It is important to distinguish between actual academic dishonesty and what might be called an unwitting violation of the conventions governing the way sources are handled and cited. The following are some suggestions for decreasing the incidence of such errors and reducing the number of anguishing plagiarism cases heard by the Committee on Academic Standing. Improper or careless citation can be prevented to some extent by specifying the style manual to be used and illustrating its major conventions.
Style manuals differ from one department to another, from one professor to another.
There are many style manuals available at Burling. Each professor should check to make sure the preferred one is on reserve and then demonstrate its use to the class. Many professors insist that notes taken in class be cited if their content appears in written work. When this is the case, and if the technique for such citation is not covered in the manual, the professor should show how it is to be done. Professors should anticipate these problems so as to avoid having to bring a charge of plagiarism against an otherwise innocent student.