What is Plagiarism

What is the “public domain?”

Works that are no longer protected by copyright, or never have been, are considered “public domain.” This means that you may freely borrow material from these works without fear of plagiarism, provided you make proper attributions.

How do I know if something is public domain or not?
The terms and conditions under which works enter the public domain are a bit complicated. In general, anything published more than 75 years ago is now in the public domain. Works published after 1978 are protected for the lifetime of the author plus 70 years. The laws governing works published fewer than 75 years ago but before 1978 are more complicated, although generally copyright protection extended 28 years after publication plus 47 more years if the copyright was renewed, totaling 75 years from the publication date. If you are uncertain about whether or not a work is in the public domain, it is probably best to contact a lawyer or act under the assumption that it is still protected by copyright laws.

What is Citation?
A “citation” is the way you tell your readers that certain material in your work came from another source. It also gives your readers the information necessary to find that source again, including:

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  information about the author
  
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  the title of the work
  
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  the name and location of the company that published your copy of the source
  
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  the date your copy was published
  
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  the page numbers of the material you are borrowing
  

Why should I cite sources?
Giving credit to the original author by citing sources is the only way to use other people’s work without plagiarizing. But there are a number of other reasons to cite sources:

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  Citations are extremely helpful to anyone who wants to find out more about your ideas and where they came from.
  
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  Not all sources are good or right – your own ideas may often be more accurate or interesting than those of your sources. Proper citation will keep you from taking the rap for someone else’s bad ideas.
  
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  Citing sources shows the amount of research you’ve done.
  
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  Citing sources strengthens your work by lending outside support to your ideas.