Plagiarism Policy

St. Theresa Catholic Secondary School's Policy on Plagiarism

(Updated Fall 2023)

What is Plagiarism?

In the Ministry of Education's Growing Success document, plagiarism is defined as “the use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another without attribution, in order to represent them as one's own original work". This applies whether in a direct quotation or in your own words and whether it is intentional or not. This can include words, ideas, theories, statistics, photos, videos, musical composition, artwork, etc.

Why should plagiarism be avoided?

Academic integrity is valued at St. Theresa Catholic Secondary School. For this reason, students are guided through the research process. They are instructed in the ethical use of intellectual property and the mechanics of documentation.

Plagiarism, whether in written, oral, or visual form will not be tolerated. Students at St. Theresa Catholic Secondary School are expected to model the Catholic Graduate Expectations; specifically, becoming an Effective Communicator who presents information and ideas clearly and honestly, and a Reflective, Creative and Holistic Thinker, one who makes decisions in the light of gospel values with an informed moral conscience.

	Grades 9 & 10	Grades 11 & 12
Initial Incident	The student is informed by the subject teacher. The teacher notifies Administration by completing an Academic Honesty report. The teacher contacts the parents / guardians. The student receives further instruction on strategies to avoid plagiarism and must be offered an opportunity to rewrite the paper. The resubmitted paper will be graded; if none is completed, a failing grade will be assigned. A record of the offence and consequences is placed in the Academic Honesty tracking binder (in the Learning Commons).	The student is informed by the subject teacher. The teacher notifies Administration by completing an Academic Honesty report. The teacher contacts the parents / guardians. The student may be interviewed by Administration. A failing grade is assigned. Student may be required to rewrite the paper to satisfy the expectations of the course. Further instruction on strategies to avoid plagiarism will be provided. A record of the offence and consequences is placed in the Academic Honesty tracking binder (in the Learning Commons).
Successive Incident(s)	The student is informed by the subject teacher. The teacher notifies Administration by completing an Academic Honesty report. The teacher and/or Administration contacts the parents / guardians. The student will be interviewed by Administration. A failing grade is assigned. Student may be required to rewrite the paper to satisfy the expectations of the course. A record of the offence and consequences is placed in the Academic Honesty tracking binder (in the Learning Commons). Additional consequences may be applied, such as participation in workshop on research and essay writing.

What are some examples of plagiarism?

Copying another student's assignment or allowing another student to copy your assignment
Using the words or ideas of another person without giving that person credit
Paraphrasing the words of another without giving that person credit
Self-plagiarism: submitting the same work (entirely or in part) for two different courses
Taking information from another source without proper citation
Taking a paper or assignment from any print source, from the Internet or from another student
Passing off the translation of a foreign language paper as one's own work
Using a created production without crediting the source

NOTE: The onus is on the student to prove that the assignment is their work.