Maintaining academic integrity is important, especially for seminary students who belong to a community of scholars, ministers, and believers. According to Central's statement on Academic Integrity, all submitted work should be a student's original work created specifically for that course and assignment. Plagiarism, both intentional and unintentional, are violations of academic integrity. One of the best ways to avoid plagiarism is to understand what it is, when you need to cite a source, and how to correctly cite sources. This page offers resources to help you become familiar with plagiarism and the principles of citation.
Plagiarism is when you include information or someone else's ideas in your writing without attribution or citation, thereby making it appear as if the information or ideas are your own. Plagiarism affects the original author/creator and can have serious consequences for students. Use the links below to learn more about plagiarism.
When writing, there are commonly accepted rules about when information needs to include a citation to avoid plagiarism. If the information is your own idea, experience, or explanation, it does not need a citation. Another exception is information considered "common knowledge," such as the number of states in the United States. The links below provide more detailed descriptions and examples of when to use citations and what type of information is considered common knowledge.
Summarizing and paraphrasing are helpful ways to integrate information from your research without always using a direct quotation. However, the guidelines around citations when students summarize or paraphrase information from a source can be confusing. In most cases, summarized or paraphrased information still needs to be acknowledged with a citation. The links below provide more information related to citations and summarizing/paraphrasing. For an even more in-depth explanation, check out the video from Yale's Writing Center.
"You need to cite your source, even if:
Source: UNC at Chapel Hill Writing Center
Depending on your program at Central, you will use one of two main citation style guides:
Be sure to check with your professor to know which style guide to use in their class. The style guide provides a standardized way to cite sources that is recognizable to others. Formatting citations correctly is an important part of avoiding plagiarism. For more information, check out the tabs on Central's library home page dedicated to information about each of these style guides as well as the quick guide links on the right.
Image Source: Freepik
Use this helpful poster from Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL) to determine if you need to provide a citation for information in your paper.
These quick guides provide basic information about creating citations according to each style guide as well as examples.
Plagiarism typically occurs for two main reasons: 1) a student lacks an understanding of what constitutes plagiarism and fails to properly cite ideas that are not their own; 2) students run out of time to complete an assignment and choose to submit someone else's ideas as their own. In the first case, students should consult the resources included on this page to improve their understanding of plagiarism and how to cite sources. If questions remain, make an appointment with the Academic Skills Center coordinator by filling out the form on the Home page. In the second case, students are better off communicating with their professor and asking for an extension rather than plagiarizing someone else's work. While taking shortcuts might hold short term benefits, it never pays off in the long run.
Note: Using information from AI programs (like ChatGPT) without attribution is also a form of plagiarism. Only use AI on assignments if explicitly allowed by your professor.
