A source is any material from which you gather information. These sources must be cited both in the text of your written work and in the bibliography, or references page, at the end of your work. You should cite the source whenever an idea included in your work is not your own, but comes from someone else. This includes using quotes, discussing research or presenting facts about a topic. Sources can be photographs, audio or visual materials, books, websites, web pages, journals, dissertations, reports, poetry, plays, songs, newspaper articles, magazine articles, stories or interviews. A source does not necessarily have to be a copy of something, but can be an idea that originated elsewhere and that is not your own.
Easy access to source material on the Internet tempts many students to cut and paste written or visual work into documents that they call their own. This act also constitutes plagiarism, however, if the work is not cited. Quoted material must either include quotation marks or be indented within your work and must be followed by a citation at the end of the material copied. Some schools allow only a certain number of words to be quoted or indented in material that you submit.
Most schools have a zero plagiarism policy, meaning that any act of plagiarism, regardless of the reason, is grounds for disciplinary action. Furthermore, plagiarism can affect the student not only while in school, but after graduating. When plagiarism is exposed after a degree has been awarded, a school may decide to revoke that degree.
Many educational institutions have rules requiring the instructors to scan student work with software to check for plagiarized material. Usually when student work is electronically scanned, it is not only checked against known source types, but also checked against the work of other students. Therefore, using a current or former student's report and turning it in as your own would constitute plagiarism, regardless of how well that report's sources were cited.
The consequences for committing plagiarism vary, depending on the school. Student handbooks often contain a section that discusses plagiarism and lists the consequences. Students can receive failing grades on work, fail the course altogether, receive administrative punishment, be suspended, or even be expelled from the school.