DEFINITION OF PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism: Taking someone else's idea and using it as your own.
Plagiarism in academic work: Using someone else's resources (video, website, research, etc.) and not properly crediting the author.
The primary purpose of citations is to prevent plagiarism. When we use external sources to help with our assignments, we MUST cite to prevent plagiarism and taking someone else's work.
CONSEQUENCES OF PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism violates Academic Honesty and is taken seriously, even if it was an accident; consequences may still follow.
Common consequences include:
A lower mark or zero on your assignment
Needing to redo the work
Written warnings and records
Parents contacted
Academic misconduct report
Suspension or further disciplinary action
Note: Consequences vary by case, and though most of these are relatively rare (e.g., forgetting to cite one source probably won't get you suspended), consequences have happened before and get more serious as you progress throughout high school and post-secondary.
However, mistakes happen, and intent is important —mild mistakes, first-time errors, or a small 'formatting error' probably wouldn't be met harshly. In other words, don't worry too much as long as your intent is right. Just try your best and double-check your work!