Plagiarism is the unattributed use of other's creative effort, writing or ideas. It is a form of anti-social, dysfunctional behavior that impedes the acquisition and dispersion of knowledge. It is not acceptable to:
use someone else's exact words (oral or written) without citing the sources and giving them credit;
paraphrase someone else's work without citing the source and giving them credit;
use someone else's statistics, tables, images, etc. without citing the source and giving them credit;
use someone else's ideas without without citing the source and giving them credit.
Fortunately, the key to avoiding plagiarism is contained within the phrase "citing the source and giving them credit." Proper citation gives credit where credit is due, and provides readers of your work with a valuable research tool.
The penalty for plagiarism is at the discretion of the course instructor, and depends on the severity of the offence. Penalties for plagiarism in the Economics & Finance Department at Buffalo State may include:
de novo rewriting and resubmission
a failing grade on the plagiarized assignment
a grade reduction for the course
a failing grade for the course
It may be appealed through the department and college academic appeals process.
Some content on this page is saved in PDF format. To view these files, download Adobe Acrobat Reader free. If you are having trouble reading a document, request an accessible copy of the PDF or Word Document.