See the full definition of Plagiarism and Academic dishonesty in our 2021 Academic Calendar
1. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the act of representing someone else’s work as one’s own.
2. Self-plagiarism or double-dipping: This is the act of students submitting coursework that is identical or substantially similar to work that they have already submitted for credit at Yorkville or another institution. It is an academic offense unless it is explicitly required or approved by the course instructor or program director.
3. Cheating: Anything done to dishonestly or unfairly gain unearned academic advantage, grades, or credits is a serious breach of academic integrity.
4. Abetting plagiarism and/or cheating: It is a breach of academic integrity to encourage or facilitate academic dishonesty in others.
If you use content from someone else's work, you must cite it. You need to cite the sources where you find the ideas and arguments you are using in an assignment. For example, you might want to make a point for or against a position (e.g., whether you agree or disagree with publicly funding CBC radio), based on content you have read in a book or journal article. Although you have your own opinion, when you use another author's works, you have to cite those works.
Citing shows the reliability and strength of your work. Academic writing is not just about citing your work, but also includes showing your reader the strength of your argument. For example, if you are writing about a serious topic, such as mental health in Canada, there is an expectation that you are using reliable information, such as peer-reviewed journal articles, data and reports from reliable sources such as Statistics Canada. By citing your works, the reader can assess the validity of your argument and reliability of your sources.