In the case of plagiarism or cheating, the instructor may decide on one of several consequences. Besides plagiarism, academic dishonesty includes cheating on exams, assisting another student to cheat, handing in essays prepared by someone else or a commercial service, falsifying laboratory results, sitting in for another student on an exam, and falsifying or misrepresenting information on academic records. Plagiarism is taking the writings, ideas, or thoughts of others and passing them off as one's own original work. Plagiarism is dishonest, foolish, and dangerous. Instructors expect that the work you pass in for credit to be your own, and you are denying yourself a chance to learn and prepare for future successful employment if you rely on the work of others to get you through your college courses.
Plagiarism is the flip side of forgery and a form of stealing and a form of misrepresentation.
This way you won't get so drawn into someone else's ideas and words that you are tempted to pass them off as your own. Instead, you will fill the information you find into your own plans. Follow the rule that all outside information must be acknowledged. Take very careful notes as you research your topic so you know exactly where the ideas, statements, or quotations came from. To avoid plagiarism in your course work, copy the exact words, maps and pictures less often and note the sources of your information more often.