What is Plagiarism?
There are two types of plagiarism. "Unintentional" plagiarism occurs when a student is not trying to cheat or plagiarize but fails to properly cite summarized, quoted, or paraphrased sources. "Intentional" plagiarism is the act of purposefully misrepresenting someone else's work or ideas and using it as one's own, and according to the Purdue Online Writing Lab, "intentional" plagiarism includes "buying, stealing, or borrowing a paper; hiring someone to write your paper for you; and copying large sections of text from a source without quotation or proper citation."
What is ORU's Policy?
The ORU catalog explicitly addresses the issue of plagiarism.
"ORU students are committed to developing their minds by doing their own academic work. They do not engage in plagiarism, whether accidental or intentional. Plagiarism is the inappropriate use of others' ideas or information, such as using sources without citations or direct quotes without quotation marks. Even paraphrasing or summarizing without giving credit to the original author is considered plagiarism" (page 14, University Catalog).
"Written assignments using sources must demonstrate ethical and accurate use of source material. Plagiarism and any unethical or inappropriate use of sources are not tolerated" (page 34, University Catalog).
University Syllabi Plagiarism Statement
"Students and faculty at Oral Roberts University must adhere to all laws addressing the ethical use of others' materials, whether it is in the form of print, electronic, video, multimedia, or computer software. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating involve both lying and stealing and are violations of ORU's Honor Code: 'I will not cheat or plagiarize; I will do my own academic work and will not inappropriately collaborate with other students on assignments.' Plagiarism is usually defined as copying someone else's ideas, words, or sentence structure and submitting them as one's own. Other forms of academic dishonesty include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Submitting another's work as one's own or colluding with someone else and submitting that work as though it were his or hers;
- Failing to meet group assignment or project requirements while claiming to have done so;
- Failing to cite sources used in a paper;
- Creating results for experiments, observations, interviews, or projects that were not done;
- Receiving or giving unauthorized help on assignments.
By submitting an assignment in any form, the student gives permission for the assignment to be checked for plagiarism, either by submitting the work for electronic verification or by other means. Penalties for any of the above infractions may result in disciplinary action including failing the assignment or failing the course or expulsion from the University, as determined by department and University guidelines."