In a word, plagiarism must be avoided at all costs. But the exact definition of plagiarism varies from society to society and from context to context within any given society. Therefore, we have provided below an extensive description of what plagiarism is and what it is not. A Handbook for Writers , pp. It is used with permission of McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Plagiarism is literary burglary.
At its worst it involves an outright intent to deceive, to pass off another's work as one's own. More often, it is the result of carelessness or ignorance. Whenever you borrow another writer's words or ideas, you must acknowledge the borrowing. Many undergraduates have trouble with this problem. Some react with an overnice conscience and footnote even dictionary definitions.