Plagiarism is the act of using another person's ideas or work without acknowledging the original source and giving proper credit. It is unethical and, in some cases, it is illegal. Plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty, and is considered by the University at Buffalo to be a serious offense. University policies related to plagiarism are available on the University's Academic Integrity web site. The UB Libraries has created a plagiarism guide to further assist you in detecting and correcting plagiarism in your work.

It is the nature of college coursework that students are engaged in the ideas and works of other people. However, using another person's works or ideas without citing the original source and giving proper credit, whether intentional or not, and regardless of the context or format, is plagiarism.

(Thanks goes to the Brock University Library)

Students should always provide proper citations for all quotations, summaries, paraphrases, or any other work or idea that is borrowed from others. The following links are designed to educate students on how UB defines plagiarism, how to avoid it, and what the potential consequences are:

• UB plagiarism policies and Frequently Asked Questions.
• UB Libraries' Citing Sources Web Guide.
• Fun Plagiarism game from Lycoming College

Academic writing is meant for a critical and informed audience, based on investigated knowledge, and uses hypothesis, theory, or arguments to arrive at a conclusion. It is objective, explains why the research is important, and organized so that other scholars can try to reproduce the results. Academic writing utilizes formal language.

Types of Academic Scholarship

• Dissertations
• Books
• Journal articles