Plagiarism Policy

Definition

Plagiarism is a dishonest act that occurs when a student submits someone else's work (from as little as a sentence or phrase to an entire document) as his or her own. This act can range from not citing an author for ideas and/or published material (including work from the Internet) to copying and pasting information from websites or any other publications, as well as paying for a paper written by someone else. Using someone else's words or ideas in an oral presentation without giving credit is yet another form of plagiarism.

The temptation to commit plagiarism is greater than ever with all the information from the Internet. In addition, it is now easier to identify plagiarized material than ever before. Some instructors have access to the program Turnitin.com, a good resource for flagging plagiarism. Everyone has access to the Internet, and a copied and pasted sentence or section into Google will reveal if the information has been published elsewhere. In other words, detection of plagiarism is easy for instructors.

If a student is not sure what is correct and acceptable, guidance from your instructor should be sought. There are also many websites available giving specific examples of how to avoid plagiarizing.

Procedure

This is the procedure Lanier Technical College will follow in regards to plagiarized work received from a student.

When an instructor identifies plagiarized material, he or she will assign a grade of zero to the submission. The zero may be considered a consequence of not meeting the stated criteria for the task as well as of plagiarizing. In the event that the plagiarized material is part of the course exit examination, the zero will also result in failure of the course.
A copy of the assignment in which the plagiarism took place with documentation of the source of the original material will be given to the student and sent to the dean of academic affairs or campus director to be filed.
If there is a second infraction by the student in any class during his/her remaining tenure at Lanier Technical College, the dean/director will contact the individual and counsel the student regarding academic repercussions. Penalties for the second act of plagiarism will be the same as the first, plus the instructor's option of giving the student an F in the course. See Code of Conduct from Student Handbook for the full scope of expected student conduct and penalties for infractions.