Ellington Middle School
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Guide

EMS School Policy as stated in the student handbook:  

Plagiarism is defined as the copying of another’s work and/or the failure to give credit to a source used in the research process.  Ellington Middle School expects that its students will demonstrate academic integrity in all areas and will not plagiarize. When a student has a question about plagiarism, he/she should ask a staff member for clarification. If a student is caught plagiarizing, he/she will face serious consequences which may include a zero on the assignment, detention(s), and or suspension.

So what does this mean for students at EMS?

Academic Integrity goes beyond plagiarism. Academic Integrity means that you will act in a responsible and honest way. This means that the following things will not be tolerated:

-Cheating
-Copying another student's work
-Copying from a source without documentation
-Copying materials from anywhere, including the Internet, without giving proper documentation
-Paraphrasing but not documenting
-Buying a paper

Your teacher and your library media specialist will:

-provide lessons on note-taking, paraphrasing, and proper documentation
-make their expectations clear
-provide checkpoints along the way

Students are expected to:

-follow the guidelines and assignment as they are set by the teacher
-meet all checkpoint due dates
-ask for clarification when they feel it is needed

Where can you find additional help?

Mrs. McNeice's Research page with handouts

Glendale Community College Library Avoiding Plagiarism

Take the "Is it Plagiarism" Tutorial from the Univ. of Maine!

See how plagiarism is in the news right now. . .

TurnItIn "What is Plagiarism"