Ethics in Engineering

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Research Integrity (ORI), plagiarism is taking or misusing someone else's intellectual property.  See the ORI Policy on Plagiarism.

• Reminding us that individuals don't always see things the same way, the ORI page continues with a description of what a participant might claim as plagiarism but is judged by the office to be an author dispute.

APA Style, on the "Plagiarism" page, defines plagiarism as "presenting the words, ideas, or images of another as your own."   Writers are reminded that:

• Readers need to know the original source of material in order to trace back to that source. 
• And that re-using long passages of text, even with correct citation, requires special consideration.
  • Using that long passage in a work you are submitting for publication is likely to require copyright permission.
  • These passages should not be used to fill out (that is, help meet the requirement of a word count) a student's project paper.

The APA page also introduces the dread topic of self-plagiarism.  This may seem impossible but isn't.  Remember:

• Don't re-use your own material making it seem as though it is the first appearance of the work.
• Be cautious with your report, thesis, or dissertation. 
  • Both in what you re-use as you write the work and
  • In how you re-use material from the work.
  • Re-using material from the author's own journal article is USUALLY okay but check to make sure about the publisher's policy.

Avoiding Plagiarism

To avoid plagiarism, give appropriate credit to the source of the intellectual property (concept, words, graphical material) you use in your work.  That means that you:

• Are organized in your own work so that you keep track of sources you use and can yourself get back to them.
• Know how to cite materials to help others find them.