Criteria Used for Indiana University Plagiarism Tests

Classification rules, rules of thumb, and test clues are provided below. These are the criteria which you should apply when taking an Indiana University Plagiarism test. These criteria will help you to decide if a student version is word-for-word plagiarism, paraphrasing plagiarism, or not plagiarism.

The criteria listed below are not the only valid criteria for classifying plagiarism in every context. However, applying the criteria listed below should help you to be successful in the context of passing an Indiana University Plagiarism Test.

Decision Table: Apply repeatedly until all parts of the student version are evaluated

Does some part of the student version borrow ideas from someone else's original source material?

Yes

No

Is at least one idea taken from the original source a direct word-for-word quote of 7 or more words?

Not plagiarism:



When the idea is common knowledge or the writer's own idea.

Yes

No

Is the direct word-for-word quote missing any of the following:

  • quotation marks
  • full in-text citation that includes a specific locator
  • reference?

Is the paraphrased idea missing any of the following:

  • in-text citation
  • reference?

Yes

Word-for-word plagiarism

No

Not word-for-word plagiarism

Yes

Paraphrasing plagiarism

No

Not
paraphrasing plagiarism

What complicates matters is that the student version can contain parts that are word-for-word plagiarism, and parts that are paraphrasing plagiarism, and parts that are not plagiarized. However, on a Certification Test, you can only choose one of the alternatives. Think of ranking the choices from worst to best, as indicated by the rules of thumb below.

Rules of Thumb: Ask yourself before answering each test question

  1. Is there word-for-word plagiarism anywhere in the student version? If yes, select "Word-for-Word plagiarism." You're done with that question.
  2. If there is no word-for-word plagiarism, is there paraphrasing plagiarism anywhere in the student version? If yes, select "Paraphrasing plagiarism." You're done with that question.
  3. If there is no word-for-word and no paraphrasing plagiarism anywhere in the student version, then select "This is not plagiarism."

Perhaps an analogy from the U.S. legal system will help: felonies are the most serious crimes, and misdemeanors are less serious offences. We want our citizens to follow the laws (commit no felonies and no misdemeanors). While plagiarism is usually not a crime, word-for-word plagiarism is arguably more serious than paraphrasing plagiarism, but the goal is avoid both in our writing and speaking.

You may find our decision support tool helpful in leading you step-by-step through these questions.

Plagiarism Test Clues

For other ways of viewing this, see hints, decision support for answering test questions, and the diagram in the Overview section.