You abide by the honor code and never cheat. Why do you need to know about plagiarism?
Avoiding plagiarism might sound like a simple task: don’t copy anyone else’s work, and you’ll be fine. But when you have taken notes from a source and unintentionally jotted down a direct quote or extremely similar paraphrase, you might mistake it as your own work and incorporate it into your paper. Too much of this and suddenly your work isn’t so clearly your own any more. There are many ways you might plagiarize unintentionally, so you should know about plagiarism in order to avoid it.

How can your readers tell when something has been plagiarized?
Professors are familiar with the literature in their field; they will notice striking similarities between your work and that of their colleagues. But even a non-expert can spot instances of plagiarism; awkward transitions between your words and others’ words, and changes in vocabulary, tone, and style are easy to notice and usually indicate plagiarism. In suspicious situations, instructors and others have used plagiarism detectors—sophisticated search engines that highlight similarities between an individual paper and any other document published online.

What if you plagiarize accidentally?
As a writer, you are responsible to learn about plagiarism and how to use sources appropriately. Just what is “proper footnoting” and “documentation of borrowed ideas?” How can you have “original” ideas in a complex academic field? These pages are designed to highlight potential pitfalls and to help you recognize acceptable and unacceptable uses of someone else’s work. But if you feel uncertain about whether or how to cite source materials, you should consult with your professor, writing instructor, or Core 1 editor.