Plagiarism Policy

Edward Bellamy Middle School & Fairview Veterans Memorial Middle School

What is plagiarism?  Plagiarism comes from the root word plagiary, a word that has roots in Latin [plagiarius,  “kidnapper”].  While this meaning of the word is obsolete (i.e., no longer in common use), its implied meaning goes to the heart of what plagiarism is:  stealing and passing off as one’s own (the ideas or words of another), as Webster’s third New International Dictionary defines it. 

Plagiarism is theft of intellectual property - - stealing the ideas of another person and claiming those ideas as one’s own. 

Excuses for this kind of fraud range from “Everyone does it” to “Who’s gonna catch me?”  Neither excuse holds up in school or in legal battles that have to be settled in court.  Plagiarism is a serious offense, and students who plagiarize will receive no credit for the copied work. 

Examples of plagiarism include:

• not properly citing ideas presented verbatim (word for word) or through paraphrasing;
• passing off the entire text of another person’s work as one’s own original work;
• passing off large sections of another person’s work as one’s own original ideas;
• copying another person’s work (any work, including homework, essays, math problems, chemistry lab processes) whether that person be a student here or in another school;
• If you are assigned to work together on a project, you may be permitted to share ideas; however, if you are working on an independent project outside of class, you do not have permission to do so.  The work must be your own.
• Exchanging assignments with other students
• Downloading music, graphics, images, movies, works of art from Internet sites
• Copying, faxing, e-mailing, or in any way duplicating assignments that are turned in, wholly or in part, as original work;
• Using any form of memory aid during tests or quizzes without the expressed permission of the instructors
• Using a computer or other means to translate an assignment from one language into another language and submitting it as an original work
• Giving or receiving answers during quizzes or tests
• Taking credit for group work when you have not contributed an equal or appropriate share toward the final result

How to avoid plagiarism: 

Ø      Ask your teacher for direction before, during, or after class if you have any questions about how to give credit to an outside source.

Ø      Allow enough time to write papers that require outside research. 

Ø      Downloading anything from the Internet and giving the source credit isn’t enough to avoid plagiarizing.  Students need to interpret what they use to support their projects.  Students need to do more than just present another’s work, give that person or site credit, and think that they’ve avoided plagiarizing.  Students need to read and examine what they are using, think about what’s valuable, and then offer their own insights into why the support is solid or not. 

Ø      E-mail the creator of the site.  For example, Josh Simpson is a local artist who has gained an international reputation for his sculptures and creations in glass.  Simpson has a web site that includes images of his work.  Before incorporating any of these examples into a brochure, a person would contact the site manager (usually there’s a “Contact us” tab at the top of any web site page).  The person would explain why he or she wanted to use the images and ask if there was a limit on how many he or she could use in any one brochure (sometimes there are limits). 

Penalties for those who plagiarize: 

First offense:  Student’s parent/guardian will be notified.  The student will be allowed to redo the assignment on his or her own time.  Failure to redo the assignment will result in a zero grade.

Second offense:  Student’s parent/guardian will be notified.  The student will receive a zero and will be allowed to redo the assignment on his or her own time. If the assignment is made up, the zero grade and make-up grade will be averaged and recorded in the teacher’s grade book.  Failure to redo the assignment will result in a zero grade.

Third Offense:  A parent conference will be requested.  The student will receive an automatic zero and not be allowed to make up the assignment.

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