Plagiarism as defined in the 1995 Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary, is the "use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work." Within academia, plagiarism by students, professors, or researchers is considered academic dishonesty or academic fraud and offenders are subject to academic censure, up to and including expulsion.
Per the policy on academic dishonesty of the San Jose State University in Los Angeles, USA, there are “two major classifications of sanctions that may be imposed for violations of this policy: Academic and Administrative. Academic sanctions will be defined as those actions related to the coursework and grades which are the province of the instructor. Administrative sanctions are concerned with a student's status on campus and are acted on by the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs. The imposition of one variety of sanction will not preclude the additional imposition of the other.”
Moreover, their school website also states that “faculty are responsible for determining the type of academic sanction to be applied to students involved in incidents of cheating or plagiarism. Usually a form of "grade modification" will be employed. Before sanctions can be employed the faculty member must have verified the instances of academic dishonesty by personal observation and/or documentation. In all cases the violation should be reported to the Vice President for Student Affairs on the Academic Dishonesty Report Form. A student may be:
• Reprimanded orally. A student may also be referred for counseling but cannot be required to seek counseling.
• Failed in the evaluation instrument (paper or exam).
• Reduced in course grade.
• Failed in the course.
• Referred for administrative sanctions. A faculty member may choose to refer a student to the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs for disciplinary action in lieu of any academic sanction or in addition to the academic action the faculty member has taken.
Plagiarism is the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain credit for academic work by representing the work of another as one's own without the necessary and appropriate acknowledgment, according to the website of Sonoma State University. This school has a policy that states “faculty members are encouraged to discuss with students academic ethics and the formulation of one's own intellectual material. It is also the policy of Sonoma State University to impose sanctions on students who cheat or plagiarize. Students are expected to be honest in meeting the requirements of courses in which they are enrolled. Cheating or plagiarism is dishonest, undermines the necessary trust upon which relations between students and faculty are based, and is unacceptable conduct. Students who engage in cheating or plagiarism will be subject to academic sanctions, including a lowered or failing grade in a course; and the possibility of an additional administrative sanction, including probation, suspension, or expulsion."
VU University Amsterdam defines plagiarism as “the unattributed use of another person’s work or ideas and defined as being ‘the act of a student who steals the thoughts or writings of others and gives them out as his own’. Thus, for example, written work, which in substance reproduces extensive passages from a textbook, article or another student’s written work with somewhat altered wording is, despite the apparent textual differences, still regarded as plagiarism. The most blatant form of plagiarism is to repeat as your own someone else's sentences, more or less verbatim.” As for sanctions, their website states that “plagiarism is an extremely serious matter and, consequently, all students should take special care to ensure that it does not, even inadvertently, occur in their work. If an examiner discovers an instance of suspected plagiarism or fraud, the examiner will contact the Examination Board.”
References:
Wikipedia.org on Plagiarism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism
San Jose State University, http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/f88-10.htm
Sonoma State University, http://www.sonoma.edu/UAffairs/Policies/cheating_plagiarism.htm
VU University Amsterdam, http://www.rechten.vu.nl/en/students/plagiarism/index.asp
