Please familiarize yourself with the Honor System and Code, as stated in the George Mason University Undergraduate Catalog. When you are given an assignment as an individual, the work must be your own. Some of your work may be collaborative; source material for group projects and work of individual group members must be carefully documented for individual contributions. For a more complete understanding of what constitutes plagiarism, see the statements below:

What is Plagiarism? 
Plagiarism means using ideas, opinions, factual information, or language from some one without giving that person appropriate credit. Plagiarism is fraud. Student writers are sometimes confused as to what should be cited. In addition to direct quotations, paraphrases and summaries of opinions of factual information not formerly known to the writer must also be cited.

The exception to this rule is information termed general knowledge, information that is widely known and stated in a number of sources. Determining what is general knowledge can be complicated, so it is; wise to remember the adage, "When in doubt, cite." In academic work, credit should generally be given in an appropriate format, for example, the systems created by the Modern Language Association (MLA) or the American Psychological Association (APA). These systems of documentation are explained in various research textbooks (Occasionally, in writing, assignments such as log entries, professors may permit informal citation.)

It is very important to understand how to prevent committing plagiarism when using material from a source. If you wish to quote verbatim, you must use the exact words and punctuation of the original and you must include quotation marks and page numbers in your citation. In general, using large amounts of quoted text is not appropriate. When you quote large amounts of text you lose ownership of the paper.

If you want to paraphrase ideas from a source, you must do a thorough job of putting the ideas into your own language and you must cite the source in the required format. (Statement from the Online Writing Guide for Integrative Studies Students.)

Copyright rules also apply to users of the Internet who cite from Internet sources. Information and graphics accessed electronically must also be cited, giving credit to the sources. This material includes but is not limited to e-mail (don't cite or forward someone else's e-mail without permission), newsgroup material, information from Web sites, including graphics. Even if you give credit, you must get permission from the original source to put any graphic that you did not create on your web page. Shareware graphics are not free. Freeware clipart is available for you to freely use. If the material does not say "free," assume it is not. Putting someone else's Internet material on your web page is stealing intellectual property. Making links to a site is, at this time, okay, but getting permission is strongly advised, since many Web sites have their own requirements for linking to their material. Also see Internet Issues pertaining to copyright and related subjects.
(Virginia Montecino)