According to WCU's Academic Honesty Policy (detailed in the Student Handbook), the consequences for documented intentional plagiarism range from failure in the course to suspension or expulsion from the university. Students who intentionally plagiarize are unwilling to participate in extensive reading, analysis, note taking, outlining, drafting, and revision. They may be tempted to, and in fact often do, buy a paper from a fellow student or download a paper from the Internet, wanting to appear knowledgeable without undergoing the process of becoming so.
Unintentional plagiarism results from a student simply not knowing how to take good notes or becoming weary of the effort. The choices you make in college about summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting research materials will help shape your credibility or lack of credibility as an intelligent listener and communicator in your future career. Choose wisely.
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