Identification

• The Modern Language Association (MLA) states that plagiarism includes "the failure to give appropriate acknowledgment when repeating another's wording or particularly apt phrase, paraphrasing another's argument, and presenting another's line of thinking." The MLA is a leader on literary guidelines.
  
  

Prevention/Solution

• "Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar: Communication in Action" advises that, in order to prevent plagiarism, writers provide bibliographic information to cite sources of statistics, direct quotations, indirectly quoted statements of opinions, conclusions presented by an expert and facts available in only one or two sources. Writers should also have a bibliography and works-cited list. These give readers the details necessary for locating the source.
  
  

Effects

• Writers' work and reputations will be tarnished if they plagiarize. Teachers and schools need a plagiarism policy in place. Additionally, teachers should "implement proactive approaches in the teaching and prevention" of plagiarism, states Internet Plagiarism:Strategies to Deter Academic Misconduct.
  
  

Types

• Internet Plagiarism:Strategies to Deter Academic Misconduct identifies three types of plagiarism. Cheating is where the author intentionally steals from another, while submitting the work in his name. Nonattribution occurs when a writer includes other sources with his original work without crediting them. "Patchwriting" is when a writer does not completely copy a passage but changes some of it.
  
  

Misconceptions

• A common misconception concerning plagiarism is that once research, such as a statistic or quote, is widely distributed, writers no longer need to give credit to the original researcher. To ensure ethical writing, sources should always be credited.