Anyone who plagiarizes will receive a zero on the assignment, as well as disciplinary action for the incident.

As a school, we believe this to be a fair consequence, due to the severity of plagiarism in the academic community. Students who attempt plagiarism in college can be placed on administrative probation or dismissed from said college. Plagiarism is serious and we want to treat it that way. Our own organizations (i.e. Honor Society, Student Council) will not accept members who have disciplinary action for cheating (including incidents of plagiarism).

The University of Montevallo includes the definition below on its course syllabi:

1. Using the exact words of another person’s work/writing without acknowledgment of your source through the use of quotation marks and correct citation/documentation;
2. Rephrasing a passage by another writer without giving proper credit;
3. Using someone else’s facts or ideas without acknowledgment;
4. Using a piece of writing for one course that was already used in a previous course (or in courses in which you are simultaneously enrolled) without express permission from both instructors to do so; and
5. Presenting fabricated or falsified citations or materials.

It should go without saying that copying and pasting from anywhere without crediting the source is plagiarism, as well as copying the work from another student. All students will receive a zero and disciplinary action, whether that student gave or received the information. Students who plagiarize will be able to re-submit that assignment; however, this will only be for partial credit (scoring begins at 50%). The assignment will be due the following day. (Effective 11/1/11). This policy is in effect for students who are taking courses at HTHS or taking online courses to apply to their HTHS transcripts, unless the online learning management system has another plagiarism policy.

How to Avoid Plagiarism: 5 Simple Rules
(Adapted from an originally produced document by Amanda Esslinger)

Rule 1: A fact that is not common knowledge must have a citation.

“Scientists have found that the featherless chicken makes as much protein as the feathered chicken” (“Featherless” 43).

You may write a fact that is common knowledge-- something that most people in the society would know—without a citation.

Rule 2: When you write about an idea, you must make clear whose idea it is. If it is your own idea, you do not cite the source.

The tone and structure of the poem suggest peace and repose.

No citation—student’s own observation.

Rule 3: If you are writing about someone else’s idea, you must cite your source.

By the year 1856, San Francisco’s growth was practically certain (Lotchkin 60).

Rule 4: If you use someone else’s exact words, you must put them in quotation marks and cite the source.

Later, the author wrote, “Chapter VI (the hotel scene) will never be quite up to mark—I’ve worried about it too long and I can’t quite place Daisy’s reaction” (Fitzgerald 9).

Rule 5: When you use an author’s idea without quoting exactly (mean that you are paraphrasing), you must write the idea in your own words, not just rearrange or change a few of his or her words, and you must cite the source.

Taylor Branch of The Atlantic argues in his article, “The Shame of College Sports”, that college athletes should be paid for playing their sports. He bases his argument on the amount of revenue generated by college athletes, football players in particular, for their respective schools. Though he understands that many people disagree with him based on the fact that college athletes are not professionals, he feels that the players deserve some amount of compensation (Branch 1).

The student restates the writer’s idea in the student’s own words and cites the source of the idea.

Note: An electronic signature is collected during registration regarding this policy.