiarism that would have been undetected years ago. Also, the amount of information available to researchers nowadays is daunting--many academics who have been accused of plagiarism claim to have forgotten to cite materials or have done so improperly.

Cases outside academia involving popular authors like Stephen Ambrose, journalists like Jayson Blair, and entertainers such as Eminem have gotten even more media attention. Again, it's not clear that plagiarism itself is on the rise. It may be more a factor of the ease of discovering related materials and information in the electronic age, or the overwhelming amount of resources available to the average person and the difficulty in keeping track of what tidbit came from where.

"Dr. Dre Fighting New Rap Rip-Off." United Press International 14 July 2003. Lexis Nexis Academic. Lexis Nexis. University of Montana Mansfield Library. 16 Dec. 2003 <http://www.lib.umt.edu>

Barry, Dan, et al. "Correcting the Record; Times Reporter Who Resigned Leaves Long Trail of Deception." The New York Times 11 May 2003, late ed.: Section 1 Page 1. Lexis Nexis Academic. Lexis Nexis. University of Montana Mansfield Library. 16 Dec. 2003 <http://www.lib.umt.edu>

Hastings, Michael. "Cheater Beaters." Newsweek 8 Sept. 2003: E16.

Isserman, Maurice. "Plagiarism: a Lie of the Mind." Chronicle of Higher Education 2 May 2003: 12.

Kirkpatrick, David D. "2 Say Stephen Ambrose, Popular Historian, Copied Passages." The New York Times 5 January 2002, late ed.: A8. Lexis Nexis Academic. Lexis Nexis. University of Montana Mansfield Library. 16 Dec. 2003 <http://www.lib.umt.edu>

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. "New Study Confirms Internet Plagiarism Is Prevalent." News 28 Aug. 2003. 27 Oct. 2003 <http://ur.rutgers.edu/medrel/viewArticle.html?ArticleID=3408>

Wyman, Alisha. "Web betrays cheating students." Montana Kaimin 18 Sept. 2003. 27 October 2003 <http://www.kaimin.org/test2.php?ardate=20030918&id=1752>

Young, Jeffrey R. "The Cat and Mouse Game of Plagiarism Detection." Chronicle of Higher Education 6 July 2001.

• Citation style guides (APA, Chicago, Turabian, MLA) are always available for use at the Information Center Desk.
• Ask a Librarian for assistance via email/chat/phone, or visit the Information Center desk.
• The Mansfield Library's online guide, Citation Style Guides, provides information on citing information sources according to different citation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian).
• Librarians are available to assist faculty in preparing handouts for class instruction, or in investigating plagiarism. Contact your Subject Liaison Librarian.