Intellectual Property and Plagiarism

Intellectual Property:

Creations of the Mind
Anything that is:
- Written
- Recorded (Audio and Visual)
- Drawn
- Invented
- Created

All Intellectual Property is Protected by Copyright Even If:

● It Is Not Registered ●
● It Does Not Have the Copyright Symbol © ●

United States Copyright Law:

Protects published AND unpublished works
Recognizes other countries' copyright laws

Information from the Internet is Protected by Copyright Law

Always check for Copyright Notices or Licenses before using information.
If there is no Notice/License, contact the website owner for permission to use it.

What is Plagiarism?

An act of fraud
Claiming someone's work as your own
Using someone's work without giving appropriate credit
Claiming ideas as original when they are derived from existing work

Turnitin. (2021, September 3). Plagiarism spectrum [Infographic]. Turnitin. https://www.turnitin.com/infographics/the-plagiarism-spectrum-infographic

How to Avoid Plagiarism:

Citations:

Inform readers where your information came from
Give credit to your information's’ creators

When to Provide Citations:

While using direct quotes from a source
While summarizing or paraphrasing a source
While using information that is not common knowledge

What is Common Knowledge?

Information that is:
- Stated in many different sources
- So well-known that it doesn’t need to be cited
  - i.e. water is comprised of 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom

How to Paraphrase Without Plagiarism:

Read the text and then, without looking at it, write it in your own words.