Which of the following describes plagiarism?

Which of the following describes plagiarism?

• A. A sanction that is a formal, written, published reproof or warning to a Respondent who the Ethics Committee has determined to have breached the Code of Ethical Conduct.
• B. An act of not citing sources in professional writing.
• C. A formal recognition of professional achievements.
• D. An act of appropriating the language, ideas, or thoughts from another person and representing them as one's own original work.

Answer: (D)

Plagiarism is taking someone else’s language, ideas, or thoughts and presenting them as your own original work without proper attribution. This misleads readers about who created the material and deprives the original author of credit. In professional writing, you must cite sources or use quotation marks for exact words and provide attribution for ideas you borrow. The other options describe consequences, recognition, or related practices, but they don’t define the act of presenting another person’s work as your own.

Plagiarism is taking someone else’s language, ideas, or thoughts and presenting them as your own original work without proper attribution. This misleads readers about who created the material and deprives the original author of credit. In professional writing, you must cite sources or use quotation marks for exact words and provide attribution for ideas you borrow. The other options describe consequences, recognition, or related practices, but they don’t define the act of presenting another person’s work as your own.