After doing research, making note cards, and submitting her term paper on time, Straight-A Annie finds herself sitting in the dean's office. "Plagiarizing? How could I have plagiarized when I didn't copy anything? Plagiarism is when someone copies one source word for word, isn't it?"

Annie is just one of the many students that English teachers like me and countless other professors have caught plagiarizing. In fact, the Center for Academic Integrity reports that as many as 80 percent of college students have admitted to committing the capital crime of college at least once. University of California officials state that cheating on campus increased approximately 744 percent in a five-year span.

But there are many students like Annie who plagiarize without even realizing it. Originating as the Latin word for "kidnapper" -- plagiarius -- plagiarism is defined by the Modern Language Association as "the wrongful act of taking the product of another person's mind and presenting it as one's own." It's not limited to word-for-word copying; plagiarism also includes neglecting to properly cite sources. Although Annie did not copy anything word for word, she did not give proper credit to the sources she used. She paraphrased -- taking learned information from a source and rewording it completely. However, without the proper source citation, she is liable for inadvertently stealing the idea. In this case, the student may have accidentally plagiarized, but her crime still carries consequences.

Stressed-out Sam
Stressed-out Sam is a pre-med student who, by the end of the semester, can barely keep up with his work. While researching his upcoming essay, he finds a site known as a "paper mill" where term papers can be purchased online. With some hesitation Sam searches the Web site for a paper that matches his topic. He faces severe penalties for his actions. Some colleges distinguish between Sam's "deliberate plagiarism" and Annie's "accidental plagiarism;" others do not. While accidental plagiarism occurs when a student does not understand the proper way to cite sources or how to correctly paraphrase, what Sam has done is deliberate plagiarism. He knew what he was doing was dishonest, but he did it anyway. Many colleges invoke a failing grade if a student is caught plagiarizing; some colleges have even revoked the degrees of those found to have plagiarized.

Moravian College (Bethlehem, PA) warns that verified acts of plagiarism will receive "either a grade of zero for the academic work in question, or a failing grade in the course in which the violation occurred." Meanwhile, several years ago the University of Virginia nullified the degrees of three students who graduated before their plagiarism accusations were verified.

"We're not doing our job if we don't give students the message that they need to do work on their own," says Jeanne Wilson, director of student judicial affairs at University of California, Davis (UC Davis). In fact, she says, plagiarizing is not just wrong, it is counterintuitive to developing writing and analytical skills. "The rule against plagiarism is part of the university's teaching mission so students are equipped for their careers."

Like UC Davis, most universities go to great lengths to clarify to students what constitutes plagiarism. Moravian College's student handbook clearly defines plagiarism as "the use -- deliberate or not -- of any outside source without proper acknowledgment. Ignorance on the student's part of bibliographic convention and citation procedures is not a valid excuse for having committed plagiarism." As such, instructors are required to inform students of their expectations concerning documentation and sources. Discussion of plagiarism has become an integral part of collegiate teaching and has found its way into syllabi and curricula alongside traditional course material.

Downloading Dan
Downloading Dan had been struggling with his psychology paper for a week. He'd hoped to earn at least a B, but now he sits across from his prof in her office. She holds a copy of his paper in her hands as she asks him to define key words from its pages. When he can't, she asks, "Is there something you want to tell me?" "I found most of that on the Net," he admits, believing he has done little to damage his credibility.

Dan, in fact, is guilty of plagiarism, even though he believes the information he found online was free for the taking. Whether information is in e-mail form or even on a billboard, it still belongs to someone else. Internet research has added to students' confusion about documentation. While hard copy information found in books and magazine articles makes idea ownership clear, the Internet is more abstract and the ideas seem to "appear" without authors claiming to own them. Some students even believe that since they pay for Internet access, they have paid for the information and therefore do not need to cite it.

A joint study by Rutgers University and Duke University's Center for Academic Integrity found that 38 percent of surveyed students claimed to have cut and pasted from the Internet without citing the sources. In addition, Education Week published a national survey that reported that 54 percent of students admitted to using the Internet to plagiarize.

With the variety of Internet sources available, documentation becomes confusing for students. In one writing class at Lehigh Carbon Community College (Schnecksville, PA), 98 percent of documentation errors in research paper drafts were caused by Internet sources. Students attributed most errors to being confused about how to document Web pages and online periodicals.

Not-so-careful Nora
Not-so-careful Nora put hours of research into her psychology paper, only to have her paper returned with an F. "How could I have failed? I did all the work, and I even had the librarians help me with the citations," Nora asked her prof.

While she cited her sources, her wording was too close to the original. "It's different," she argues. "I reordered the opening, and I said 'in reply' when the book said 'in answer to.'"

What has Nora done wrong? Despite all of her efforts to create a perfect paper, she inadvertently committed plagiarism because she didn't know how to properly paraphrase. Changing one or two words in a sentence is not enough.

"Students have the mistaken notion that if they change a word or two in a sentence it's not plagiarism," says Susan Woolley, director of publications and editor of the Moravian College Magazine. Thousands of college students fall into this trap, say Woolley and other experts, agreeing that some students were never taught the skill of paraphrasing, while others lack the skills needed to restate the information. That's why many colleges are stepping up efforts to properly educate students.

Many profs include plagiarism education as part of their courses, teaching documentation and paraphrasing techniques throughout the semester. Other colleges offer programs through their writing centers, which help decrease "accidental plagiarism." Some schools even incorporate such lessons into required courses. Writing students at Lehigh Carbon Community College, for instance, must complete a library workbook that hones proper research skills.

Despite efforts to curb this campus crime, the numbers of instances are rising. It now becomes the student's responsibility to learn how to avoid such a crime. By visiting campus writing centers, meeting with profs one on one, or taking part in research classes, students can attain the writing and research skills needed for success in and out of college.