Plagiarism: Home

Plagiarism is not giving proper credit for:

• Another person's idea, opinion, or theory;
• Any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings-any pieces of information-that are not common knowledge;
• Quotations of another person's actual spoken or written words; or
• Paraphrase of another person's spoken or written words.

Passages are considered plagiarism if they contain the following:

• The writer has only changed around a few words or phrases, or changed the order of the original's sentences, or
• The writer has failed to cite a source for any of the ideas or facts.

Acceptable paraphrasing:

• Accurately relays the information in the original but uses your own words;
• Lets reader know the source of the information;
• Records the information in the original passage accurately; and
• Gives credit for the ideas in the passage.

• Put in quotations everything that comes directly from the text, especially when taking notes.
• Paraphrase, but be sure you are not just rearranging or replacing a few words. Instead, read over what you want to paraphrase carefully, cover up the text with your hand, or close the text so you can't see any of it (and so aren't tempted to use the text as a "guide"). Write out the idea in your own words without peeking.
• Check your paraphrase against the original text to be sure you have not accidentally used the same phrases or words, and that the information is accurate.

NTCC students have an institutional account to Turnitin plagiarism detection software. 

The NTCC Student Handbook can be found by clicking the link here, or from MyEagle Portal. On page 94 it discusses Scholastic Dishonesty, which can include plagiarism, and below is copied from those pages in the handbook. (Plagiarism is highlighted here to bring that to attention.) 

Scholastic Dishonesty 

​Scholastic Dishonesty shall include, but not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, and collusion. Students are expected to complete course work in an honest manner, using their own intellects and resources designated as allowable by the course instructor. Students are responsible for addressing questions about allowable resources with their instructor.  “Cheating” shall include, but shall not be limited to: 

• Copying from another student’s test or class work;
• Using test materials not authorized by the person administering the test; 
• Collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during a test without permission from the test administrator; 
• Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, or soliciting, in whole or in part, the contents of an unadministered test, paper, or another assignment;
• The unauthorized transporting or removal, in whole or in part, of the contents of the unadministered test;
• Substituting for another student, or permitting another student to substitute for one’s self, to take a test;
• Bribing another person to obtain an unadministered test or information about an unadministered test; or
• Manipulating a test, assignment, or final course grades.

Plagiarism” shall be defined as the appropriating, buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining by any means another ’s work and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of it in one’s own written work.  “Collusion” shall be defined as the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing written work for fulfillment of course requirements.