AVOIDING PLAGIARISM ASSIGNMENT

1. MLA stands for Modern Language Association. Since its founding in 1883, the MLA of
America serves to provide opportunities for its members to share their academic findings and
experiences with others.1 The organization includes 30,000 members in 100 nearly countries,
many of whom are [academic] scholars, graduate students and professors.
2. According to Merriam-Webster, plagiarism is the act of using another person's words or ideas
without giving credit to that person.2 Although it is not a criminal offence, the use of plagiarism
in the academic world, as well as certain industries, is a serious ethical offence. On most
accounts, plagiarism is considered to be academic dishonesty, and therefore often leads to
penalties, suspension, or even expulsion.3 Common examples of unintentional plagiarism
wherein people disregard proper procedures would include: failure to paraphrase in ones own
words, even if they document the source, failure to put a summary in ones own words, and
misunderstanding of common knowledge (i.e. insufficient attribution to ideas or interpretations,
research conducted in a unique manner, etc.).4 Other lesser common ways a person might
plagiarize without full awareness would include omitting an occasional citation or citing
inaccurately.
3. The primary purpose of using MLA is because it is often the most standard format used.
Editors and instructors (i.e. teachers or professors) encourage the use of MLA so that there is
consistency of style within a given field (i.e. literature). Through the use of MLA Style,
prospective audiences are given cues that they can use to follow your ideas more efficiently, and
are more easily able to focus on your ideas by not using unfamiliar or complex formatting.5

About the MLA, Modern Language Association, http://www.mla.org/about, (July 6, 2014)

Plagiarism, Merriam-Webster, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarism, (July 6, 2014)
3
Jasmina Najjar, Copy Paste Republic of Lebanon: We Must End the Scourge of Plagiarism, http://www.executivemagazine.com/opinion/comment/copy-paste-republic-lebanon, (July 6, 2014)
4
Unintentional Plagiarism, Duke University, https://plagiarism.duke.edu/unintent/, (July 6, 2014)
2

Allen Brizee, Kristen Seas, MLA Overview and Workshop, https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/675/1/,

(July 6, 2014)